These strawberry lemon crumb bars have a naturally lemon flavored shortbread cookie crust, and are topped with sweet strawberry pie filing, and a lemony drizzle.
Are you ready for more spring and summer-esque weather? I know I am (well, as long as it it doesn’t get too hot.) I like the winter, except when I have to drive in it, but when it seems to keep dragging on and on forever? Well, that’s when it’s time to bring out the big guns. . .
Berries! I feel like nothing can make a day brighter than a delicious dessert with berries in it. And, of course, adding lemon to something always makes it a little more tasty. I’m a huge fan of strawberry lemonade, and these strawberry lemon bars are inspired by that!
Even when you don’t have access to fresh berries, using high quality pie filling can be a great substitute. This dessert calls for 2 cans of strawberry filling, and we used Lucky Leaf — no high fructose corn syrup, and it tastes fantabulous. My mom gave me this recipe, and it was so easy to throw together.
The crust is like a shortbread cookie, which pairs perfectly with the sweetness of the strawberries, and the citrus of the lemon. I cut back on the sugar and butter a little bit, so it wasn’t super, super sweet…but if you like your cookie base to be a little bit more sweet, I’ve included the original measurements.
It sounds (and looks) a little bit weird to drop pieces of dough across the pie filling, but it somehow works. They taste like little drops of candy. Yum! This recipe also makes a lot, so it’s perfect for a summer or spring party.
Strawberry Lemon Crumb Bars
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks butter, 2 sticks for slightly sweeter version
- 1 1/4 cup sugar, 1 3/4 cups for slightly sweeter version
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 cup flour
- 2 21 ounce cans of strawberry pie filling
- Lemon Glaze
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1-3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream together butter and sugar.
- Add eggs, vanilla, lemon juice, baking powder, and flour.
- Mix until everything combines to make a dough.
- Press the 2/3 of the dough into a greased jelly roll pan (cookie sheet with sides)
- Spread two cans of pie filling across the top.
- Drop small pieces of remaining dough across the top of the pie filling
- Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the dough crumbs start to brown.
- Drizzle with the lemon glaze (recipe below)
- Lemon Glaze
- Mix together with a hand mixer all the ingredients until it appears glaze like. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
Tonya Mathis says
Thanks for the great recipe. My husband will love this, his two favorite flavors, lemon and strawberry mixed together.
Katie says
I hope he enjoys it!
ang says
YUM! These look amazing! I pinned them 🙂
Cathy says
Did you use salted or unsalted butter?
Katie says
I used salted 🙂
Andi @ The Weary Chef says
These look delicious, and Gerber daisies are my favorite flowers! That’s what we had for our wedding flowers, so this post brings back memories of that 🙂
Katie says
What a beautiful choice for a wedding! They are just so bright and happy 🙂