Strawberry Brownies

If you’re a fan of chocolate dipped strawberries you will love these strawberry brownies. Fudgy brownies filled with strawberries and swirls of strawberry jam topped with a vibrant strawberry frosting.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 24

Total Time 44

Servings

Calories 415kcal

Author Allison - Celebrating Sweets

Ingredients

Brownies:

½ cup melted unsalted butter
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup powdered sugar
¾ cup all purpose flour spooned and leveled
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup chocolate chips I prefer milk chocolate for this recipe
½ cup freeze dried strawberries
generous ¼ cup strawberry jam or preserves

Strawberry frosting:

½ cup freeze dried strawberries
5 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
1½ cups powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon strawberry jam
1 tablespoon milk

Instructions

Brownies:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8 square pan with foil or parchment paper, leaving a couple inches of overhang on two sides (this will allow you to lift the whole tray of brownies out of the pan for easy removal). Grease the foil/parchment.
Combine granulated sugar and melted butter in a large bowl. Stir it briefly then allow it to sit undisturbed for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, whisk the butter and sugar vigorously for 30 seconds. The sugar will not fully dissolve but the mixture will come together. Add eggs, water, and vanilla extract, whisking again for about 30 seconds.
Sprinkle cocoa powder, powdered sugar, flour, and salt over the wet ingredients. Whisk until well combined. Tap all the excess batter off the whisk and remove the whisk from the bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips and ½ cup freeze dried strawberries.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Place small spoonfuls of strawberry jam all over the top. Use the tip of a sharp knife to swirl the jam into the batter. This will be a little difficult due to the chunks from the chocolate chips and strawberries, but just swirl/drag the knife through the best that you can.
Bake for for 23-27 minutes. The brownies are done when a toothpick inserted just outside the center comes out with moist fudgy crumbs attached but no raw batter. See notes for more on this. Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely.

Strawberry frosting:

In a small food processor, blend freeze dried strawberries until they turn into powder. Pour the powder into a fine mesh sieve, discarding the solids and seeds, keeping the fine powder that came through the sieve. Set the powder aside.
With a hand mixer, or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl and the beater as necessary. Add the powdered sugar, ½ a cup at a time, beating until combined. Add freeze dried strawberry powder, vanilla extract, jam, and milk. Beat on medium speed until fully combined, being sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl and beater as needed. If necessary, adjust the consistency by adding more powdered sugar to thicken, or more milk to thin it out.
Spread the frosting on top of the cooled brownies.

Notes

Bake time: The brownies should be removed from the oven when a toothpick inserted into the brownies come out with moist fudgy crumbs on it (no thin raw batter). Remember, there are lots of chocolate chips in there, so melted chocolate is ok. We love this tip from America’s Test Kitchen, “bake until toothpick inserted halfway between edge and center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.” The very center will finish cooking after you remove the pan from the oven and the edges should already be done.

Nutrition