Strawberry Lemon Blondies ~ these easy strawberry blondies are moist and dense, (think soft shortbread) with plenty of little jammy pockets thanks to a cup of diced fresh strawberries in the batter. A hint of lemon gives these strawberry bars a bright, tangy vibe.
We’re baking strawberry lemon blondies on repeat right now!
If you could only have one strawberry dessert this season, these fruity little strawberry bars would have to be the one, they’re ridiculously easy to throw together and completely irresistible…take it from me, I had my fork in one before I could finish my photo shoot. That’s always a sign of a good recipe 🙂
TIP: baking softens, sweetens, and brings out the best in pre-season berries, so even before the really good strawberries start showing up at market, you can make fabulous strawberry desserts.
If you like your desserts soft and moist, I know these strawberry lemon blondies will appeal to you.
There’s nothing dry or crumbly about them, they melt in the mouth like a great blondie should. Only instead of nuts and chocolate you’ve got juicy strawberries and tart lemon. Yum.
Blondies are an art form here at tvfgi, and there’s a special place in my heart for unique recipes like my Banana Blondies with their amazing caramel frosting, or my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blondies. But sometimes you just need a little chocolate, am I right? In that case head straight for my Outrageous Chocolate Hazelnut Blondies or decadent Almond Butter Skillet Blondies.
The plush batter for these strawberry lemon blondies is thick but easy to work with. Take a minute to spread it out evenly in your pan so it bakes up nice and flat.
The pretty pink glaze is naturally colored
Blondies are pretty unassuming when they come out of the oven, but just wait. Let them cool down a bit, then drizzle on the tart glaze (I use a tablespoon of strained strawberry puree to create that pretty color naturally)…things are about to get interesting…
This is one strawberry dessert that is more than meets the eye. It’s all about that party in your mouth!
tvfgi recommends: a 9″ square ceramic baking dish
When it comes to small bakes like brownies and blondies, I like to bake in ceramic or stoneware. I think it bakes evenly without over cooking the edges. They come in so many pretty colors, but I’m partial to my white pan. Every kitchen needs one.
I recommend the 9″ size, and look for something with weight to it, like the one above. The side handles help when you’re trying to get it in and out of a hot oven.
Reader Rave ~
“You have gained a few fans! Made this for our Sunday night family gathering and everyone kept going back for more. I cut them into smaller pieces so everyone felt less guilty splurging 🙂  Thank you for a very yummy recipe.”  ~  Jen
Strawberry Lemon Blondies
Equipment
- 9x9 square baking pan
- parchment paper for easy removal optional
Ingredients
blondies
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup diced fresh strawberries
glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted, measure out your sugar before sifting.
- 1 Tbsp strawberry puree, you'll need about 2 large strawberries, instructions below.
- lemon juice, about 1 Tbsp, or just enough to thin the glaze to a spreadable consistency
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Line a 9 inch square baking pan with parchment paper with long edges. This is optional but will help you lift out the blondies for easy glazing and slicing later.
- Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg.
- When the egg is fully incorporated, beat in the lemon juice. The lemon juice will probably not completely incorporate at this point, that's ok.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt, and add to the wet ingredients, mixing until no more dry flour is present.
- Gently fold in the diced strawberries. Spread the mixture into your pan and spread out as evenly as possible. The dough is thick, so take your time. I like to use a large offset spatula for this job.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, just until starting to turn golden around the edges and the center is set. A toothpick inserted in the center will be moist but not wet. Don't over-bake these, or they will dry out. Let cool on a rack.
- Trim the strawberries for the glaze and puree in a small food processor. Strain the puree through a small strainer to get 1 Tbsp of puree. Whisk together the sugar, puree, and lemon juice until no lumps remain. If your glaze is too thin, add a touch more sugar. If it's too thick, add more lemon juice.
- Spread the glaze over the cooled blondies. Let the glaze set before slicing.
Video
Notes
- When you measure out the flour, first fluff the flour, then scoop it with your cup, and then level it without compacting it. This method helps insure an accurate amount.
- If you don't want to bother with the strawberry puree for the icing, just use lemon juice. I don't recommend using strawberry jam because it would be too sweet combined with the sugar.
- Do a little test before glazing your blondies. Â Spoon a bit of glaze on the blondies and see how it does...if it soaks right in it is too thin you can add more sugar. If it's too thick you can thin it down with more puree or lemon juice.
- For a variation, try this with diced rhubarb, blueberries, or raspberries. You could also use a combination of strawberries and rhubarb. Â
Nutrition
Thanks for pinning!
More strawberry desserts ~
Strawberry Shortbread Cookies
Easy Strawberry Cake
Strawberry Buttermilk Cake
It is so easy to make, delicious and pretty, nothing to change in this recipe. in fact it was to easy that once it was made when my oven was heating I made another batch and cooked them both and brought one to work. everyone loved it. 5 stars!
Helene
Thumbs down on the strawberry lemon bars. The texture wasn’t good, too soft and doughy…not like shortcake or anything close.
Sorry these were’t a hit for you Barbara. It sounds like maybe yours could have cooked a little longer to give you the texture you were looking for.
Hi! I’m confused “2 cup 2 sticks or 228 grams, unsalted butter, at room temperature” >> Isn’t a stick of butter 1/2 cup? Assuming so, does this recipe require 2 cups or 2 sticks? Thank you. hoping to make this recipe for a weekend party (7/25/20)
Hey Elizabeth, it’s just one cup, which is 2 sticks, etc.
Followed the directions to a tee and these came out crumbly and bitter
Hello I need to make this recipe for about 40 people. Do you think this recipe could cook on a cookie sheet ?
Thank you
I’m not sure Ashley, I think some of the commenters have successfully doubled and made it in a 9×13, that might be a better bet, then you could make 2 of those.
Love love LOVE this recipe. I’ve made two batches within a week with a third on order for this weekend! A friend of mine found this recipe and asked someone to make them for her. I volunteered and I was so bummed to be giving it away I needed to make a batch for myself! These will not disappoint! I did play around with the glaze a bit and went more on the lemon/strawberry side than sugar, only using about 1/2 cup which understandably lead to more of a poke cake liquid but it provided amazing bursts of sweet and sour in the top layer as it sunk in.
These are a-mazing! Made them the night before. a girls kayak day, and they were so well received! What a pretty pink, moist shortbread-style square! Thanks so much for the share. On my second batch now – doubled it and hoping to freeze (making the glaze later for a friend). Happy baking!
These are FABULOUS! So delicious and easy to make. I am about use up the rest of my strawberries to make my second batch (within 2 days!) They are completely different the second day if you refridgerate them – almost like cheesecake. Yum!
Thanks Gayle, it sounds like you really enjoyed them 🙂
Do they have to go in the fridge after or can you store in air tonight container on counter?
You can store them on the counter for a day or two.
I don’t know if I would call these blondies. They were extremely moist and not quite the texture or flavor I’d associate with a blondie. I used frozen strawberries thawed with warm water so maybe that contributed to it. But, aside from that, they were AMAZING. They’re moist and soft and pretty much just melted in my mouth. I could taste the strawberry and the lemon. Neither overpowered the other. They were a huge hit in my house. My biggest complaint was it didn’t even manage to last 24 hours because they were too good and no one could keep their hands off them. I might try them without the glaze next time to cut back on the sugar since I’m not sure it added a whole lot to the flavor, but overall, these did not disappoint.