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
In SoCal, strawberry season is almost over. So…will this work with the strawberries I’ve frozen?
It should be fine, just be aware of excess moisture. Normally it’s best to use frozen fruit without thawing, but I assume your berries are whole, so you’ll have to thaw, at least partially, to slice.
Would you suggest any high altitude changes? I am at 5,280 feet above sea level. Thank you!
How to store this for serving tomorrow? Thank you!
I’d keep it on the counter, just loosely topped with foil.
Have you ever tried making these with gluten free flour? Any tips with that?
I would try a good gf baking mix ~ check the comments, I think other readers have done this.
I just finished making these blondies. OMG, they are delicious! I’m a shortbread lover and these blondies are definitely related to shortbread. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
Thanks so much Sharie, fellow shortbread lover here 🙂
I mixed my strawberries in accidentally which made them pink but taste like strawberries and a hint of lemon. Overall great sweet snack. I bake daily being in the Bakery 22 years this is one of my favorite treats
Thank you!
For the Strawberry Lemon Blondies would you think that frozen strawberries would work ok? They are individually frozen, so they can be sliced to make them smaller. They may or may not bake the same, they maybe softer in the bar, would that matter?
hey Brenda ~ the bars are pretty soft and moist as is, but I think frozen berries would be ok. I haven’t tried so I can’t say for sure. It would be good if you could slice them smaller, but still keep them as firm as possible, meaning, don’t thaw them.
Can this be doubled for a 13×9 pan? Can’t wait to bake this!
I think that should work Melony.
They were really good, but a little dry. Any suggestions on how for them not to be too dry? Thank you and I will try again.
Blondies can easily be over baked, either by baking too long or at too high a temp, so be sure to watch that Shawna. Otherwise also make sure to measure flour by fluffing it up first so you don’t get a compacted cup and too much. Also make sure you use the full amount of strawberries ~ hope this helps!
I think maybe the nutrition information on these is incorrect. I can’t imagine how anything with a cup of butter could have just 1g of fat per serving… I entered this into myfitnesspal, and it came up with 16g of fat per serving (if the recipe makes 12 servings). Just thought I’d point that out for anyone who might be tracking like me. 😉
I’m so excited to try these, they are in the oven as I write!
Hi Elizabeth ~ I removed the nutrition info as I am having difficulty with the automatic calculator that works with my recipe plugin…that’s blogger gibberish for: my nutrition label wasn’t correct and I couldn’t seem to fix it! I’m on the lookout for a better system 🙂
The nutrition calculation is fixed and accurate now.