Made with a buttery shortbread crust, creamy strawberry filling, and crumble topping, these Strawberry Bars are an easy, delicious dessert.
If you are looking for an easy spring dessert, these Strawberry Bars are the perfect option.
This recipe was inspired by my recipe for Blueberry Bars, but the blueberries have been replaced with sweet, fresh strawberries, making this dessert perfect for spring.
Not only are seasonal, fresh strawberries the star of these bars, but they are also super easy to make, handheld, and transport well, which makes them a go-to dessert option for entertaining, picnicking, or just when the craving for a strawberry dessert hits.
From the creamy filling made with fresh, sweet strawberries to the flaky shortbread crust to the buttery streusel topping, these Strawberry Bars are sweet, bright, and absolutely delicious. You are going to LOVE them!
Notes on Ingredients
- Strawberries: This recipe must be made with fresh strawberries. When defrosted, frozen strawberries will be too soft and give off too much liquid, which will prevent the bars from setting up correctly.
- Sour Cream: You can opt to use full-fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, to save on a few calories. I do not recommend using reduced-fat or fat-free sour cream, as there are added ingredients that change the consistency and taste of the sour cream.
- Butter: It is best to use cold, cubed, unsalted butter for this recipe.
How to Make Strawberry Bars
These strawberry bars are made with only two components--a buttery shortbread and a creamy strawberry filling. The shortbread, which is inspired by my recipe for Homemade Shortbread, is used for both the base of the bars AND the crumble topping, which makes the preparation of the bars that much easier.
- In a food processor fitted with a pastry blade, combine flour, ¼ cup of sugar, and a dash of salt in a food processor fitted with a pastry blade.
- Add in cold, cubed butter and pulse together until pastry dough is crumbly and butter is evenly distributed.
No food processor? Use 2 forks or a pastry mixer to cut the butter into the flour mixture until crumbly.
- Remove ½ cup of the mixture and reserve to use as the streusel topping.
- Press the remaining shortbread mixture evenly into the prepared dish.
- Bake for 15 minutes. I find that prebaking the crust keeps it flaky and tender. If you skip the prebaking, the strawberry filling can soak into the crust, making it soggy and dense.
- While the strawberry bar base is baking, prepare the filling by mixing together the sour creamy, remaining sugar, vanilla, egg, lemon juice, and lemon zest together. Gently fold in the strawberries.
- When the crust comes out of the oven, pour the strawberry batter over the crust.
- Sprinkle the reserved ½ cup crust batter over the berry mixture evenly.
- Return bars to the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes or until pie bars are set and crumble over top is slightly browned.
- Allow to cool for at least an hour before slicing--I found the bars tasted even better the next day if you can wait that long!
Storage
As soon as the bars cool to room temperature, it is best to cover the dish tightly and refrigerate.
These Strawberry Bars are best enjoyed 24 hours after baking. Yet another reason, this dessert is perfect for entertaining. The more you can do in advance the better!
After 24 hours, the strawberry bars are fully chilled, the flavors have melded together and slice like a dream.
After slicing, store any remaining strawberry bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to an additional 4 days.
These bars do not freeze well, as they will become soggy when defrosted.
More Strawberry Recipes
- Strawberry Spinach Salad
- Strawberry Cheesecake Pancakes
- Strawberry & Grape Fruit Salad
- Fresh Strawberry Cake from Once Upon a Kitchen
If you enjoyed these Strawberry Bars, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below. I love hearing from you!
Strawberry Bars
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar divided
- dash of salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter cubed and cold
- ½ cup full-fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg slightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 4 cups fresh strawberries hulled and diced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8x8 baking dish or line with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a food processor, combine flour, ¼ cup sugar, and a dash of salt. Pulse together until pastry dough is crumbly and butter is evenly distributed. Remove ½ cup mixture for later.
- With the remaining batter, press the mixture evenly into the glass baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes.
- While crust is baking, mix together yogurt, remaining ¼ cup sugar, vanilla, egg, lemon juice, and lemon zest together. Gently fold in the strawberries.
- When the crust comes out of the oven, pour the strawberry batter over the crust and sprinkle the reserved ½ cup crust batter over the berry mixture evenly.
- Return to the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes or until pie bars are set and crumble over top is slightly browned.
- Allow the bars to cool for at least an hour before slicing or refrigerate overnight before enjoying.
Laurie
Delicious! I had 2 quarts of ripe strawberries to use up quickly, so I was after a recipe that used more than the usual shortcake and had more shelf life. Excellent flavor - I love that it’s not excessively sweet. Using parchment paper (or, in my case, a mini silicone baking sheet) is key to prevent fruit bars from becoming super glued to the pan. I made 1 1/2x the recipe as the only glass pan I had was 11 x 7”, worked perfectly.
Kristen Chidsey
Thanks for sharing Laurie! So happy to hear you enjoyed the bars!
Donna Burke
These are amazing. The streusel topping is the best!