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These Strawberry Crumb Bars have three layers of deliciousness! A moist, buttery cake base, fresh sweet strawberries and a thick layer of delicious crumbly streusel!
Do strawberries make you think of Spring? I bet you these Strawberry Crumb Bars will!
Spring has finally sprung here in North Carolina and I'm loving seeing "fresh" everywhere! ...... fresh spring herbs like thyme, rosemary, chives and mint shooting out tiny, verdant leaves in the midst of pots of dead brown twigs in my herb garden. Fresh young, tender leaves of lettuce of every shape and variety reaching up to the warm spring sun, fresh spears of succulent green asparagus, bundled and piled high, greeting me at the grocery store.
And when I checked out the sales flyers this week, each one was boasting great prices on fresh strawberries. Although local berries are just beginning to emerge from their long winter's nap and are still small and green, there are plenty of beautiful berries at the market. I can't resist picking up a carton or two each time I shop and I'm using them in a zillion ways these days.
Strawberries are perfect any time of day!
We enjoy them for breakfast with fresh fruit and granola or sprinkled with a bit of sugar for a delicious dessert, like on these fun Schaumtortes or on a silky smooth cheesecake. They're also wonderful pureed in salad dressings, scattered on salads and, I know it sounds crazy, but a few strawberries sprinkled on top of this pizza might just be the most delicious thing we've ever had the pleasure of eating. I love to make strawberry jam in the spring and stash it away to enjoy all year long.
Are you beginning to get the picture that we're huge strawberry fans here at The Café? Yup, and you'll be sure to see more strawberry recipes like these as we make our way though this lovely season.
This past week, in honor of the lovely weather we've been enjoying, I decided to make a pan of Strawberry Crumb Bars. With family visiting, I thought these would be a fun treat to nibble on. Everyone seemed to love them and they disappeared quickly.
Three layers of deliciousness
Three layers of deliciousness; a moist, tender cake-like base topped with a layer of sweet, fresh strawberries and finished off with a thick topping of buttery crumbs. Definitely a winner and a thumbs up from the whole family!
Don't let the season slip by without making a pan (or two) of these. They're great to tote to picnics, parties and family get-togethers and they'd make a delicious offering on a brunch buffet. Bon appetit!
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Strawberry Crumb Bars
Ingredients
- For the crumb topping:
- 12 tablespoons 6 oz.) butter, melted,
- 1 ½ cup sugar
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- For the strawberry layer:
- 2 ½ cups diced strawberries, cut into ¼ inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ⅓ cup flour
- For the cake:
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 2 cup confectioners' sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Spray a 9 x 13-inch pan with baking spray. Line with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on long sides. Spray parchment paper lightly. Place prepared pan on a sheet pan (this will help keep the bottom from getting too brown as this does bake for an hour).
- To make the streusel, whisk together butter, sugar and salt. Add flour and mix with a fork until large crumbs form. If mixture is too wet and crumbs are not forming, add a bit more flour (this can vary due to the water content of your butter.) Refrigerate until ready to use.
- For the strawberry layer combine strawberries, sugar and flour in a medium bowl. Set aside. Don't try to use food processor, as the berries will turn into a liquid mess
- In another medium bowl, whisk 1 ½ cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside
- For the cake layer, beat butter and confectioners' sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Then beat in eggs, one at a time.
- With mixer on low, beat in vanilla, then flour mixture.
- Spread batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle with strawberry mixture and top with streusel.
- Bake cake until golden and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 55 to 65 minutes. Cover with foil during last 15-20 minutes of baking if the top is getting too brown. Let cool completely in pan. Using paper overhang, lift cake from pan. Cut into bars. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.
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Hi Chris,
Could you make these bars with frozen strawberries, too?
Hi Daniela, I'm afraid frozen strawberries would be too wet for this recipe.
so yummy looking it makes my mouth water have you seen Pakistani food?
I have been making these for a couple years.
I also adapted the filling for apples. Substitute diced up apple for the strawberry, reduce the flour to 2 Tbs and add 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Everything else remains the same.
I find that the topping sometimes gets very hard if made first, so I make the filling first and then the topping. I do still chill it while I make the cake part.
I love that you've adapted this recipe for apples. I will definitely try it! Thanks, Matt!
The bars look amazing! We are celebrating my dad's 80th birthday party and I wanted to prepare as much food as possible in advance. Can these be made ahead of time and then be frozen for a week?
Yes, they can definitely be frozen!
After gawking at your pictures for days, I finally decided to make these bars. They're currently in the oven and the whole streulsel topping melted into one big mass. 🙁 I'm still eating them regardless 🙂 but what did I do wrong? I followed the recipe to a T.
Hi Mouna,
Honestly, I'm not sure what went wrong. The only thing I can think of is that could be the butter. Sometimes certain butters will have a higher water content. So sorry you wasted good ingredients. I hate it when that happens.
Chris
We picked some amazing organic strawberries last weekend, and I was looking for some strawberry bars recipes, and came across your page. I gave the recipe a try: firstly, these bars are super simple to make. Secondly, they are AMAZING to eat - like the best ever! This will be a continuing family favorite in our house. Looking forward to trying with blueberries next!
I'm so glad you enjoyed them Jason!
What dreamy bars, I love the strawberries and crumb pairing!
This looks absolutely inviting and delicious!
Beautiful crumb cake, Chris! Love all those crumbs with moist cake and fresh strawberry filling. Happy spring!
Can't wait to make these. They look delicious.
Chris - these bars are right up my alley! I am pinning to make very soon especially with strawberries starting to taste really good. Have a great weekend!
In the topping, is the 2nd 1/2 cup sugar confectioners sugar or granulated sugar?
Good question. It's granulated.
I was so excited that the 2 pounds of strawberries I bought on sale this week actually tasted like sweet summer strawberries! We eat them year round but this is the time of year when their intense color finally matches their flavor! Your bars look wonderful...the strawberries...the crumb....and the red/black/white color scheme !
Wonderful strawberry bars but I'm afraid I'm more in love with the straws 🙂 LOL What a cute arrangement.
the streusel looks wonderful ..also i'm admiring the paper black and white paper liners and the straws that you use on the milk., very nice and match so well!
Beautiful & delicious. My kids would love them and so would I!
Love everything with crumb, delicious!
I'm so jealous Chris! Strawberries are still in some stores here but they're so sour. I guess I could try these with frozen raspberries.
Chris, what elegant strawberry crumb bars,! We all love crumb toppings and they would be enthusiastically received at our house, no doubt - we can already find strawberries in stores here, not local but from Spain. These bars just look so much like springtime - another wonderful recipe!
I couldn't wait for the berries either. The bars look delicious, but my favorite is your freezer jam. I did not make nearly enough last year, something I intend to remedy this year.
Whoever said a picture is worth a thousand words must have visited your blog!
This looks so luscious! I love strawberries and crumb topping…so perfect for spring!
I love strawberries! These look so tasty ^^
Oh yea, they'd be a big hit here:@)
This looks magnificent. Anything with a berry layer is a winner with me.
This recipe is kindly waiting until my strawberry season begins..that will be after the snowbanks leave..~
This looks so pretty and would make a great Easter brunch dessert!
This recipe is perfect for this time of year, your strawberry crumb bars look delectable! just pinned.
These really look tasty. Love peaches first then strawberries. Ha!!
It will be a while until we Canadians are enjoying strawberries - at least local ones! These bars look wonderful.
Love strawberries and combined with the crumbly top, moist spongy cake on bottom - I bet this is fantastic! SO pretty too!
OMY dear! these look absolutely delicious and perfect just beautiful!
These look wonderful, and would be so good and elegant for an Easter brunch.
These looks so delicious! I love crumb bars. Hugs!