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Is there anything quite as quintessentially “summer” than lemonade? From summer fairs to neighborhood kids selling it on street corners, there’s no doubt that lemonade is a summer staple. There are so many different flavors of lemonade these days, but one of my favorites is strawberry. There’s just something about the natural sweetness of strawberries and tart, sour lemons that hits the spot. Now you can get that same delicious flavor in blondie form!
This recipe incorporates lemon and strawberry right into the batter as well as the icing so you are getting the most flavor with each bite. The blondie batter is a rich combination of butter, sugar, lemon juice, and a few other ingredients to keep it all together. Diced up strawberries are folded right into the batter and bake until they are juicy perfection.
The glaze on these bad boys consists of strawberry puree, powdered sugar, and lemon juice. In other words, it’s basically a thicker version of strawberry lemonade poured right on top. Don’t worry about the puree – it’s literally just tossing a few strawberries into a food processor and flipping the switch to “puree.” Trust me, this icing is totally worth the effort!
I mean, just look at that gooey goodness. If you want your icing a little thicker, just don’t add as much lemon juice. When making icing, I always suggest using less liquid than what the recipe calls for to start out with. Then I can control the thickness by adding in a little bit more at a time until I get the consistency I want. It doesn’t usually work out the other way around – adding more powdered sugar to the mix. This typically makes the flavor wonky since the ratios are off with the other ingredients.
Once the blondies are cooled down, go ahead and spread that icing on top and serve these babies up! How perfect for a summer picnic or bake sale!
Strawberry Lemonade Blondies
Yield(s): Makes 9 servings
15m prep time
30m cook time
Allergens: Gluten
you're making mealtime meaningful.
Blondie Batter:
- 1 cup butter, room temp
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 1/4 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup diced fresh strawberries
Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp strawberry puree (2 large strawberries, see instructions below)
- 1/2 - 1 tablespoon lemon juice (enough to thin the glaze to spreadable consistency)
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 9 inch square baking pan with parchment paper with long edges.
- In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar with a hand mixer until fluffy, then mix in the egg.
- In the same bowl, beat in the lemon juice. (The lemon juice will not completely incorporate at this point, that's ok.)
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt, then add to the wet ingredients, stirring until well combined.
- Gently fold in the diced strawberries. Spread the mixture into your pan as evenly as possible.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the edges turn golden and the center is set.
- While waiting for blondies to cool, prepare the puree by cutting the tops off of two large strawberries and pureeing them in a food processor. Strain the puree through a small strainer to get 1 Tbsp of puree.
- In a medium-sized bowl, 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.
Recipe adapted from The View From Great Island.