If you’re looking for a deliciously summery dessert, you’ve found it! These strawberry crumble bars are the essence of summertime, packed full of juicy ripe berries surrounded by yummy oaty sugar cookie! They’re bursting with berries topped with the buttery oaty cookie on top!
I seem to spend the entire summer living off of nothing but fresh, ripe strawberries, cherries, blueberries and tomatoes – you too? I LOVE when they’re in season and dirt cheap – so I’m so pleased that we’re coming into the warmer months!
You’ll love how quick these bars are to put together – make the cookie dough, pop it into the fridge to chill for a little while – and then it’s simply a case of slicing some strawberries and popping the whole thing into a pan. These bars would be lovely with whatever fruits you’d like to try too – raspberries, blueberries – whatever you want. Some chopped mint stirred through the strawberries would be delicious too.
You can easily make these bars by hand, or pull out the stand mixer if you prefer! The key is to make sure that your butter is very soft and they will whip up like a dream. Enjoy!
- 230g / 2 sticks unsalted butter - very soft
- 175g / 1 cup light brown muscavado sugar
- 100g / 1 cup jumbo oats
- 1 large free range egg
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 300g / 2 cups plain flour
- 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
- large pinch salt
- zest of one lemon, or orange if you prefer
- 400g strawberries
- First, preheat your oven to 190c / gas mark 5 / 375f and grease a 9 x 9 inch baking tin. Set aside.
- Next, either in a stand mixer or a large bowl, combine the very soft (almost melting) butter with the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, lemon zest, vanilla bean paste and salt in until well blended.
- Next, slowly stir in your oats, flour and baking powder. You should have a crumbly but sticky dough. Pop it into the fridge for a few minutes while you chop up your strawberries.
- Wash and chop the strawberries, into halves or quarters for bigger berries. Put them into a large bowl and give them a vigorous stir / bash with a wooden spoon.
- Take the cookie dough and press two thirds of it into the bottom of your greased baking tin, using your fingertips to lightly press it down until it evenly covers the base of the tin. Tumble the strawberries out on top, then pinch off small pieces of the remaining cookie dough and strew them over the top of the strawberries. Bake for 35 - 45 minutes on the middle shelf - the top should be gently browned.
- Cool for at least an hour, then cut into squares.
I’ve entered my Strawberry Crumble Bars into Simple and In Season over at Ren Behan Food.
x Kerry
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Diane @ Life of Di. says
May 7, 2015 at 5:19 pmI think these would be delicious for Mother’s Day 🙂 I don’t have vanilla bean paste but do you think I could use vanilla instead? Not sure if there is a difference?
Diane @ Life of Di. recently posted…April: Currently.
Lucy @ BakingQueen74 says
May 5, 2015 at 1:24 pmmmmm they look so delicious Kerry! I too live off summer fruits and tomatoes when they are in season :-). We will have lots of strawberries this summer as we took offshoots from last summer and now have more plants, so I will definitely try these out.
Lucy @ BakingQueen74 recently posted…Nielsen-Massey Baked Vanilla Cheesecake
Claire @foodiequine says
May 4, 2015 at 11:25 pmThese sound amazing however I really want to try making them with Rhubarb.
Claire @foodiequine recently posted…Baileys, Pistachio and Cranberry Fudge
Kerry Cooks says
May 5, 2015 at 11:49 amOoh that’s an inspired idea!
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain says
May 4, 2015 at 3:48 pmI now know what I shall make with some of our strawberry harvest later in the summer 🙂
Angela x
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain recently posted…Kitchenalia #3 – Teapots & Cosies!
Kerry Cooks says
May 5, 2015 at 12:34 pmOoh do you grow them successfully? Amazing!
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain says
May 5, 2015 at 9:18 pmTouch wood, they are growing very nicely. The fruit is already starting to develop on some of the plants. We grow them organically, so it’s now a case of making sure we get to enjoy them before the pesky bugs!
Angela x
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain recently posted…Kitchenalia #3 – Teapots & Cosies!
Janice says
May 4, 2015 at 3:41 pmI can almost smell that jammy cooked strawberry scent from here, what a treat!
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Anita-Clare Field says
May 4, 2015 at 10:16 amThese look delicious, I love fresh strawberries.
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