I love strawberry, so when they are in season, I make sure to make the most of them in my baking. I had used them for my Fruit Pie, Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream, Strawberry Creme Cake, Whole Wheat Strawberry Streusel Muffins, Strawberry Shortbread Cheese Tart and Strawberry Jam. Another one of my favorite dessert to use Strawberry is this Crumble Bars. Why so? Because it taste absolutely delicious, and very easy to prepare.

This recipe is one of my Strawberry go to recipe whenever I go crazy buying Strawberries. I love how something so simple as this could taste so delicious.

This Strawberry Crumble Bar has 3 layers. The base is a buttery crust similar to Shortbread. The middle is a thick layer of fresh Strawberries and the top layer is a mix of the Shortbread crumble and rolled oats.

I love the combination of the buttery crust and sweet and tangy taste of fresh Strawberries. I can eat this for breakfast, or have it as a dessert or a snack. A fantastic pairing with tea and If I really want to make it extra special, I topped it with my Homemade Strawberry or just Vanilla Ice Cream. Let me show you how easy this is to make. Let’s get started!

Dough Ingredients:

• 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed and softened (but not melted, just enough to create a dent when you push your finger in the butter)

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh strawberries  – cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Toppings:

• 4 tbsp rolled oats – I used Porridge Oats and Ancient Grains.  Any other oats will work, but I don’t recommend using instant oats as they are softer
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh strawberry – optional

Note:  Double the recipe for a bigger batch and bake in 8×8-inch pan. Start with the suggested 350F at 35-45 minutes time and adjust baking time as needed.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray with oil and line a 5-inch or  8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Make sure to leave some overhang for easy removal. Set aside.
2. Make the Strawberry Filling: Mix all the filling ingredients and refrigerate while you prepare the crust. Drain and remove excess juice before using later.
3. Make the Crust: In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut the butter into pieces and add it to the mixture. Using a mixer, beat on low-speed until you have coarse crumbs. You can also do it manually using a fork or a pastry cutter.
4. Chill the Crust: Divide the dough crust into 2. Press 3/4 portion into the pan, firmly press it down into an even layer. Put in refrigerator for at least 15 minutes to harden the crust before blind baking (pre-baking) it. Reserve remaining 1/4 portion of the dough mixture for topping, keep refrigerated while you pre-bake the dough crust.
5. Pre-bake the Crust: Take out the chilled crust from the refrigerator. Pre-bake the dough crust at 350°F for about 20-25 minutes or until the top is set and the edges are lightly golden brown. Take out from the oven and add the filling and toppings.
6. Add the Filling & Toppings: Pour the strawberry filling mixture over the pre-baked dough pressed into the pan. Remove the remaining 1/4 of the dough crust from the refrigerator and sprinkle on top of strawberry filling along with the rolled oats and fresh strawberry (if using). Return to the oven and bake at 350°F for 35-45 minutes or until lightly golden brown on the top and the juices are bubbling. Check at 25 minutes mark to see if the top are already browning. Depending on the oats that you are using, it could brown easily.  Remember that the based crust has been baked already, so you only need to topping to bake. As soon as you it nicely browned and bake, you can remove it from the oven even before the 35 – 45 minutes mark.
7. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Let cool completely before slicing.

Makes  6 – 8 bars for big batch (8×8 square pan), and 4 bars for small batch (5×5-square pan)

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Related Posts:

• Blueberry Crumb Bar
• Pina Colada Crumb Bar

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