Strawberry Crumb Bars

These easy Strawberry Crumb Bars, with a buttery crust, sweet fresh strawberry filling, and crunchy butter crumb topping make wonderful dessert bars for an afternoon snack, or to take to a summer party, picnic, or potluck.

Why Make Strawberry Crumb Bars?

It is Saturday, the day of my friend’s party, and she tells me to bring a dessert to the party. no worries! There are a number of delicious quick and easy desserts for me to choose from.

However, these Strawberry Crumb Bars are easy to make, especially if you have fresh strawberries, on hand and are super delicious, and I never have leftovers. I like to serve them as a dessert to go with some of my other favorite foods, like Chicken Empanadas, Instant Pot Chicken and Dumplings, or Mahi Mahi.

If you have followed my blog, you will notice that my desserts are usually simple. Often magic bars, fruit bars, or brownies. Nothing complicated. I saw no reason to change that trend. After all, my blog is all about fast, easy, and flavorful recipes.

Strawberry Season (Strawberry Picking Season)

It is strawberry season!! If you are close to one, I highly recommend traveling to the local strawberry farm to pick strawberries. It is so much fun and the strawberries are so fresh and juicy. We have one just outside of town that we love to visit in the Spring. Of course, if you can’t make it to the strawberry farm, just swing by the grocery store where they usually have the fresh strawberries during strawberry season.

There is just something about the juicy, sweet strawberries in the spring and summer that makes me want to serve them in as many things as possible, especially desserts, like the Mini Strawberry Pretzel Desserts and Strawberry Cheesecake Salad, in addition to these Strawberry Crumb Bars.

What Makes This Strawberry Crumb Bars Recipe Work?

These Strawberry Crumb Bars have lots of flavor from sweet fresh strawberries and a buttery crumb crust and topping. Why this recipe works?

• Fresh Strawberries. If you have fresh strawberries on hand, use them. The sweet strawberry filling really makes this dessert.
• Buttery crumb crust. When combined with the sweet strawberries, this buttery crumb crust makes the Strawberry bars extraordinary.
• Tried and true recipe. Don’t take my word about how good this recipe is. Read a couple of the 88 comments from some of the over 200,000 people who pinned this recipe on Pinterest.

I adapted these Strawberry Crumb Bars from my Blueberry Crumb Bars recipe by using fresh strawberries instead of blueberries. Both taste amazing.

I also used only white sugar for these Strawberry Crumb Bars instead of using a combination of white and brown sugar.

The Strawberry Crumb Bars take a little longer than the Blueberry Crumb Bars because you have to chop the fresh strawberries. However, the end result is totally worth the effort.

What Ingredients Do I Need To Make Strawberry Crumb Bars?

See the recipe card at the bottom of the blog post for the specific measurements of each ingredient, as well as detailed instructions for how to make the Strawberry Crumb Bars.

• Granulated Sugar
• All-Purpose Flour
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Butter
• Egg
• Vanilla
• Strawberries
• Cornstarch

What Type of Strawberries To Use For Strawberry Crumb Bars?

• Fresh – The first and recommended option would be to use fresh strawberries. That is what I used when testing this recipe and they work really well.
• Frozen – Some readers have successfully used frozen strawberries, I recommend draining any excess liquid from them before using in the recipe.
• Preserves – A few readers have said they used Strawberry preserves for the filling and loved the bars. I think that would change the taste and texture some from the original recipe but would still be good.

How To Make Strawberry Crumb Bars

1. Make the Crumb Crust and Topping.
   1. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
   2. In a smaller bowl, beat an egg with a fork.
   3. Add the egg and vanilla to the medium bowl with the flour mixture and stir.
   4. With a fork or a pastry cutter, cut VERY COLD butter into the flour mixture. The dough will be very crumbly. (You could also use a food processor for this step.)
2. Make the Strawberry Filling.
   1. In a separate bowl, stir together 1/3 cup sugar with the cornstarch.
   2. Spoon in the fresh strawberries.
   3. Stir until it is combined.
3. Assemble the Strawberry Crumb Bars in the baking pan.
   1. Press half of the dough into the bottom of the pan.
   2. Spoon in the strawberry mixture evenly over the dough.
   3. Crumble the remaining dough over the strawberry mixture. It is ok to not cover all the strawberries.
4. Bake the Strawberry Crumb Bars.
   1. Bake the Strawberry Crumb Bars in a preheated 375 degree F oven for 45 minutes or until the crumb topping is a light golden brown.
5. Cool the Strawberry Crumb Bars.
   1. Let the Strawberry Crumb Bars cool for about 10 minutes and cut into bars.

Recipe Tips For Perfect Strawberry Crumb Bars

1. Fresh Strawberries. As stated above, for the best taste, sweetness, and texture, I recommend using fresh strawberries if they are available.
2. Make sure your butter is very cold. This is extremely important to get the crumb crust to be the correct consistency. If the butter is warm, it starts melting too soon.
3. Make Sure Baking Powder is fresh. Yes, baking powder can go bad after a period of time. Check the date and make sure the baking powder you are using is fresh.
4. Don’t overwork the crumb topping. This also will make the butter melt too soon.
5. Parchment Paper. Place parchment paper in the bottom of your baking dish and let the paper hang over the sides. This will make it easier to remove the strawberry crumb bars after they are baked.
6. Use your food processor for perfect crumb consistency without the work. It just makes it a little easier.
7. Be patient. Patiently wait for these to bake and cool.
8. Double The Recipe.  If you have a crowd to feed, you can easily double the recipe and bake in a 9×13 baking dish. Just change the number of servings in the recipe card below from 9 to 18 to double the amounts of the ingredients.