Strawberry bars are wonderfully delicious cookie crumble bars made with a press in shortbread crust, fresh strawberry filling and a buttery crumb topping. These strawberry crumb bars are quick and easy to make using a few simple ingredients. Make this easy strawberry dessert for the the perfect, refreshing treat to enjoy on a hot day.
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Why Should You Make This Recipe
There is something so refreshing and incredibly delicious about fresh strawberry desserts during the hotter months of the year. I especially love my Strawberry Danish, Strawberry Crumble, Strawberry Dump Cake and Strawberry Shortbread Cookies. After making these strawberry crumble bars, I think I may just have a new favorite easy strawberry dessert!
- Simple pantry ingredients: You only need a handful of basic ingredients to make a both the crust and crumble topping as well as the fresh strawberry filling for these easy strawberry bars.
- You love sweet and tart treats: If being incredibly easy to make wasn’t reason enough, these strawberry crumb bars are the perfect balance of textures and flavors. Plus, they are absolutely stunning to look at!
Ingredients
Before I show you how to make strawberry bars, make sure you have these simple ingredients ready to go!
- Crust and Crumb Topping Ingredients: Gather butter, sugar, vanilla extract, egg yolk, all purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Strawberry Filling Ingredients: Gather fresh strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch.
Substitutions
Here are my recommended substitutions to make this strawberry cookie bar recipe if you need them.
- All purpose flour: To make these strawberry crisp bars gluten free, use a good 1-1 gluten free flour. I recommend using the one from Bob’s Red Mill. Oat flour would also make a delicious substitute for all purpose flour.
- Unsalted Butter: Vegan butter or plant based can also be used in place of regular unsalted butter in this recipe.
- Granulated Sugars: This recipe hasn’t been tested using alternative sugars. However, I love using maple sugar as a refined sugar free option in my other cookie recipes.
- Vanilla Extract: This gives a lovely background flavor to these cookies.
- Egg Yolk: This gives the shortbread cookie crust and crumb topping a bit more chewiness. If needed, omit the egg yolk to have a crunchier cookie bar.
- Strawberries: Feel free to use fresh or frozen strawberries. If using frozen strawberries, thaw the strawberries before using in the recipe.
- Lemon Juice: This gives a tart background flavor to the strawberries. Feel free to use lime juice or water in place of the lemon juice.
- Cornstarch: This helps to thicken the juices releases from the strawberries. Feel free to use another thickening ingredient such as arrowroot.
Variations
- Strawberry Oatmeal Bars: Mix in ½ cup old fashioned or rolled oats into the dry ingredients. Follow the rest of the recipe as written.
- 9 x 13 pan: Double the original recipe. The bars may be a bit thicker and may need a few additional minutes in the oven.
- Lemon Glaze: Mix 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar with 1 - 2 tablespoons (15 - 30 ml) lemon juice until smooth and well combined. Drizzle over the cooled strawberry crumble bars.
How To Make
Learn how to make strawberry bars in a few easy steps.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C). Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper along the bottom and two sides. Add the sliced strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch to a large mixing bowl. Toss the ingredients together until the strawberries are fully coated in the sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch. Set aside while making the shortbread crust and crumble topping.
- Make the butter cookie crust and crumb topping by combining the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a food processor. Pulse 2 -3 times to combine the ingredients. Pulse in cubes of cold butter until the mixture resembles a crumble texture. Finally pulse in the egg yolk and vanilla extract until the mixture starts to clump together.
- Evenly press half of the shortbread mixture into the prepared pan. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chopped strawberries onto the shortbread crust.Top the strawberry filling with the remaining crumble crust mixture. Make sure to cover as much of the strawberry filling as possible, but spots of exposed fresh strawberry filling is fine.
4. Bake the fresh strawberry bars for 35 - 45 minutes or until the crust is a nice golden brown with edges of the crust pulling slightly away from the sides of the pan. The strawberry filling will thicken and bubble. Cool the crumble bars in the pan for 1 hour. If the bars are too soft to easily transfer from the pan after 1 hour at room temperature, transfer to the fridge to set for another hour. Once the bars are set, top with powdered sugar, lemon drizzle or enjoy as is.
How To Make Ahead, Serve, Store, Freeze and Thaw
- Make Ahead: Make the dough for the crisp bars up to 2 days in advance. Store the dough wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge. Bring to room temperature before using in the recipe.
- Serve: straight from the fridge.
- Store: Keep these strawberry bar cookies covered in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 - 4 days.
- Freeze: Make sure the cookie bars with fresh strawberry filling are completely cooled to room temperature. Cut the bars into your preferred amount of pieces. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- Thaw: Transfer the bars to the fridge to thaw overnight. Enjoy straight these easy crumble strawberry bars from the fridge.
M’s Expert Tips
- Bring cold ingredients to room temperature. This allows the ingredients to mix together more evenly which requires less mixing, resulting in deliciously buttery cookie bars.
- Make sure to drain the strawberry juices. Before topping the buttery cookie crust, make sure to slightly drain any excess juice from the strawberry filling.
- Use an 8x8 pan metal pan. This recipe was created using an 8x8 aluminum pan. Double the recipe and make in a 9 x 13 pan.
- Line the baking pan with parchment paper. This helps to release the strawberry cookie crumble bars from the pan more easily.
- Fully cool the bars. In order for these dessert bars to hold together, they need to fully cool. Ideally these bars would cool for 1 hour at room temperature and an hour in the fridge.
FAQs
Are strawberry bars gluten free?
This recipe for strawberry bars can be made gluten free by using gluten free flour.
Can I use frozen strawberries in these crumble bars?
Frozen strawberries can be used in this recipe for strawberry bars. Just make sure to thaw the strawberries before using in the recipe.
Other Cookie Bar Recipes to Try
If you try this Strawberry Bars Recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking! Happy Baking! - M
Strawberry Bars Recipe
Strawberry bars are wonderfully delicious cookie crumble bars made with a press in shortbread crust, fresh strawberry filling and a buttery crumb topping. These strawberry crumb bars are quick and easy to make using a few simple ingredients. Make this easy strawberry dessert for the the perfect, refreshing treat to enjoy on a hot day.
Equipment
- 1 parchment paper
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 knife
- 1 food processor
Ingredients
Fresh Strawberry Filling
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Shortbread Crust and Crumb Topping
- 1½ cups (180 g) all purpose flour
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (113 g) cold unsalted butter, cubed
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C). Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper along the bottom and two sides.
- Add the sliced strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch to a large mixing bowl. Toss the ingredients together until the strawberries are fully coated in the sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch. Set aside while making the shortbread crust and crumble topping.2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced, ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- Make the butter cookie crust and crumb topping by combining the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a food processor. Pulse 2 -3 times to combine the ingredients. Pulse in cubes of cold butter until the mixture resembles a crumble texture. Finally pulse in the egg yolk and vanilla extract until the mixture starts to clump together.1½ cups (180 g) all purpose flour, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon salt, ½ cup (113 g) cold unsalted butter, cubed, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract , 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- Evenly press half of the shortbread mixture into the prepared pan. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chopped strawberries onto the shortbread crust.Top the strawberry filling with the remaining crumble crust mixture. Make sure to cover as much of the strawberry filling as possible, but spots of exposed fresh strawberry filling is fine.
- Bake the fresh strawberry bars for 35 - 45 minutes or until the crust is a nice golden brown with edges of the crust pulling slightly away from the sides of the pan. The strawberry filling will thicken and bubble.
- Cool the crumble bars in the pan for 1 hour. If the bars are too soft to easily transfer from the pan after 1 hour at room temperature, transfer to the fridge to set for another hour. Once the bars are set, top with powdered sugar, lemon drizzle or enjoy as is.
Notes
Store: Keep these strawberry bar cookies covered in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 - 4 days.
See Variations section of the blog post to make these strawberry bars as strawberry oatmeal bars or to top with a lemon glaze.
did you make this recipe?tag @olivesnthyme on Instagram
Courtney Williams says
These are fantastic!!!! Thank you.
I will be baking these again.
Megan says
Hi Courtney, thank you so much for the kind review. These strawberry bars are perfect for spring and summer!