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
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
I made this for the first time tonight. It’s the perfect amount of sweetness. The strawberries were fresh, but it’s not strawberry season, so they had very little flavor on there own. Didn’t hurt the flavor one bit. I can’t imagine what these will taste like during strawberry season. And … they’re really, really rich and buttery. Great texture! Amazing taste! Has anyone mentioned that they are so pretty?
Thanks for a great review Velda 🙂
Can these be made with frozen strawberries. The fresh strawberries were so expensive. I just made one with thawed frozen strawberries, but I’m afraid the batter may be to wet. They are baking now. I hope they come out OK. I’m making them for a church potluck.
Frozen berries are more tricky to bake with than fresh, Jazz. Personally I’d stick to fresh for this recipe.
Hello,
I am going to make these for a Summer in the Winter party my family is having. Can I substitute strawberry jam for the purée in the icing?
I haven’t tried that Debbie, but I worry that it would be very sweet.
These are delicious! They were easy to make and turned out beautifully. Thank you for such a wonderful recipe. My kids and I absolutely loved them, and will be making them again!
In the recipe is calls for baking powder but in the video is shows mixing the flour salt and baking SODA which is better to use
Use baking powder.
These are fabulous! I am gluten and lactose free because of allergies. I made them with Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 baking flour and lactose free butter. Everyone enjoyed them. They are scrumptious!!
How far in advance can you make them ? Storage in fridge ?
I wouldn’t make these too far in advance, a day at most. I generally store them at room temperature.
really good. We made a double batch for an event and tried unglazed – awesome. I did add lemon zest to the batter. I think they would have been great without but we love lemon! The batter is really thick, so take your time to spread as evenly as possible. It is hard to fold in the strawberries because of the thickness, so again, a bit more effort. But worth it. VERY GOOD!
In the new Libby’s pumpkin pie recipe it calls for sweetened condensed milk, can I substitute heavy cream for this?
I haven’t tried that Ann, but I guess that should work. You might need to add more sugar in that case.
These are delicious! I used King Arthur gluten free flour and they turned out just fine! I will definitely be making these again! Thank you for such a wonderful recipe!
Great to know about the gf flour, thanks.
We just finished our dinner and I made a little surprise for my family, thanks to you. I followed your recipe (almost) all the way. The only difference I made was that I used vegan butter. I think it was great option since everything blended so well and it was easy to transfer to the baking pan and spread out evenly. The timing and the oven temperature were exact as per your instructions. Everything turned out great. My family loves it! I love easy recipes and good instructions. Thank you, Sue! Now I will have to try more of your recipes soon. This was the first one and it was excellent!
Thanks for the review, and it’s good to know about the vegan butter, that will help other readers I’m sure. Can’t wait to hear what you think of your next recipe Sophia!