These luscious strawberry crumble bars with a buttery crust, are filled with fresh strawberries and jam, topped with a nutty crumble, and then glazed. Oh my!
Strawberry bars are one of my favorite strawberry desserts.
Made with a buttery shortbread base that holds up the luscious filling; these strawberry squares are a special treat.
Yes, they take a few more steps than say making blondies, but I guarantee you just can’t stop eating them.
The crumble streusel-like topping for the strawberry crumble bars is made with the reserved crust mixture which keeps this strawberry recipe somewhat uncomplicated.
And the fresh strawberries in this recipe require no cooking.
To amp up the strawberry flavor, I also topped the cookie crust with strawberry jam. I love my homemade jam, but any good jam will work, and if you don’t have strawberry, raspberry jam will taste great, too!
After the bars are baked, a simple powdered sugar glaze was drizzled over and though this is completely optional I think you will find that this simple glaze moved these bars from luscious to decadent!
They are such pretty bars that I’ve often made them for Valentine’s Day, but honestly as long as you can find sweet fresh strawberries there is nothing better to use them with.
A Great Strawberry Recipe!
Yes, I adore strawberry shortcake, too, but this strawberry recipe is equally good.
I’ve brought these to new neighbors; I’m not sure if anyone still bring new neighbors cookies, but I like to start things off right. Or at least try.
A few years ago I dropped off cookies to our new neighbors directly next door and after a few months of no acknowledgment I ran into the mom while getting the mail. She thanked me and apologized for not thanking me sooner and basically that was the last I saw of her.
We were quite disappointed because we got along well with our old neighbors of 25 years, and looked forward to continuing the tradition with someone new. Nope. Not this family.
They proceeded to erect a tall fence and their kids never even said hello to us. Now they are gone and we aren’t sure who is coming in-but it can only get better from here!
Contrast that to the neighbors that just moved in, one street over. I dropped off these luscious strawberry bars and Harry, the husband, explained that Cookie, (his wife) was at the grocery. He asked if I wanted to come in.
We chatted a few moments and then I was off to the grocery, too. Later that night Cookie called and proceeded to tell me they ate every one and how thoughtful it was to think of them.
I wasn’t even sure Harry remembered my name but somehow they tracked me down and made the call. I can tell we are going to get along well with these folks-and after all with names like Harry and Cookie-how can we not?
Perchance I brought the wrong cookie a few years ago? Maybe these strawberry bars have more appeal?
No, I don’t really think that was it! However these strawberry crumble bars have a lot going for them. With a buttery, crisp crust, a delectable fresh fruit filling, and a crumble made of nut filled dough, these red ruby bars are truly phenomenal.
The day I made them I offered Manservant a bite. One bite later and he immediately told me to wrap them up and get them out of the house.
Not much better compliment, than that, huh?
A Few More:
Strawberry Crepes
Black Pepper Strawberry Jam
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Strawberry Crumble Bars
- Prep Time: 25 Minutes
- Cook Time: 45 Minutes
- Total Time: 60 Minutes
- Yield: 1 13 x 9 pan 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Strawberry bars with a crumble topping and glaze are one of the best ways to eat strawberries, IMO!
Ingredients
Crust
4 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
2/3 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
4 c unbleached flour
1 1/2 t kosher salt
2/3 c chopped toasted walnuts
1 t cinnamon
Strawberry Filling
1/3 c sugar
1 1/2 lbs washed and hulled strawberries, sliced
1 T lemon juice
1/4 t cinnamon
1 T balsamic vinegar
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4–5 T of strawberry or raspberry jam
Glaze
6 T unsalted butter, melted
3 c powdered sugar
about 1/4 c milk or until glaze reaches drizzling consistency
1/2 t vanilla
Dehydrated dried, unsweetened strawberries (optional)
Instructions
Line a 13 x 9 pan with parchment paper so that the paper hangs over the edges of the pan. (This is so dough won’t stick but also allows you to remove the bars from the pan after baking to slice them easier.)
For the crust: Place butter, sugars, and vanilla in a stand mixer. Beat with paddle attachment for about 3-5 minutes or until light colored and fluffy. Stop mixer. Scrape down sides of bowl.
Cover bowl with clean towel to avoid flour flying around. Add flour and salt and mix on low until combined.
Press 2/3 of the dough on to the bottom of the pan and a 1/2″ up the sides. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Reserve 1/3 of the dough for the crumble.
Preheat oven to 375.
Stir chopped nuts and cinnamon into the rest of the dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill.
After crust has chilled, bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Prepare the filling by mixing filling ingredients together in a large bowl.
After removing crust from oven, spread the jam lightly over the baked crust. Top with the filling.
Remove remaining dough from refrigerator and form into balls and scatter over the top. Bake 25 minutes or until light golden brown.
While bars are baking prepare the glaze. Melt butter and stir in powdered sugar. Add milk and vanilla and stir with a small whisk until a glaze of drizzling consistency is formed.
After bars have cooled, drizzle with glaze. I also crumbled some dried strawberries over the top and into the glaze to give a little pink hue and a touch of strawberry flavor to the glaze, though this is totally optional!
Notes
Glaze is optional but is so good!
Keywords: strawberry desserts, strawberry recipes, strawberry bar, strawberry squares, strawberry crumble bars
Chef Mimi
Friday 28th of April 2023
These look really tasty. They’d be fun to make with my grand kids!
Abbe
Friday 28th of April 2023
They would be great for the grandkids. And they should be eaten right away or they tend to get a bit moist after a few days! Enjoy!
Karen (Back Road Journal)
Thursday 28th of January 2021
In your recipe you said "remove dough from refrigerator and form into balls and scatter over the top". I'm curious about the size of the balls...I could tell from your photos.
Pam
Tuesday 26th of January 2021
Funny? with the neighbor! I've given cookies to neighbors many times, always good to be friendly with the neighbors! We did have ones next door years ago , like the ones you described. The wife would always sit in the backseat when they went somewhere, she'd never answer the phone or door, etc. We neighbors were all so happy when they moved! 😉 Your strawberry bars look delicious, my family, the strawberry lovers, would be thrilled to have a plate of them! You're a good neighbor, Abbe!
Jeff the Chef
Monday 30th of July 2018
I doubt you brought the wrong cookie. How could you go wrong with these beauties? No, some people just don't get it. I think that you do not only the right thing, but a very important thing, by bringing something like this to the new neighbors. When I bought my first house, a couple a few doors down stopped in one day with a bottle of wine, and insisted on not staying much longer than to introduce themselves and leave the wine. I really, really appreciated it. It was a friendly, welcoming gesture, and the brevity of it also acknowledged the fact that I was just still in the midst of moving in and had a lot to do. It was really an invitation, and of course I followed up on it in good time and stopped in on them. We soon became good friends. And you can't underestimate how important it is to be on friendly terms with your neighbors. Even though I've lived here a long time now, still, if I'm baking bread - one always bakes two loaves, of course - I keep one for myself, and drop the other one at one of my neighbors, just to keep the good vibes rolling.
Abbe Odenwalder
Monday 30th of July 2018
So true Jeff. We've been in our neighborhood for 27 years and still can't believe that the neighbors we made back then are still here. And we can depend on them for everything...but mostly a great friendship!
Kelly Lynns Sweets and Treats
Wednesday 25th of July 2018
These look delicious! I just moved into a new housing development and am probably overdue to bring something to the neighbors! I should make these! Pinned!! Good luck with your new neighbors :)