Strawberry Brownies (with no cake mix)

Fudgy strawberry brownies bursting with real strawberry flavor and topped with strawberry white chocolate ganache. 

This strawberry brownies recipe is made from scratch with absolutely no box cake mix.  It is made with real, fresh strawberries for an authentic flavor bound to please all strawberry lovers.  The fudgy brownies get all their flavor naturally from making homemade strawberry puree which is folded into the strawberry brownie batter and the strawberry frosting (ganache) to make the perfect dessert for Valentine's day, Mother's day, baby showers, or just a fruity summertime sweet treat. 

If you love these easy strawberry brownies, there's a good chance you'll like some of my other strawberry desserts, such as my Strawberry Cupcakes or my Strawberry Angel Food Cake. They all use my method of getting intense strawberry flavor from homemade strawberry puree so you can use simple ingredients for amazing flavor.  Much better than those strawberry cake mix brownies! 

If you love a good twist on the classic brownie, be sure to also check out my Red Velvet Brownies recipe!

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love These Strawberry Brownies
• Ingredients
• Make the Strawberry Puree
• Make the Strawberry Brownies
• Make the Strawberry Ganache
• Decorate your Strawberry Brownies
• White Chocolate Brownie vs Blondie
• Do I have to make my own Strawberry Puree?
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Top tip
• More Strawberry Recipes
• Recipe

Ingredients

• Strawberries - we'll use the strawberries to make homemade strawberry puree, which is where the strawberry brownies get all their flavor.  You can use fresh or frozen strawberries.  For more info on what is best - read my strawberry coulis recipe post. 

• Sugar - Use extra-fine white sugar (caster sugar in the UK).

• White Chocolate - These are white chocolate brownies with strawberry, rather than a blondie which doesn't have chocolate in it at all. So make sure you don't skip the white chocolate! Make sure you use real white chocolate, (either a bar or callets), not chocolate chips for this part, as bake-stable chocolate chips will not melt properly   We'll use it in the brownie batter and also to make the white chocolate ganache.  

• Butter - Use unsalted butter, there is no need to bring it to room temperature as we will be melting it. 

• Eggs - You'll need 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk.  Use large eggs and always free-range if you can. 

• Vanilla - You can use vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.  Try to avoid vanilla essence. 

• Flour - Use All-purpose flour for this strawberry brownie recipe. 

• White Chocolate Chips - Any white chocolate chips or white chocolate chunks are fine here. 

• Heavy Cream - Make sure you use heavy cream, heavy whipping cream or double cream.  It should have at least 33% fat content. 

See recipe card for quantities. 

Make the Strawberry Puree

This strawberry puree is how I get strong and natural flavor in many of my strawberry desserts.  You can find a full, in-depth recipe post about how to make strawberry puree here, but I will give an overview here. 

• Put the strawberries and sugar in a high-sided saucepan on medium heat. 

• Keep heating until the sugar dissolves and the strawberries start to break down. 

• Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and keep boiling to evaporate the majority of the water. 

• Once the mixture is reduced enough that it looks thickened and slightly gelatinous, remove it from the heat and let cool for 15 minutes. 

• Transfer to a food processor or blender and blitz until smooth. 

• For more detail about making strawberry puree, read my strawberry puree recipe post. 

• Let cool completely before using it in the recipe. 
  
  

Make the Strawberry Brownies

• Preheat your oven to 325°F / 170°C and line a 9" square baking pan with parchment paper.  If you don't have a 9" pan, a 10" or 8" will also work, but just know the thickness of the brownies will be different.  

• Put the white chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30-second increments, stirring in between until completely melted and combined. Set aside. 

• In a large bowl, add the sugar, egg, and egg yolk and whisk together for about 30 seconds or until the mixture is thick and pale. This is what will help give the brownies that perfect fudgy texture!  It's easy enough to do this by hand with a regular whisk, but if you prefer you can do it in a stand mixer or with an electric whisk (it won't take the whole 30 seconds if you use an electric mixer or hand mixer though). 

• Add the vanilla and stir in, then pour in the melted butter and white chocolate mixture and mix together until completely combined.  I usually switch from a whisk to a wooden spoon or rubber spatula at this point.  (Or a paddle attachment if you are using a stand mixer).  

• Sift in the dry ingredients including the flour, salt, and baking powder, and fold into the batter. 

• Add 1 cup of the strawberry puree you prepared earlier and fold it into the batter too - be careful not to overmix.  Make sure the puree is at room temperature before adding to the batter, if it is too hot or too cold it may mess up the batter.  

• If you want to make the strawberry brownies super vibrant in color, add a few drops of pink gel food coloring now. This is totally optional as the brownies are still delicious without it - but this will give them a very pretty pink color.
  
  Note: Once you mix the strawberry puree in the raw batter will be a gorgeous pink color, but most of that natural color will bake out in the oven. They will still be pink but it will be subtle, so for a vibrant look, add the food coloring.

• Add in the white chocolate chips and then stir until they are evenly distributed. 

• Pour the strawberry brownie batter into your prepared pan and place it in the preheated oven. 

• Bake for 35 minutes or until you can do the toothpick test and have it come out clean (or just with moist crumbs on).   If you like a super fudgy, moist brownie, you may want to bake them for just a minute or two less.  Cooking times may vary depending on your oven and your cake pan, so it's important to keep an eye on the brownies and test them when they start to look baked. 

• Remove the strawberry brownies from the oven and let them cool in the pan for an hour before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Make the Strawberry Ganache

The strawberry ganache on top of the brownies really turns this simple dessert into something special.  It's a white chocolate ganache mixed with some of the same strawberry puree we made for the strawberry brownie batter.  

Chocolate ganache is an easy recipe, but it can be finicky, so it's important you incorporate the strawberry puree at the right time to prevent the ganache from seizing up. 

• Chop your white chocolate into small pieces and put them into a medium bowl. 

• Heat the cream in a small saucepan on medium heat until you see tiny bubbles start to form on the surface.

• Remove the cream from the heat immediately and pour it over the chopped white chocolate. Let it sit for about a minute. 

• Stir the cream and chocolate together until the chocolate melts completely and it is all smooth and combined. 

• Once the cream and chocolate are completely combined and smooth, then you can add the strawberry puree.  Make sure the puree is at room temperature before adding it as cold puree will shock the ganache. 

• Mix in the puree until everything is one consistent color.  If you want to get a more vibrant color you can add some gel food coloring at this time, but I think it's a very pretty color as it is! 

• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the ganache cool until it is a spreadable consistency - this may take an hour or so depending on the temperature of your kitchen.  You can put it in the fridge to speed up the process if you like.

Decorate your Strawberry Brownies

• Once your strawberry brownies have completely cooled and your strawberry ganache is a spreadable consistency, it's time to decorate!  It's crucial that you don't try to put ganache onto a warm brownie, or it will melt and get very messy.  

• Spoon the ganache over the brownie layer in the center of the brownies while it is still one large piece (i.e. before slicing into individual brownies).  Use an offset spatula or knife to spread it around into all the corners.  

• You can decorate your strawberry brownies with whatever you like.  I opted for some slices of fresh strawberry and some freeze-dried strawberry sprinkled on top.  But you could use sprinkles or chocolate curls or even just leave them plain. 

• Once you are happy with the brownies, slice them into equal squares.  For 9 large brownies, cut the square into thirds horizontally and vertically.  Or for 16 smaller brownies, cut into quarters each way.  

White Chocolate Brownie vs Blondie

It's important to note that these strawberry brownies are really brownies and not blondies.  Some people think that a blondie is a white chocolate brownie, but they are actually completely different things.  

A regular brownie traditionally has cocoa powder in it to give it the chocolatey flavor, whereas blondies have no chocolate in the batter at all (except maybe some chocolate chips).  So making these brownies with white chocolate means they are truly a strawberry brownie and not a strawberry blondie! 

Do I have to make my own Strawberry Puree?

If you really don't want to make the strawberry puree there are a few alternative options, but I will say it is a lot easier to make than you might think and the results are amazing.  

But if you really don't want to, you could try to find pre-made strawberry puree in the grocery store.  Just make sure that you are using actual strawberry puree and not strawberry sauce or strawberry syrup.  Also, you want to choose a puree that is relatively thick, if it comes out super runny it may mess up the consistency of your batter and therefore the texture of the brownies.  

Alternatively, you could try using a seedless strawberry jam.  The flavor will be slightly sweeter and less intense than with a puree, but it should still get the job done.  

If you don't want to use puree at all, you could use a ¼ cup of crushed-up freeze-dried strawberries or even a teaspoon of strawberry extract or emulsion. You might not find these easily at your grocery store but they are both easily available online.  If you do leave out the strawberry puree, add an extra egg to your brownie mix to compensate for the missing moisture. 

Variations

Raspberry Brownies - Or really any kind of fruit you like!  If you can make a puree out of it, you can make these brownies out of it with the exact same recipe and ratios!  Raspberry brownies or Blueberry brownies both sound like a delicious dessert! 

Dark Chocolate Ganache - If you wanted to you could top these strawberry brownies with a dark chocolate or milk chocolate ganache instead of white chocolate.  It wouldn't have the pretty pink color but the strawberry flavor will still come through. 

Strawberry Lemon Brownies - Add the zest and juice of one lemon to your brownie batter to give these brownies a zingy lift of citrus flavor. 

Equipment

• 9" Square Cake Pan - You could also use an 8" or 10" cake pan, but the thickness of the brownies will differ slightly.  

• High-sided saucepan - To make the strawberry puree you'll want a high-sided saucepan to prevent the strawberry from spitting onto your stovetop. 

• Whisk  - Just a regular whisk will do, but you can use a stand mixer or electric whisk if you prefer. 

Storage

Store your strawberry brownies in an airtight container at room temperature, they will be good like this for 3-5 days.  

Note: if you chose to put fresh strawberries on top of your brownies, you should remove these and replace them with fresh ones before serving as they will not do well left out at room temp.  But the brownies themselves and the ganache will be great.  

More Strawberry Recipes

If you love strawberry desserts, you might like to try some of these recipes:

Recipe