Strawberry Shortcake Bars

The recipe, step by step

These strawberry shortcake bars are light and refreshing, deliciously buttery, chewy, crisp and filled with fresh juicy strawberries, making them perfect for summer.

They are also incredibly easy to make, with only a few simple ingredients, most of which you probably already have in your kitchen.

For an alternative in the winter try making this bar recipe with any type of jam (strawberry, raspberry, peach, blackberry, apricot or plum).

Check out some these fruity bar recipes for more inspiration: cherry almond cookie bars, blueberry cheesecake bars or raspberry zserbó.

INGREDIENTS

For this strawberry shortcake bar recipe, all you need are these ingredients:

• Plain (all-purpose) flour – builds structure.

• Caster sugar – adds structure and sweetness to the cookie base.

• Baking powder – is a chemical leavening that increases the volume of the ingredients, creating a nice light texture.

• Pure vanilla extract or paste – adds flavour and enhances the other ingredient flavours in the recipe.

• Butter – adds structure and flavour. I use salted butter for most of my baking as it intensifies the flavours, but feel free to use unsalted if you prefer. Make sure it’s at room temperature before using.

• Egg – helps to bind the ingredients together in both the pastry and the strawberry filling.

• Ground almonds – add flavour to the filling and lightness instead of flour.

• Cornflour (cornstarch)- ensures the filling binds together as it cooks and keeps it light in texture.

• Fresh strawberries – are the hero in this recipe.

• Icing sugar (powdered sugar) – is used for decorating the top of the bars.

• Salt – Dont forget the salt – I highly recommend adding a generous pinch of salt to your desserts. Salt helps balance sweetness and richness while enhancing the other ingredients and bringing out the best flavours in the recipe. Although it may seem contradictory, a small amount of salt can also make sweet foods taste sweeter. Sodium can influence the way our taste receptors respond to sugars, helping us perceive sweetness more clearly. The key is to add just enough to enhance the flavours without making the dessert taste salty.The result is that salt not only alerts our ‘salt sensitivity’, but also our ‘sweet sensitive’ taste buds.

I recommend Maldon Sea salt flakes or Cornish sea salt.

WHAT VARIATIONS CAN I MAKE?

This is where the fun begins.

• Fruits: try peaches, raspberries, blackberries, apricots or plums to name a few.

• Nuts: Try ground hazelnuts instead of almonds. Tastes amazing!

• Spices – try adding spices that compliment the fruit such as cinnamon, cloves or nutmeg.

Nutrition

Serving: one strawberry shortcake bar

Nutrition information is provided as an estimate and may vary depending on the ingredients and portion size used.

STORAGE AND FREEZING

These strawberry shortcake bars will stay fresh for up to 4-5 days in an airtight container.

Freezing: They also freeze well for up to 2 months. To defrost simply leave on the kitchen worktop for half an hour. Serve at room temperature.

TOOLS YOU’LL NEED

Here is some kitchen equipment that I use and recommend for this recipe.

• Large mixing bowl – I recommend the 29 cm Mason Cash cream earthenware mixing bowl because it is sturdy, chip-resistant and has a generous four-litre capacity, making it ideal for everything from cake batters to bread doughs. It is also microwave, freezer and dishwasher safe. You can find this bowl and more of my favourite kitchen tools in my Amazon Baking Essentials collection.

• Electric hand whisk – I recommend the Breville Classic Combo Stand and Hand Mixer because it includes a generous 3.7-litre stainless steel bowl and a convenient stand, so you do not have to hold the mixer throughout use. You can find it and more of my favourite baking equipment in my Amazon Kitchen Equipment collection.

• Square cake pan

My recommendation: Loose Base Square Cake Tin, Professional Gauge Carbon Steel with Eclipse Non-Stick Coating, 20 cm x 20 cm / 8″ x 8″ Cake Pan; Cake Pan, Ideal for bakes and celebration cakes – A great size and good quality non-stick pan for all your traybakes, bars etc…

RECIPE TIPS

Use room temperature ingredients – both the butter and egg should be at room temperature. Cold butter will not cream together properly with the sugars and when combined with the egg will not emulsify correctly, causing the finished baked product to be dense and heavy.

Lining your pan – I highly recommend lining your pan with baking parchment paper. Just greasing the pan just seems to leave complications in removing it from the pan and cutting it. If you line it so that it overhangs by 2-3 cm on each side it will allow you to remove very easily.

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