This is THE BAR.
Imagine a hot summer afternoon when you need something sweet but not too heavy like a 1000 calories brownie. There are tones of fruits the season you can’t even decide which to eat. You find a box of strawberries (or raspberries or even cherries) in the back of your fridge. And you know immediately what you will do with them. The Strawberry Lemonade Bar!
We always argue about the last slice. I found this recipe on the averie cooks website probably one and a half year ago and since then I have made it a billion times with different fruits and it always turned out perfectly!
I modified the recipe a little bit, I usually add more fruit because fruit is never enough, am I right?
It has a crumbly sweet base, on top of that a fresh lemony layer which is mixed with the strawberry filling. The sweet strawberries and the tangy lemon balance each other perfectly. Oh and the crumble bites on the top of the bars! I can’t even imagine anything better than this on a summer day!
And the best thing about this recipe is that you only have to use one big microwave-safe mixing bowl, a fork, a spatula a knife and an 8x8 pan that’s all. So let’s start baking it right now!
Strawberry Lemonade Bars
Prep Time: 20 min. Baking Time: 60-70 min. Total Time: 3+ hours Portion: 9 bigger or 12 smaller squares
Ingredients:
For the base and the crumble:
½ cup or 115g butter
½ cup or 110g granulated sugar
¼ cup or 40g brown sugar
1 and ½ cup or 210g all purpose flour
a pinch of salt
For the lemony filling:
1 egg
½ cup joghurt
1/3 cup or 75g granulated sugar
juice of a half lemon
½ tablespoon vanilla extract (optional)
¼ cup or 35g all purpose flour
For the strawberry layer:
2 and a ½ heaped cups diced strawberry (fresh or frozen )
1/3 cup or 75g granulated sugar
juice of a half lemon
2 tablespoons cornstarch ( you can use flour instead )
2 tablespoons all purpose flour (more if you use frozen berries)
Directions:
1.Preheat the oven to 350 F or 180 C. Line an 8-inch or 20cm square pan with parchment paper.
2.The base and the crumble:
Melt the butter in a large microwave-safe bowl at 30 seconds intervalls around 1 minute.
Add both sugars and mix it well with a fork.
Mix in the flour and salt until you get a dry mixture with smaller and bigger crumbs.
Put aside ¾ cup of the mixture.
Spread the rest of the mixture in the pan and press it down with a spatula until you get a flat, packed base. Set the pan aside.
3.Lemony filling:
You can use the same bowl that you used for the base. Mix together the egg, joghurt, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla with a spoon or spatula.
Add the flour and mix it until there are no more lumps.
Pour the mixture on top of the base and smooth it with a spatula.
4.Strawberry layer:
You can also use the same bowl that you used before. Mix together all the strawberry layer ingredients except flour, with a spoon.
Add the flour if your mixture is too liquidy. If the fruit has too much liquid you can always add more flour or cronstarch.
Spread it over the filling.
5.Sprinkle the ¾ cup crumb even on top of the strawberry layer.
6.Bake it for 60-75 minutes. Put a cookie sheet under your pan just in case if it runs out. I used fresh strawberry and I baked it for 60 minutes. If you use frozen fruit it can takes longer time to bake. I recommend to start checking it after 50 minutes. It isn’t going to be totally set but the filling is going to thicken. After baking put the pan on a wire rack and let it cool down for 2 hours or overnight. You can slice it a lot easier when it’s cold so be patient! :)
P.S. My best part is the slice in the corner, which is your favourite part?
