Strawberry Blondies with Dark Chocolate Recipe

Sinkology is proud to present Emily Schuermann, our food-loving guest blogger who runs Food for a Year. Emily is here to share some recipes she has created exclusively for the Sinkology blog that reflect her view of a copper sink: simple, timeless, affordable, and beautifully rustic.

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This month, I am sharing a sweet twist on the classic blondie. Thanks to the addition of a few special ingredients, this old favorite gets a fresh look ((and taste)).

One of the things that makes the blondie a classic dessert solution is how very simple it is to make. This cross between a chocolate chip cookie and a brownie calls for a short-list of staple ingredients, is baked in one dish, and can be mixed by hand in under 5 minutes.

In order to transform this blondie into a strawberry blondie, you’ll need strawberry preserves and dehydrated strawberries. You may be thinking dehydrated strawberries sound a little bizarre – but they are so flavor packed. Fresh and frozen strawberries would add too much moisture making these blondies nearly impossible to bake. Dried strawberries would probably be a good substitute but the flavor would not be quite as potent. 

I purchased dehydrated strawberries at Trader Joe’s, but they can found on Amazon as well. 

Simply combine all of the ingredients (except the flour and chocolate) and stir to combine.

After giving the ingredients a good stir, allow the mixture to rest for 15 minutes. This gives the dehydrated strawberries a chance to absorb some moisture and will help with the final texture of the blondies.

For the chocolate, I used a high quality dark chocolate ball and chopped them in half. But you can use your favorite milk or dark chocolate, either chopped or for a simpler solution, just use chips.

Gently fold in the flour & chocolate, being careful not to over-mix. By leaving some small pockets of flour, you can be sure the batter is not over-worked. You may be wondering how you can over-work batter and why it even matters. Well, with the amount of flour in this recipe, over-beating the batter can lead to dry, tough blondies. No one wants a dry, tough blondie – right?!

Bake the strawberry blondies in an 8″ x 8″ square or 10″ x 7″ rectangular baking pan for approximately 40 minutes at 350°. Once baking time is completed, allow the blondies to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. It’s important to wait because the blondies are quite gooey when first taken out of the oven.

Once cooled slightly, cut and serve. I think a dollop of sweetened whipped cream and a drizzle of dark chocolate ganache (or syrup) will put this dessert straight over the top!

The sweet strawberry aroma greets you before you can even take that first warm gooey bite. But once that strawberry blondie reaches your tastebuds, there is no mistaking. Dark oozy chocolate mixed with that perfect strawberry flavor. It’s like the best chocolate-dipped strawberries wrapped up in a warm brown sugar blondie. Heavenly.

Before we get to the recipe details, let me share one more thing I LOVE about this recipe! It’s so easy to make ahead or give as a gift! Simply place the flour, salt, chocolate chips and dehydrated strawberries in a lidded jar and store up to 6 months. If giving as a gift (think awesome teacher gift idea!) print out the recipe ((and additional ingredients required)) and a cute oversized gift tag. How perfect is that?!