Lemon-Strawberry Bars

As you may have seen on my website before, I made a Strawberry Poundcake based on the bakery scents that were present at Bath and Body Works. I got a lot of compliments from the cake, but for me, it was on the sweeter side and I like things that have a little bit of bite. Thus, the Lemon-Strawberry Bars came to mind. Luckily, my friend Audrey wanted to help bake with me this time, so we were able to whip up these bars in no time. However, if you like this recipe and haven’t tried the Strawberry Poundcake one, I would definitely recommend that as the next go-to recipe.

Prep Time: 15 Mins.

Cook Time: 25-30 Mins.

Cool Time: 10 Mins

Total Time: 50-55 Mins

Ingredients for Lemon-Strawberry Bars:

• 2 sticks of Unsalted Butter (Room Temperature)

• ¾ of a cup of Granulated Sugar

• 1 Egg

• ¼ of a cup of Lemon Juice*

• 2 ¼ cups of All-Purpose Flour

• ½ a teaspoon of Baking Powder

• ½ a teaspoon of Salt

• 1 cup of diced Strawberries

Lemon-Strawberry Glaze:

• 1 cup of sifted Powdered Sugar

• 1 tablespoon of crushed Strawberries

• 1 tablespoon of Lemon Juice*

*If you want to use freshly squeezed Lemon Juice, that is a great option. However, if you want to get Lemon Juice and not make such a mess, the store-bought kind is perfectly fine as well.

1. To start off, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Following this, prepare a 9-inch square pan with parchment paper. One problem I personally ran into was the fact that I was out of parchment paper, so I ended up coating the bottom of the pan with butter, then spread flour out over the butter. This will then help the dessert come out of the pan after it has been baked.

3. Next, put the 2 sticks of room temperature Butter into the mixer. Once it appears creamy, add the ¾ of a cup of Granulated Sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Then, add 1 Egg.

4. Once it is clear that the Egg is fully combined within the mixture, incorporate ¼ of a cup of Lemon Juice. It may look like this and that is completely okay.

5. In a separate bowl, add 2 ¼ cups of All-Purpose Flour, ½ a teaspoon of Baking Powder, and ½ a teaspoon of Salt. Mix these three ingredients together until combined.

6. After the dry ingredients have been sufficiently combined, begin to slowly incorporate the dry mixture into the wet mixture. I would do it slowly, adding about ½ a cup every time the batter looks completely combined until the dry mixture is completely mixed in. It should look like this.

7. When you have diced 1 cup of Strawberries, slowly fold them into the batter. It should look like this when you are finished.

8. Next, spread the batter out into the 9-inch pan that is either parchment-lined or butter and flour coated. The mixture will be thicker than expected, so it may take a little bit of time to evenly disperse the batter. When finished, it should look like this

9. Once the batter is evenly dispersed, place it in the oven for 25-30 minutes. It should be golden brown at the edges by the time it is finished.

10. After the dessert has been taken out of the oven, allow it to cool in the pan while you prepare the Lemon-Strawberry Glaze. The baked bars should look like this.

11. Sift 1 cup of Powdered Sugar into the mixer. Then, dump in 1 tablespoon of crushed Strawberries as well as 1 tablespoon of Lemon Juice. Mine came out the first time, but if your glaze becomes too thick, add a little bit more Powdered Sugar. If the glaze is too thin, add a little bit more Lemon Juice.

12. Once the glaze is complete, and the bars have cooled, add the glaze on top. It should look like this.

13. Next, cut them up to serve and enjoy!

I hope that you, your family, and your friends love this recipe. This recipe is pretty easy and fun to make with others as well. After all, Audrey and I had a great time baking these delicious treats. Hopefully, you found this recipe easy to follow and you come back to my blog to find more recipes that you enjoy!