Growing up in the South, I ate a lot of Strawberries, so nothing feels as comforting as those beautiful succulent reddish-pink morsels to really make me feel at home. When I had to come up with a new brownie recipe idea for Valentine’s Day for my Daughter’s school Meet and Greet for Parents and Teachers, I searched Youtube frantically in an effort to find something new and exciting that was both visually appealing and delicious to impress the school staff and give the family some awesome leftovers. This recipe uses any store-bought brownie mix, so you only have to add strawberries and chocolate chips to the mix.

The brownie recipe with strawberries and an extra chocolate ganache layer (made from chocolate chips)  I found was really simple with straightforward no-nonsense instructions. I made sure to get organic strawberries because strawberries are such a porous fruit, you definitely do not want to scrimp here because that makes the recipe really tasty and much more healthy. I also found some Valentine candy hearts at HEB for my garnishes. I let the kids help with the brownie cooking, which made it even more fun. This project was outstanding for a group atmosphere, everyone got to do their part and contribute but it wasn’t so complicated that things could go wrong. We started by gathering our ingredients:

Ingredients:

• 1 box Brownie Mix  plus ingredients called for on box (or use your favorite homemade brownies)
• 2 1/3 cup Chocolate Chips
• 1 1/2 cup Strawberries (halved)
• 1 cup Heavy Cream

Directions:

Step One

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line an 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper.

Step Two

Prepare Brownie mix according to package instructions.

Step Three

Pour batter into prepared pan until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Step Four

Let cool completely in pan, then top with strawberries.

Make Ganache:

Place Chocolate Chips in a medium heatproof bowl and set aside

Heat Heavy Cream in a small saucepan over medium heat

When bubbles begin to break the surface around the edges of the pan, turn off the heat

Pour hot cream over chocolate chips

Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk constantly until sauce is smooth

Pour over the strawberry layer

Refrigerate brownies until the ganache has set (about 15 minutes)

Slice into squares and serve cold

These Strawberry Brownies are amazing, I know you will love them as much as my family and I did!

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Brownies