These lemon strawberry crumb bars are like strawberry lemonade in handheld form. Simply combine a buttery brown sugar crust, sweet strawberry filling, and crumbly topping. The crust and crumble topping are made from the same mixture, so there’s no need to dirty an additional bowl. Lemon glaze is the perfect finishing touch!
Here’s a sweet and juicy square to brighten up your day. These lemon strawberry crumb bars are like my raspberry streusel bars in that there’s a crust layer, fruit layer, topping, and glaze. They’re similar to my cranberry crumble pie bars, cherry pie bars, and strawberry rhubarb crumb bars, too. Totally irresistible and seasonally fresh, the bars are relatively easy and pack big flavor.
What I love most in this recipe—and what you’ll find mega convenient—is that they feature a crust and crumb topping that are made from the same dough, just like oatmeal lemon crumble bars.
These Lemon Strawberry Crumb Bars:
- Have a crumbly yet moist brown sugar crust
- Are filled with jammy strawberries
- Go from mixing bowl to oven fairly quickly
- Taste divine with or without lemon glaze
- Are very easy to slice, serve, eat, and freeze
Ingredients in Lemon Strawberry Crumb Bars:
We’re using a similar recipe to both my strawberry rhubarb crumb bars and cranberry bars. You don’t need a fully stocked pantry to make these. In fact, I guarantee you have most of the ingredients on hand!
- All-Purpose Flour: Flour is the base of this recipe.
- Brown Sugar & Granulated Sugar: Sugar sweetens the crust/crumble and the strawberry rhubarb filling. I use brown sugar in the crust/crumble and white granulated sugar in the filling. Feel free to swap these around using all brown sugar for both or all granulated sugar for both. I’ve tested it all and there’s no huge difference except that the crust/crumb topping is a little crumblier when using granulated sugar instead of brown.
- Baking Powder: Baking powder keeps the crust/crumble on the lighter side. Without it, the texture would be a little too hard and dense.
- Salt & Vanilla: Both add flavor.
- Cold Butter: Just like pie crust, biscuits, scones, and even cinnamon coffee cake, cold butter is necessary. We’re cutting the butter into the dry ingredients to create the buttery, flaky, and crumbly texture. The texture would completely change if we used softened or melted butter.
- Eggs: 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk bind the crust/crumble ingredients together. My cranberry crumble bars use 1 egg and some milk, but I find no big difference swapping in eggs. You can also use 2 full eggs if that’s more convenient. (I do this with my strawberry rhubarb bars.) This base recipe is pretty forgiving.
- Strawberries: You can use fresh or frozen strawberries.
- Cornstarch: We’re essentially making a jam as the filling, so cornstarch is necessary to keep the strawberries thick and combined.
- Lemon Zest: Strawberries are pretty soft, so I don’t add additional liquid (like orange or lemon juice) as I do with the cranberry version. However, flavor from a little lemon zest is definitely welcome!
Cold Cold Cold
Make sure the butter is extra cold. If you use warmer butter, the butter will melt before the bars hit the oven. You’ll have a pan of greasy strawberry blobs, not bars. After that, mix in the rest of the crust/crumble mixture. Honestly, the best tool for mixing these wet ingredients into the butter/flour crumbs is your HANDS! It takes me forever to mix with a spoon or spatula.
And here’s a tip: don’t overwork the mixture because your hands may heat up the dough. Remember, we want cold!
Then press about 2/3 of the mixture into a pan. The rest will be used for the crumb topping over the fresh strawberries.
The bars are on the thick side, so they take a good 45-50 minutes in the oven. Then, and here’s where your patience really has to kick in, wait until the bars completely cool before digging in. While SO GOOD when they’re warm, they completely fall apart. Definitely test your patience and wait for them to cool.
Lemon Glaze
If you really want to kick things into high gear, add some lemon glaze. Made from lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar, this 2 ingredient icing couldn’t be easier. Whisk together, then drizzle over the cooled bars.
We use the same glaze to top strawberry sweet rolls, too!
More Dessert Bar Recipes
I love serving brownies & bars because they’re handheld and easy to eat, plus they’re great for freezing and transporting too. I have plenty more flavors and variations:
- Apple Pie Bars (with Salted Caramel!)
- Raspberry Streusel Bars
- Pumpkin Bars
- Pecan Pie Bars
- Lemon Bars
- Blueberry Pie Bars
- Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Bars
And don’t forget about these M&M Cookie Bars, too!
Print
Lemon Strawberry Crumb Bars
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 10 minutes (includes cooling)
- Yield: 18-24 bars
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Lemon strawberry crumb bars bring some blissful sunshine inside with a buttery crust and topping, fresh strawberries, and sweet lemon glaze.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, very cold and cubed
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk*
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 4 cups (650g) chopped strawberries*
- 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
- 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line the bottom and sides of a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides to lift the finished bars out (makes cutting easier!). Set aside.
- Make the crumble mixture for the crust and topping: Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Add the cubed butter and using a pastry cutter, two forks, or a food processor, cut in the butter until all the flour is coated and resembles pea-sized crumbles. (See photo above for a visual.) This takes at least 5 minutes of cutting in with a pastry cutter.
- Whisk the egg, egg yolk, brown sugar, and vanilla together in a small bowl. Pour over the flour/butter mixture and gently mix together until the mixture resembles moist crumbly sand. Use your hands if needed—the mixture comes together easier with your hands than with a spoon. See photo above for a visual.
- You will have about 6 cups of the crust/crumble mixture. Set 2 cups aside. Pour the remaining into the prepared pan and flatten down with your hands or a flat spatula to form an even crust. It will be a little crumbly– that’s ok. Set aside.
- For the filling: Mix the strawberries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, and lemon zest together. Spoon evenly over crust. Crumble the remaining butter/flour mixture on top and gently press down so it’s snug on the strawberry layer.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and the strawberry filling is bubbling on the sides. Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely. I stick mine in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process.
- Whisk the glaze ingredients together and drizzle on top (or you can drizzle on individual squares). Lift the cooled bars out using the overhang on the sides. Cut into squares.
- Cover and store leftover strawberry bars (with or without icing) at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Bars freeze well up to 3 months. Arrange in even layers in a large freezer container between sheets of parchment. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×13-Inch Baking Pan| Pastry Cutter | Zester | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk
- Eggs: You need 1 whole egg + 1 extra egg yolk. Honestly, using 2 full eggs works too—with no other changes to the recipe. (It’s what I do for my strawberry rhubarb bars.) Use 2 full eggs if desired.
- Strawberries: This is about 1 and 1/2 – 2 lbs whole strawberries. Use frozen (do not thaw) if needed.
- No Lemon? Feel free to skip the lemon zest in the bars and swap the lemon glaze for vanilla icing. (Or leave off the icing/glaze completely.)
- Smaller Batch: If a 9×13 pan is too much, you can easily halve the recipe in a 9-inch square pan. And, if you do that, just use 1 egg instead of 1 egg + egg yolk. Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 35-37 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and the filling is bubbling on the sides.
Loved this recipe! I made it for people at work and the tray was gone in half an hour and 5 people asked for the recipe. I did the whole egg version and used the zest from a whole lemon instead of 1 tsp. 10/10 would make again
I enjoy making half recipes, so I followed the suggestion here of reducing the egg +yolk to just one egg. With a medium-large egg, this was too much liquid and turned the crumble into a goo. I felt like I couldn’t save it so I just baked it. It still tasted good but I wouldn’t make this again with that ratio bc it was blobby.
Can you use strawberry pie filling and skip all the other filling ingredients?
Hi Brenda, your own homemade filling recipe or store-bought? I’m sure store-bought would be fine, but if it’s really thin and liquidy, the bars may not set properly.
One of the best recipes I’ve ever made my boyfriend loved them so much! The strawberry and lemon complement each other to well. The crumb part is so buttery and pleasant. They cut nicely. 10/10 recipe I would make them again.
Will this make to 9×9 pans
Hi Rebecca, you can easily halve the recipe in a 9-inch square pan. And, if you do that, just use 1 egg instead of 1 egg + egg yolk. Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 35-37 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and the filling is bubbling on the sides.
I made these to take to the pool and they were a big hit! I got many compliments from my friends and people went back for seconds. I followed the recipe as written, but I mixed up the strawberry filling right before I poured it over the base, so there wasn’t time for them to release their juices with the sugar. I didn’t have any issues with sogginess, but I will probably bake them a touch longer next time. I erred closer to 40 minutes since the top was browning, but I think the base could have used a few more minutes. Thanks for another great recipe!
Solid recipe to use up some of those seasonal strawberries once they are past the point of eating raw. I made this with only 3 cups of strawberries because that’s what I had left from my haul at the strawberry farm. Based on other reviews I mixed the strawberry mixture up first and then I spooned it onto the bottom crust with a slotted spoon to drain off some of the liquid. Next time I’d probably mix the strawberries with the sugar first, then drain some juice, and then mix with cornstarch since I likely lost most of the cornstarch the way that I did it. When it first cooled enough to eat I thought they were pretty good but could see where it needed the extra cup of strawberries. But once they were fully cooled I don’t know that I’d go with a full 4 cups next time either. I can definitely see where they’d get soggy quickly so I’ll probably pop them in a freezer and take them out a few at a time.
I make this recipe a few times every spring and love it. You want to use good strawberries! also to help with the soggy, I mix the filling together first and then pour off about half of the liquid before putting it on top. I also find that they taste best right out of the fridge, the next day.
I made these with fresh picked strawberries. They were a big hit with my family and neighbors. We did find that after 3 days the bottom becomes soggy. So, eat fast or share!
I cut this recipe in half but still used the same amount of cornstarch in with the strawberries because I didn’t want the bars to have the chance of being soggy. They turned out well for me. My husband asked for seconds.
To the person who said theirs didn’t rise- I’m curious if they live in a more elevated area. Elevation can cause that issue too.
I have loved every recipe that I’ve cooked from this site- except this one. Nothing seemed to come out as it should. My “crumble “ was like cookie dough and the strawberries just weren’t that pleasing.
I was very excited to make this recipe, and have had such good luck with many of the recipes on this website. However, these bars were a disappointment. They did not have much flavor at all, were pretty bland and not sweet. Also, they were rather wet and soggy.