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
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
Ingredients
blondies
- 1 cup (2 sticks or 228 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (164 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup (55 grams) fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 2 1/4 cups (306 grams) all purpose flour (use the fluff/scoop/level method for measuring)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup (127 grams) diced fresh strawberries
glaze
- 1 cup (112 grams) unsifted weight powdered sugar, sifted
- 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 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.
- 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
- Do a little test before glazing your blondies. Spoon a little on and see how it does...if it's too thin you can add more sugar, and if it's too thick you can thin it down with more puree or lemon juice.
- If you don't want to bother with the strawberry puree for the icing, just use lemon juice.
- For a variation, try this with diced rhubarb, or a combination of strawberries and rhubarb. Or how about blueberries or raspberries.
Nutrition
Thanks for pinning!
More strawberry desserts ~
Strawberry Shortbread Cookies
Easy Strawberry Cake
Strawberry Buttermilk Cake
I had just picked some strawberries with my family and cleaned them and cut them and looked for a few recipes to use them in. I have never baked anything with strawberries before so I was hesitant but said let’s just see. Boy was this good. Came out perfect. I used unbleached flour. Let the 2 sticks of butter sit out for like 3 days (busy life style so I didn’t make this the day I wanted lol) I have eggs from Costco that are very small so I used one whole egg and an egg white. I did a little less sugar and more purée. Thank you for the recipe. I am sharing this dessert with friends. Would and will make again.
Can you double & use a 13×9 pan. And could you use frozen strawberries?
The larger pan will work, and the issue with frozen strawberries is that they are generally whole, and you want sliced berries. I suppose if you thaw, slice, and drain, they will work.
You never disappoint, Sue! These were so yummy! My husband said he’d divorce me if I lose the recipe, LOL. Thank you, as always, for sharing your most excellent recipe magic.
Disappointed- really gummy. Not at all like other Blondies I’ve made. Glad I tested ahead of taking it to my class reunion.
Sorry these didn’t work for you Barb ~ it sounds like they didn’t get baked quite long enough?
This is delicious HOWEVER and this is a big however, this is NOT a blondie. I made this recipe 3 times 2 exactly as written and by the way I am a very experienced baker/cook. This came out as a cake following the recipe exactly as written. I had made brownies and blondies for years and the rule of baking is add more fat and/or less flour for a more fudgy texture and while it was more moist it was still cake.
Do these freeze well?
They should freeze fine Mary.
I followed the recipe very closely. Next time I’d cut down on the lemon. They were very moist and I loved the glaze, but too much of a tart lemony taste for my liking.
made a batch yesterday. stawberries on sale, needed to use them up. not really fair to rate recipe, as I varied it. Usually for baking I use half butter, half generic Crisco, unless it needs to be pareve, when it becomes all Crisco or half Earth Balance spread/half crisco. The quirks of kosher adaptation. This time I went with 1/3 butter and 2/3 crisco. pastry came out a little too short. I used the specified flour amount. Dough a little hard to spread. Needed more than 35 minutes in oven. My two strawberries for the icing did not liquify so I just mixed the coarse puree with the confectioners sugar and lemon juice. Came out rather well. refrigerated overnight. cuts easily, parchment paper was good idea. just tasted of too much crisco.
Hi there,
Just wondering if I add Rhubarb should I premix it with sugar?
Hi! Recipe looks great for summer. Question- what brand of AP flour do you use? All of mine list 1 cup =120 grams. Recipe indicates 306 grams which is closer to 2.5 cups vs the 2.25 listed. I’m curious if you weigh or do the fluff /scoop method.
The flavor was good but they turned out too tender and just came apart trying to serve them. We definitely needed forks to eat them as you could not hold them together in your hand. Any idea where I went wrong?
This recipe looks wonderful! I was wondering if I just wanted to make them strawberry could I omit the lemon juice or would this affect the recipe? Could I use something else to substitute if so? Thanks!
You might try using milk instead. I’d add vanilla, too.
These were AMAZING. I added a skosh more lemon juice than was called for in both glaze and base and it was EVERYTHING. Loved these and will definitely make again.