Strawberry Crunch Brownies Recipe

Strawberry Crunch Brownies Recipe

Written by: Amanda Hugen

Brownie Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup butter flavor vegetable shortening or ½ cup butter
• 1¼ cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons strawberry extract
• 4-7 drops of red food coloring gel (optional)

Crunchies Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour, divided
• ½ cup sugar, divided
• ¾ cup freeze-dried strawberries
• 7 Tablespoons salted butter, room temperature, divided
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:

• 1 - 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
• ½ stick of butter, room temperature
• 1 ½ - 2 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x11 baking pan with nonstick spray. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon baking mat and set both aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt.
3. Place vegetable shortening or butter in large microwave safe bowl and microwave about 1 minute until melted.
4. Once melted add flour mixture, sugar, eggs and yolk, vanilla extract, and strawberry extract. Mix with a large spoon until smooth.
5. For more of a red color brownie, mix in red food coloring gel. (optional)
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (Cool completely, before frosting and add crunchies.)

While brownies are baking make the crunchies.

1. You'll need two bowls; one for the vanilla and one for the strawberry. Add 1/2 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of sugar to each bowl.
2. Add freeze-dried strawberries to a food processor and grind into powder. Add the powder to the bowl for the strawberry crunchies. Stir well.
3. Add 4 tablespoons of butter to the strawberry bowl. Add the vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons of butter to the vanilla bowl. Use a fork to combine each mixture until it comes together to form a crumble.
4. Spread both the strawberry and the vanilla crumble on to the lined baking sheet and bake at 350° for 10 minutes. *Check at 5 minutes, stirring so it doesn't burn (particularly the strawberry as the powder can burn if left in too long.) *Make sure to taste it to see if all of the flour taste has been baked out. If not, bake for a few more minutes, mixing and testing every 2 minutes. No more than 20 minutes total.
5. Let crumble cool completely and use your fingers to break into smaller pieces, if needed. It's ideal for the crunchies pieces to be no larger than a small pea and mix well.

While crunchies are baking and cooling make the frosting.

1. In a separate bowl mix cream cheese, vanilla extract, and butter with hand mixer (or stand mixer) until smooth.
2. Slowly add in powdered sugar a little at a time until frosting is smooth.
3. Beat on high for 20-30 seconds to get everything fluffy.
4. Spread cream cheese frosting over cooled brownies and sprinkle crunchies on top.

Bon Appetit!