Strawberry Pie Bars

Strawberry Season!!! The best time of the year! Nothing can really top last year, when I picked my own berries and then made the best pie of all time. Of course this year is different, but I still got my hands on some Ontario strawberries from the little farmer’s market by my house.

I’ve had these Strawberry Pie Bars from Joy the Baker bookmarked since she posted it last year, and knew they would be the first thing I made. What’s happening here is a buttery shortbread crust that also gets crumbled over the top, and a nice thick filling made with juicy strawberries. Joy suggests using something called ‘minute tapioca’ which thickens the filling, and I actually found this at the grocery store (in the baking aisle, near the cornstarch, which you can use instead if you can’t find it!).

I saved some of these for myself, and then sliced up and shared the rest with my family on Canada Day. I definitely ate a few warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. Summertime bliss!

Strawberry Pie Bars

Source: Joy the Baker

Ingredients

Crust & Crumble

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 3/4 tsp salt

Strawberry Filling

  • 4 cups sliced strawberries
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp butter, melted
  • 2 tbsp minute tapioca or cornstarch

Directions

  1. Line an 8×8″ square baking pan with parchment paper.
  2. For the crust/crumble, cream together the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl until light and fluffy for about 3 minutes. Add the flour and salt and mix again until combined.
  3. Add about 2/3 of the dough to the prepared pan, and press it into an even layer. Chill for 15 minutes, and while it’s chilling, preheat the oven to 375°. Bake the crust for 15-18 minutes, until light golden brown.
  4. While the crust is baking, toss together the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice. Let sit while the crust bakes for about 15 minutes, then add the butter and tapioca/cornstarch and mix in.
  5. When the crust is done, let cool briefly (5-10 minutes), then spread the strawberry mixture evenly over top. Take the remaining crust and crumble it over top (it’ll be soft, so it might help to chill it a bit first). It won’t totally cover the top, but that’s okay.
  6. Bake for 30-40 minutes until strawberry filling is bubbly and the crumble is starting to turn golden brown.
  7. Let cool completely before slicing, and dust with icing sugar before serving.