Nine ingredients and an hour, in one 8-inch square pan.
The white chocolate is divided. Most of it is pressed in before baking and the rest goes on afterwards, along with a drizzle of melted white chocolate.
Why This Recipe Works
- Melted butter with brown sugar gives the dense chewy blondie crumb.
- Thick preserves hold their shape in a swirl where a thin jam would bleed.
- Swirling deeply rather than spreading puts strawberry all through the bar.
- Chunks pressed in before baking melt into pockets rather than sitting on top.
- Drizzling after cooling keeps the white chocolate glossy rather than scorched.
Ingredient Notes
- Melted butter and brown sugar
- Half a cup and three quarters of a cup. Melted rather than creamed, which is what makes a blondie dense instead of cakey.
- Thick strawberry preserves with seeds
- Half a cup. Thick and seeded specifically — the seeds are visible in the swirls of the finished bar.
- White chocolate chunks, divided
- Three quarters of a cup. Most are pressed in before baking and the rest are added after cooling.
- White chocolate for melting
- Two ounces, drizzled once the bars are cool. White chocolate scorches easily, so it never goes into the oven melted.
How to Make It
Oven to 350°F, an 8-inch square pan lined
Heat oven to 350°F and line an 8-inch square pan.
Butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla whisked, flour folded in
Whisk butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla; fold in flour and salt.
Batter spread, preserves spooned over and swirled deeply through
Spread batter in the pan, spoon strawberry preserves over it, and swirl deeply through the crumb.
Most chunks pressed in, baked twenty-five to thirty minutes until set
Press most white-chocolate chunks into the top and bake 25 to 30 minutes until set.
Cooled, drizzled with melted white chocolate, remaining chunks on, cut thick
Cool, drizzle with melted white chocolate, add remaining chunks, and cut into thick bars.
Swirled Through, Not Layered On
This strawberry bar is pale all the way through, with the strawberry running inside the crumb rather than above it - and every step below is about getting it there and keeping it there.
The blondie base - MELTED butter, BROWN sugar, no cocoa
1/2 cup MELTED BUTTER whisked with 3/4 cup BROWN SUGAR, 1 EGG and 1 tsp VANILLA, then 1 cup FLOUR and 1/4 tsp salt FOLDED in. Melted rather than creamed butter puts no air into the batter, which is what gives a blondie its dense chew rather than a cakey lift. Brown sugar brings the molasses note that makes it a blondie at all. And there is no cocoa anywhere: this base is a PALE BLONDIE-TYPE BAR and not a chocolate brownie.
1/2 cup of THICK, SEEDED preserves - SWIRLED DEEPLY
Spooned over the spread batter and SWIRLED DEEPLY THROUGH THE CRUMB. Two requirements on the jam and one on the technique. THICK, because a thin jam disperses into the batter and tints the whole bar pink instead of marbling it. WITH SEEDS, because the seeds are visible in the red swirls of the finished bar. And DEEPLY - a knife dragged across the surface leaves a pattern on top only, where pushing down into the batter and lifting is what puts strawberry through the middle of every bar.
MOST of the white chocolate chunks, pressed in BEFORE the bake
The larger share of the 3/4 cup PRESSED INTO THE TOP. Pressed in rather than scattered on: chunks sitting loose on the surface scorch at 350F, where chunks half-buried in batter melt into soft pockets and stay pale. The ingredient list says DIVIDED because the rest is doing a different job later.
25 to 30 minutes at 350°F, UNTIL SET
Set rather than browned. A blondie carries a lot of sugar and keeps cooking on residual heat after it leaves the oven, so a bar baked until it looks done in the pan will be dry once cool. The edges firm first and the centre catches up as it cools.
COOLED, then 2 oz of MELTED WHITE CHOCOLATE drizzled over, the REMAINING CHUNKS added, and CUT INTO THICK BARS. Cooled first for two reasons: white chocolate drizzled onto a warm bar soaks in and disappears, and it seizes if it meets residual heat. This is why the white chocolate appears twice - baked-in pockets and a glossy drizzle, which is exactly what the photograph shows. Nothing else goes on: NO ICING, NO GLAZE and NO FRESH FRUIT GARNISH.
Success Tips
- Use thick preserves; a runny jam bleeds into the batter instead of swirling.
- Push the swirl right down through the batter rather than dragging the surface.
- Cool completely before drizzling, or the melted chocolate simply soaks in.
Serving Ideas
Sixteen thick pale bars with a dense blondie crumb marbled with bright red seeded strawberry swirls, topped with large white chocolate chunks and a melted white chocolate drizzle.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should the preserves sit on top?
No. They are spooned over and then swirled deeply through the batter, so the strawberry runs all the way through the bar rather than forming a layer.
Are these brownies?
No. The base is a pale blondie — melted butter and brown sugar with no cocoa in it at all.
Is there icing on these?
None. The finish is white chocolate: chunks baked in, more added after, and a melted drizzle. No icing, no glaze and no fresh fruit.
