Strawberry Lemonade Brownies (Cake Mix Strawberry Brownies)
These strawberry brownies are about to change your life. The warm lemon and sweet strawberry overtake your senses, and your mouth is already watering by the time you get one in your hand.
This easy recipe starts with two boxes of cake mix and ends with a pan that looks like it came from a bakery. That pink and yellow swirl? Five swipes of a butter knife.
Why You’ll Love These Strawberry Brownies
- Two boxes, no mixer, no flour to measure. These strawberry cake mix brownies are about as low effort as a from-scratch-looking dessert gets.
- That swirl is one butter knife and five seconds.
- Strawberry and lemon land in the same bite, which is why they taste like a cold glass of strawberry lemonade.
We are brownie people around here. There are more than twenty kinds on this site and that is not an accident.
The one that changed everything was our lemon brownies. Those went absolutely crazy, first in our own house, then with our friends, and then with all of you, and that recipe has never slowed down since.
So of course we started asking what else we could do with the idea. A strawberry lemon dessert was the obvious next stop, because strawberry and lemon belong together the way peanut butter and chocolate do, and because it means the pan comes out pink.
Donna’s Pro Tips for How to Make Strawberry Brownies
- The checkerboard swirl. Drop the two batters into the pan in alternating spoonfuls so it looks like a checkerboard, then pull a butter knife through in four or five long S shapes. Stop while you can still see clear yellow and clear pink, because more passes turn the whole thing one color.
- Pat the berries dry. A paper towel is all it takes, and it’s the difference between berries that bake into the batter and berries that leave wet pockets behind.
- Trust the toothpick, not the top. Thick cake mix batter looks baked long before the middle’s anywhere close.
Strawberry cake mix brownies bake up chewy instead of cakey, and there’s a reason for that.
A cake mix is engineered to make cake once you add the oil and water on the back of the box.
This one leaves the oil out completely and uses lemon juice and eggs for all of the liquid, so the batter carries far less fat than a cake is built for.
Less fat means less tenderizing, the crumb sets up tight and dense, and you get a chewy brownie bite instead of a soft cake one.
The lemon juice does a second job too. Acid brightens sweet the same way salt brightens savory, which is why a strawberry lemon dessert built on two boxes of cake mix tastes like neither one of them.
Strawberry Brownies with Cake Mix: Ingredient Notes
- Cake mix: Anything from 13.25 to 15.25 ounces.
- Strawberries: Fresh is what this is built on, so chop them small and pat them dry before they go anywhere near the batter. Out of season, freeze-dried work beautifully and they soften as they bake.
- Lemons: Buy five. You’ll need the zest and about three quarters of a cup of juice, and zest before you squeeze.
- Powdered sugar: Sift it if yours has been sitting a while, because lumps in a glaze this thin have nowhere to hide.
Strawberry Brownies Recipe Variations
- GO ALL PINK: Two strawberry mixes instead of one of each gives you solid pink brownies. Skip the swirl entirely.
- STRAWBERRY GLAZE: Trade the lemon glaze for Easy Strawberry Glaze and go pink on pink.
- WANT THE WHOLE PAN LEMON? Best Lemon Brownies with Lemony Glaze is the one that started all of this, and it went absolutely crazy with our readers.
More of them live in The Ultimate Guide to Brownie Variations, and the shortest one on the site is 3 Ingredient Brownies.
How Do You Swirl Two Batters for Strawberry Brownies?
Drop them in alternating spoonfuls like a checkerboard, then drag a butter knife through in four or five long S-shaped passes and smooth the top. The trick is stopping early, while you can still see distinct yellow and pink.
How Do You Know When Strawberry Brownies Are Done?
The edges pull away from the parchment and a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Thick batter sets on top before the middle’s ready, so go by the toothpick. If it comes out wet, give it three more minutes and test again.
Can I Put Strawberries in Brownie Mix?
Yes, and fresh chopped berries work beautifully as long as you pat them dry first. Wet fruit’s what leaves soggy spots, and that’s the one thing that trips people up with strawberry brownies with cake mix.
How to Store Strawberry Brownies
This strawberry brownies recipe keeps in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to a week. Let the glaze set completely before you stack them, or you’ll lose that white sheet on top.
Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.
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Strawberry Lemonade Brownies
Ingredients
For the Lemon Batter
- 1 box lemon cake mix, 13.25 to 15.25 ounces
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
For the Strawberry Batter
- 1 box strawberry cake mix, 13.25 to 15.25 ounces
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 large eggs
- 3 ounces fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped, (about 1/2 cup)
For the Glaze
- 6 ounces powdered sugar, about 1 1/2 cups
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- PREHEAT AND LINE THE PAN: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9×13 inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving about 2 inches hanging over the two long sides. Those flaps are your handles for lifting the whole slab out later.
- MIX THE LEMON BATTER: In a medium bowl, stir together 1 box lemon cake mix, 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice, 2 large eggs, and 2 teaspoons lemon zest until you see no dry pockets of mix. The batter will be very thick, closer to soft cookie dough than cake batter. That thickness is what makes these bake up dense and chewy like a brownie.
- MIX THE STRAWBERRY BATTER: In a second medium bowl, stir together 1 box strawberry cake mix, 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice, and 2 large eggs until you see no dry pockets of mix. Pat the 3 ounces fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped dry with a paper towel, then fold them in. Dry berries bake into the batter, and wet ones leave soggy pockets.
- FILL AND SWIRL: Drop big spoonfuls of the lemon batter into the pan in a checkerboard pattern, leaving gaps between them. Fill the gaps with spoonfuls of the strawberry batter until the pan is covered edge to edge. Drag a butter knife through the batter in 4 or 5 long S-shaped passes, then gently smooth the top. Stop while you can still see clear yellow and pink patches. A few passes give you a swirl, and more than that blends it all into one color.
- BAKE: Bake for 25 minutes, until the edges pull away from the parchment and a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Thick cake mix batter can look done on top before the middle is ready, so trust the toothpick. If it comes out wet, bake 3 minutes more and test again.
- COOL AND CUT: Let the pan cool on a wire rack until the bottom of the pan feels cool to the touch, about 1 hour. Lift the slab out using the parchment handles and set it on a cutting board. Trim off the edges if you want neat squares, then cut into 15 pieces. Warm bars will tear, so the full cool gives you clean cuts.
- GLAZE THE BARS: In a small bowl, whisk 6 ounces powdered sugar and 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice until smooth. The glaze should drip off the whisk in a thick ribbon, like honey. If it is too thick, whisk in a few drops of water. If it is too thin, whisk in a spoonful of powdered sugar. Spoon or drizzle the glaze over the bars and let it set until it is no longer sticky when you touch it lightly, about 15 minutes.
Donna’s Notes
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.
Originally published September 2026
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We’re Donna and Chad, the dream team behind The Slow Roasted Italian. Our focus is on taking complicated OUT of the kitchen. Life is busy enough, making meals should be fast and easy, to help make your life as simple as possible. Read More >>
