Strawberries, the great herald of Spring and brighter days to come. I revel in it! In fact, I very rarely eat strawberries except when they are in season locally, so I look forward to this brief time all year. Of course, I eat them as is and I make jam, but I love to explore fun and creative recipes to use them all up. I have always been a fan of strawberry cake, and in a way I feel like I have recreated it in bar form. Tender, moist bars with lashings of rich frosting and bright strawberry flavor. The bars are a bit denser and chewier – like a blondie – and I’ve added little pops of white chocolate to keep things interesting. These bars are stunning to serve – imagine these at a shower or graduation party!
I do add some food coloring to these, because fresh strawberries just do not bake up the lovely pink the batter appears before baking. But it is totally up to you – the bars will be a dull color but the frosting is naturally vibrant. Reducing the fresh strawberry puree concentrates the flavor and the sweetness and really adds depth to these bars. I like Ghiradelli white chocolate chips for this. The bars will keep in an airtight container for two days.
Kitchen Favorites
Ingredients
- For the Blondies
16 ounces fresh strawberries
10 Tablespoons butter (2 sticks plus 2 Tablespoons), melted and cooled
1 cups granulated sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ teaspoon kosher salt
A few drops of pink or red food coloring
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup white chocolate chips
- For the Ganache
2 Tablespoons strawberry puree
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup white chocolate chips
Directions
- For the Blondies
- Hold back about 4 large berries, then hull the rest and drop in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Pour into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the puree is reduced to ½ cup plus about 2 Tablespoons. Leave to cool to room temperature. (I rinse and dry the saucepan and use it to melt the butter and leave it to cool as well).
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 by 8 inch pan with nonstick foil or parchment paper.
- Stir the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl, then stir in the vanilla paste and salt. Add the eggs and stir until completely combined. Stir in the ½ cup of strawberry puree (hold back 2 Tablespoons for the ganache) until it is thoroughly and evenly combined. Add some food coloring here if you want. Add the flour and stir in just until there are no streaks of dry ingredients visible. Add the white chocolate chips. Cut those remaining berries into small pieces to equal about ¼ cup and add to the batter. Stir to evenly distribute everything. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread it into an even layer. Drop the pan on the counter to bang out any air bubbles, then bake for 30 – 35 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, or with just a few crumbs clinging. Cool completely in the pan.
- For the Ganache
- Rinse and dry the saucepan and put the 2 Tablespoons puree, heavy cream and 1 cup white chips in it. Melt over medium low heat, stirring constantly, just until the chocolate is almost completely melted. Remove from the heat and stir until smooth (the chocolate will continue to melt). Pour over the brownies and spread to an even layer. Leave to set.
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