Strawberry Shortcake Brownies
Ingredients
Brownies
1 strawberry cake mix
1/2 c. salted butter, melted
2 large eggs
2 T. strawberry gelatin
Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz. block cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. salted butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 to 2 T. heavy cream
Strawberry Shortcake Crumble
20 golden Oreos (1/2 average pkg.)
4 T. strawberry gelatin, remainder
4 T. salted butter, melted
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line an 8x8-inch glass baking dish with parchment paper; spray with non-stick cooking spray, and set aside.
Mix together ½ cup melted butter, eggs, strawberry cake mix, and 2 tablespoons strawberry gelatin in a medium mixing bowl until well-combined (batter will be thick).
Use a rubber spatula to spread the batter into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool completely.
For the frosting, beat together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until combined. Add powdered sugar and heavy cream, and beat until smooth and fluffy.
Spread cream cheese frosting over the cooled brownies.
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse Golden Oreos until they are broken into pieces, making sure there are several larger chunks remaining.
Sprinkle the remaining strawberry gelatin over the cookie crumbs and drizzle with melted butter. Pulse in the food processor a few more times until combined.
Sprinkle cookie crumbles over the strawberry brownies and press down into the frosting.
Cut into squares and serve.
Notes:
You can also bake in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. The brownies will be thinner, but there will still be enough frosting and cookie crumble to cover in thinner layers. The brownies will also bake in less time.
Adding some of the strawberry gelatin into the brownie batter gives them a punch of extra flavor and also helps to make them extra chewy/fudgy.
Oven temperatures vary and may need to be recalibrated periodically to ensure they are accurate. Make sure to keep a close eye on your brownies as the suggested baking time approaches.
Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature so that you don’t end up with lumps in the cream cheese frosting.
These brownies are thick and so sweet and delicious. We cut them into nine 2.5 x 2.5-inch pieces, but 16 smaller pieces would be great for serving with other treats.