Strawberry Lemonade Brownies

Sweet, Tart & Fruity!

I had the best strawberry lemonade at a family birthday party last weekend!  We were celebrating my daughter and my niece both turning 13 this spring!  The lemonade was sweet and tart and fruity – kind of like thirteen year old girls – hehe!  (Love u girls!)  Well anyway, Stacy, my cousin-in-law makes the most awesome strawberry lemonade!!  Seriously – I’ve been thinking about it a lot – so much so, that this idea popped into my brain – Strawberry Lemonade Brownies!

I thought I’d start with my Lemon Brownies recipe from two years ago and go from there.  I wanted to add fresh strawberries, but thought they would be too wet in the brownie, so I chopped them and gave them a quick roast in the oven while I made the rest of the recipe.  The roasting concentrated the strawberry flavor and helped release some of the excess moisture in the berries.  I also crushed up a bag of freeze dried strawberries and mixed them in with the dry ingredients – double strawberry goodness!  The batter was the most gorgeous pink!  I couldn’t wait to see the color of the baked brownie!

I cut into the baked brownies and they were – beige – what??  What happened to the gorgeous pink??   They tasted great, but I really wanted them to look a little pink.  So, back to the drawing board I went – I spoke to one of the nice bakers at Whole Foods about using beets to make it pink and she thought the beet flavor would overpower the strawberry and lemon flavors, so she sold me some of her natural red food coloring and I decided to try some old school McCormick’s red food coloring as well.  The results all tasted the same – but if you want some pinkish color, you’re going to want to add some coloring.  The glaze on top gets its color from a little of the powdered freeze dried strawberries – it seems the color holds up well when it’s not subjected to heat.

 Strawberry Lemonade Brownies: Step-by-Step Photos

Chop the strawberries

Toss with sugar

Roast for 20 minutes

Prepare pan with a foil sling

Crush freeze dried strawberries

Such a pretty color!

Fruit powder!

Cream butter and sugar

Add eggs

Lemon zest and juice

Roasted strawberries – concentrated flavor, less moisture

Mix in dry ingredients

Fold in roasted strawberries and white chocolate chips

YUM!

Spread in prepared pan

Whisk up glaze

delicious!

Prick brownies with a fork when still warm

Pour on glaze

Spread while still warm

cool…

Perfect for Pinning to Pinterest: ⬇

Thanks for spending some time in the cloud with me!  I hope you enjoy the recipe!  Tina ( :

Strawberry Lemonade Brownies

These brownies get their strawberry flavor from roasted strawberries and crushed freeze dried strawberries! They are loaded with delicious lemon zest and juice too! Sweet, tangy & fruity!!

Tina Verrelli - epicuricloud.com

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Servings: 24 brownies

Ingredients

• non-stick baking spray
• 2 cups chopped fresh strawberries
• 1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar divided
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter softened
• 4 large eggs
• 2 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest divided
• 4 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice divided
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract (look for "pure" or natural)
• red food coloring (1 1/2 teaspoons natural / 14 drops traditional)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 (1-ounce) bag freeze dried strawberries (crushed) 1 tablespoon reserved
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar 

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
• Toss chopped fresh strawberries with 1 tablespoon sugar and spread on baking sheet.  Roast for 20 minutes.
• Remove from oven and cool.  Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
• Prepare 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan: Spray with nonstick baking spray and if desired, line with a double layer of foil or parchment paper cut to fit and extended past top of pan – fold over edge of pan. (foil sling)
• Spray the foil/parchment with additional non-stick spray  (This will allow you to remove the brownies from the pan when cool for easy cutting.)
• In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar with mixer.  Add eggs one at a time and mix until just incorporated.
• Add 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, lemon extract and food coloring.
• Stir the flour and salt together in a small bowl and add to wet ingredients along with the crushed freeze dried strawberries (reserve 1 tablespoon for glaze.)
• Mix until just incorporated. Stir in white chocolate chips and the roasted berries.
• Pour into prepared pan and bake for 25-35 minutes (time may vary based on your oven) or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• While baking, make glaze: In small bowl, stir together confectioners sugar, remaining 1 tablespoon crushed freeze dried strawberries, remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice and remaining 1 teaspoon lemon zest.
• Remove brownies from oven and prick evenly 25 times with a fork.  Spread glaze over warm brownies.
• Allow to cool completely. Use overhanging foil/parchment to lift out of pan to large cutting board and cut into 24 squares. (I use my electric knife to cut really neat bars.)

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