Summer Strawberry and Citrus Blondies Recipe

Summer Strawberry and Citrus Blondies cooling on a rack

Summer Strawberry and Citrus Blondie batter in the brownie pan and ready to go in the oven

Fresh from the oven, Summer Strawberry and CItrus Blondies are ready to come out of the pan to cool

This recipe for a summery strawberry and citrus blondie treat was a joint effort with my sister. She messaged me one afternoon to say that she was making brownies but that instead of adding vanilla extract, she had added lemon. Could I help her think through a pivot? I suggested blondies, and we discussed options. I usually prefer caramel-based blondies rather than white chocolate ones, as these can be a bit cloying at times. She had already mixed the sugar with the other ingredients, so the die was cast and white chocolate blondies it was. She then created a version of them, sending me the changes she had ultimately made. When I came to make them myself, I tweaked them further, and this was the result.

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Recipe

Cook time: about 15 minutes prep and 35 minutes in the oven -- Portions: about 24 -- Difficulty: easy

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c sugar

2 tbsp oil

2 tbsp melted butter

4 eggs

1 tsp lemon extract

1/2 tsp raspberry extract

1/2 c (200g) white chocolate, melted and slightly browned.

1 1/2 c flour

1/4 c black tea

1/4 c milk

1/2 c dried strawberries

zest of 1 orange

1) Cream together the sugar, oil and butter, then beat in the eggs. Gradually stir in the other ingredients, mixing until just combined.

2) Pour into a brownie pan and bake at 180°C for 30-35 minutes (or until the blondies have reached your preferred brownie consistency).

3) Cool on a wire rack and enjoy with a good cup of tea (or coffee if that's your thing).

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I was very happy with how these came out, and more than that, it was a delight to get to collaborate on a recipe with my sister, even while on different continents. My estimated cook time above is not what it took me, as Littler Bit needed to be involved and absolutely had to have control of the mixing spoon, so things took a bit longer than they should have for a healthy, somewhat competent adult... but then Littler Bit is neither competent nor an adult so I think we can be forgiven for the time lag. And hey! who needs sensory bins for a toddler when there are baking ingredients to shower the kitchen with instead?

All joking aside, these did turn out rather well. Trying them how I was a bit disappointed as they were tasty but with a thoroughly unnuanced flavour. Only sweetness on blondie-ness came through. Once cooled, though, they remained on the squidgy side of cakes and had a delightfully citrussy-berry flavour to the white chocolate. They were still sweet (they are blondies after all) but not overly so. The grounding notes of the black tea and slight caramelisation of the white chocolate helped. The only downside was that the dried strawberries lost their colour on top, going a dull tan colour. Inside, they were still bright red, though! With their lighter flavour note than brownies, I preferred to pair these with a spiced black tea rather than a glass of milk. These would be perfect for a summer picnic!

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Swaps and substitutions:

• Instead of going a berry route with these, my sister went for lemon and coconut. Instead of the raspberry extract and dried strawberries, add a sprinkling of coconut flakes.

• Try adding slivered almonds, or skip the berries and add pecans or walnuts.

• Make them more citrusy by swapping out the tea for orange or lemon juice, skipping the lemon extract if you do so. This will brighten the flavour, doing away with the slightly deeper note from the tea, so some grounding through the addition of nuts might be beneficial.

• Shoot for a higher note altogether and skip the caramelising of the white chocolate.

• Try swapping out the strawberries for other berries (blueberries, blackberries, black currants could all work nicely) or other fruits. Slices of dried citrus, or other dried fruits, could work very well. Fresh fruits work nicely too, but be advised that they affect the moisture in the blondies and can make them too wet or prone to going off faster.

Book pairing:

While Littler Bit and I were making these blondies, Little Bit was listening to Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales, starting with the Snow Queen, on his Yoto player. As he decided he was anti-headphones for the afternoon, we all got to listen along (it was the audiobook of the week, so we listened along quite a lot, if I'm honest). Writing up the recipe just now, even though it was a few weeks ago, I had images from the fairy tales pop unbidden to mind. I had forgotten how good they are, and I aim to get him into Oscar Wilde's stories next. One of the fairy tales kept making me think of the Nightingale and the Rose. Quite aside from that, the fairy tales seemed to fit with the blondies in a way, so I thought I'd share. I'm also delighted to have succeeded in getting Little Bit into Audiobooks, too, as they are something I live by.