Strawberry Crumble Bars

Strawberry crumble bars have a buttery shortbread crust, sweet jam filling with a brown sugar crumble on top.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword crumble bar, strawberry bars

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1

Servings

Calories 297kcal

Author Wendie

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray.
Prepare the filling: In a large saucepan, combine the chunks of berries, sugar, lemon juice, corn starch, and water. Stir to combine. Bring to a gentle boil over med-high heat. Once it starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid turns into a thick syrup (about 6-8 minutes). Remove the pan from the heat and set it aside.
For the crust/crumble: Using a food processor, hand mixer (or your hands), mix together flour. sugar, egg, baking powder, salt, and vanilla. Slowly add 1/2 cup cold (8 tablespoons) butter mixing until combined. Set aside in a small bowl 1 1/2 cups of the mixture for the topping.
Pour the remaining mixture into the baking dish packing it firmly.
Add to the reserved topping mixture, the brown sugar and oats, and the additional 2 tablespoons of cold butter. Mix until crumbly
Spread the strawberry filling over the crust and sprinkle the topping over the filling.
Bake for 40 minutes the filling will be bubbly and the crust will be golden.
Allow cooling for 1-2 hours to set up before slicing.

Make sure your butter is extremely cold. I cut mine into small pieces and place them in a small bowl in the freezer to keep it really chilled.
If your strawberries are a little more tart. You can add some extra sugar to sweeten them up. Just add 1 tablespoon at a time until desired sweetness.
You can use frozen strawberries but omit the water and let them simmer a bit longer to remove any extra water.
If you don't have a food processor You can use a large mixing bowl and a pastry cutter to mix the buttery crust and crumble mixture, but it will take you much longer to do it by hand.
To store- in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
To freeze- Wrap bars in plastic wrap and place in a ziplock freezer bag or freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 4 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before serving.