Strawberry Crumb Bars

I really can't believe I'm saying this, but the weather seems to have finally warmed up a little bit! I am however, ignoring this current New England bit of 50 degree situation today. If I tell myself that it's a fluke enough times, it will be. Right? Anyway, last week was actually warm which made me feel like it was time for seasonal fruit baking!



Few things say warm weather baking quite like strawberries in my opinion. Plus, they're just so darn red, fragrant, and pretty! These crumb bars practically screamed spring.

I saw a recipe for blueberry crumb bars from one of my favorite baking blogs but I took the liberty of adjusting the recipe a bit for strawberries. Also, I went big-guns on the strawberry. Also, I ate a few of these with ice cream on top. Worth it!

Pretty little crumb bars, all in their little parchment paper jackets and ready for their 7am photo shoot. Oh, the things I do for lighting...

Strawberry Crumb Bars
Adapted from smittenkitchen

Yield: 24 ish medium sized squares (more for smaller, less for bigger!)

1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup cold, unsalted butter cut into little cubes
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
5 cups fresh strawberries, de-stemmed and diced
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Preheat your oven to 375 and grease a 9x13 baking pan.

In one bowl, mix together 1 cup of the sugar, flour, and baking powder. Add in your salt and lemon zest. Using a fork, pastry cutter, or food processor cut the butter and egg into the mixture until the dough has lots of pea-sized pieces of butter coated in your flour mixture. Press about half of this dough into the bottom of your prepared pan.

For the strawberries, mix together the 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Toss your strawberries until coated and sprinkle this on top of your crust.

Take your remaining crumbs and sprinkle over your strawberries until coated. You may have leftover crumbs after your strawberries are covered (depending on how much you used to make the crust). It's up to you if you want to have extra crumbs on top, or less. Just use or toss!

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the strawberries are bubbling and the crumb topping is slightly brown. If you're using a glass pan, check to see that the bottom crust is also a golden brown.

Cool completely and cut into squares. Serve with ice cream for optimal results!

Enjoy!

Sam