How to Create the Best Strawberry Swirl Brownies You've Ever Had

What’s up y'all? Dave here to check in on you guys. I hope you are having an awesome week! If not, then I hope this brightens it up a tad bit. If you know me you know that brownies are one of my favorite desserts. The corner and edge pieces in particular. It's just something about biting into those extra chewy pieces that I just can’t get enough of.

I love traditional brownies, turtle brownies, cheesecake brownies... Honestly, It’s difficult for me to find a variation or recipe that I don’t like. Sometimes, I like to switch it up from the basic ingredients because there are so many ways to make a brownie, most of them are absolutely delicious, and very few of them are wrong (in my extremely humble opinion).

Recently I made some strawberry syrup from scratch and it was straight... fire. So, I started experimenting with different uses for it and the other day I decided to infuse some of it into a brownie recipe. I’ve always loved Chocolate covered fruit, strawberries in particular. So I was hyped to have this chance to chef something up with this pairing of flavors. I gotta say I’m extremely pleased with the results.

This is a fun, fruitful, twist on the traditional brownie that I really enjoyed making. Just the right amount of strawberry taste that gives you that reminder of chocolate covered strawberries and brings a hint of flavor that plays on your tastebuds without being too overpowering. It’s a great compliment to the rich chocolate flavor.

Growing up I used to eat brownies by the pan! Lol. My mom used to joke that I didn’t have a sweet tooth but a whole mouthful. Thankfully I was blessed with a rocket-speed metabolism. Plus, I stayed active so I was able to burn off the calories pretty easily. Though I learned most of my culinary prowess from my mom, she wasn’t big on baking desserts. So I got into making brownies, cakes and cobblers early on.

I started with brownies from a box not only because they are amazing but mostly because they are simple to make and hard to mess up. The boxed version I really enjoyed was the Turtle Supreme by Pillsbury. That combination was on my mind recently and I started to think of other flavors that might pair well with chocolate.

There are so many (almost too many) to name but I eventually landed on strawberry. Coincidentally, I'd just made homemade strawberry syrup and I wanted to try out the combination. It took a few attempts before I got it perfectly right for my tastebuds.

Since the syrup is pretty sweet I wanted to better control how sweet the actual batter would be for the recipe. For my first batch, I decided to try unsweetened cocoa powder instead of the usual sweetened option. After testing the mixture, I realized using unsweetened or semisweet chocolate chunks to balance that sweetness would be another great alternative so I ultimately chose semisweet chocolate.

This is a really rich and decadent recipe so if you’re monitoring your sugar intake, you may want to limit how many of these you eat. Overall, this is a quick and easy recipe to make that I’m sure your whole family will love!

5 Tips & Tricks for Perfect-Every-Time Brownies

Always line the pan with parchment paper. This will allow you to pull the brownies out and cut them much easier. Using two sheets, lie one horizontally and the other vertically; this way, the batter will still be able to settle into the corners of the pan.
Don’t over-beat the eggs! This will create air pockets in the mix and make them more like cake. In my opinion, brownies are best when thick and gooey. Blend only until it's mixed.
Allow Ingredients to Reach Room Temperature. Too Hot or too cold ingredients will “shock” the rest of the mix and impact the density and texture.
Don’t skimp on using the best ingredients. This is a simple yet extremely important tip. Better ingredients = better taste.
Pulling Out Early > Than Baking too Long. Feel free to pull your brownies out a little early if you aren’t sure if they are finished baking. They’ll keep cooking while cooling on the stove top so If the center is slightly gooey this is a good thing.

Homemade Strawberry Swirl Brownies

Prep time: 15 mins.

Cook Time 40-45 mins.

Ingredients:

4 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup unsweetened or semisweet chocolate
1 cup Dutch cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Homemade strawberry syrup

Instructions:

Combine butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs and vanilla in to a bowl and mix until well-blended.
Sift in flour, cocoa powder, and salt to mixture. Once again mix until blended (but not overly-blended).
Pour into 13x9” pan. Remember to line the pan with parchment paper so that it’s easier to take them out for cutting.
Pour strawberry syrup on top and use a knife to swirl a design. Use as much as you like. Personally, I like to have the strawberry flavor play as a hinted compliment to the chocolate taste.
Bake for 26-30 minutes.
Let cool for about 10 minutes.
Cut and serve.

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