Strawberry Crumb Bars with Vanilla Glaze

These are strawberry bars with a real, cooked-down jammy filling between two layers of buttery shortbread crumble. They bake in a 9×13 pan, cut into 24 bars, and get a vanilla glaze drizzle on top. 🍓

Love Strawberry recipes? Try Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries and Strawberry Glazed Donuts as well.

Strawberry Crumb Bars Summary

Printable instructions are in the recipe card below

• 🗓️ Keeps 24 hours at room temperature or up to 4 days in the fridge (do not freeze)
• 🍓 Cook fresh strawberries with sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice until thick and jammy
• 🧈 Pulse a shortbread-style dough in a food processor until it looks like cookie crumbs
• 🥄 Press two-thirds of the crumbs into the pan, spread on the filling, then scatter the rest on top
• 🔥 Bake at 350°F for 50-55 minutes, until the crumble is light golden brown
• ❄️ Cool completely before cutting. This step matters more than any other
• 🥛 Drizzle with a simple vanilla glaze once the bars are cool

Jump to:

• Strawberry Crumb Bars Summary
• About These Strawberry Bars
• Why You'll Love These Bars
• What You'll Need
• Strawberry Crumb Bars Ingredients
• How to make strawberry crumb bars
• Strawberry Crumb Bars with Vanilla Glaze
• Tips for Perfect Strawberry Bars
• Glaze Tips
• Storage Tips
• Recipe Questions
• Serving suggestions
• Storage instructions
• More delicious strawberry recipes
• Reviews

About These Strawberry Bars

I wanted a strawberry bar that held together when I cut it. Raw berries tossed on dough turn watery in the oven. The bottom crust gets soggy, and the slices slump on the plate.

So I cook the berries first. About a pound of chopped strawberries simmers on the stove with sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice until it thickens into jam. That filling sets up as the bars cool, and each square cuts clean.

The same buttery shortbread crumble makes the base and the topping, so there's only one dough to make. Then comes the vanilla glaze, which makes a pan of bars look like they came from a bakery.

I've been working through fresh berries all season. Before these, I made strawberry lasagna and a berry galette. These bars are the easiest of the three to bring to a BBQ, potluck, or picnic. 🧺

Why You'll Love These Bars

• 🍋 Strawberry lemon filling. It's made from scratch with fresh berries and lemon juice, so it's sweet but not sugary.
• 🥄 Crumbly top, jammy middle. Every bite has buttery crumble, thick fruit, and creamy glaze.
• 🧼 Little cleanup. You use one saucepan, one food processor, and one pan.
• 📏 Feeds a crowd. One 9×13 pan makes 24 bars.

For more ways to use fresh berries, check out my fresh strawberry recipes you'll crave all spring.

What You'll Need

• 🍽️ 9×13 ceramic baking dish, for bars that look like mine in the photos
• 🍳 Medium saucepan for the strawberry filling
• 🥣 Two small bowls, one for the glaze and one for holding the crumbs if needed
• ⚙️ Food processor or electric mixer for the crumble

Strawberry Crumb Bars Ingredients

• 🍓 Strawberries: I used fresh strawberries because they provide brighter color and better texture compared to frozen strawberries.
• 🍋 Lemon juice: Lemon juice helps to balance the sweetness of strawberries and maintains the bright red color of cooked strawberries by preventing oxidation. The pectin in lemon juice also helps thicken the strawberry filling and prevents the filling from becoming overly sweet.
• 🌽 Cornstarch: It thickens the juices released by the strawberries. Cornstarch also absorbs liquid and creates a gel like consistency which is what we are going for in these strawberry bars.
• 🍬 Sugar: Use any regular sugar, or light brown one. I used powdered sugar for the drizzle.
• 🌾 Flour: All purpose flour is all you need.
• 🧂 Baking powder and salt: Both are necessary, yet distinct in what they provide for this recipe. Baking powder causes the strawberry bar batter to rise, while salt combats the sweetness of sugar and serves as a preservative.
• 🧈 Butter: Rich, delicious and just necessary for that buttery taste.
• 🥚 Egg: Basically a binder for the crumb bars. I prefer to use large eggs.
• 🌿 Vanilla extract: Without it, the strawberry crumb bars taste bland and boring.
• 🥛 Milk: The fat in whole milk creates the smooth and shiny sheen for the drizzle

How to make strawberry crumb bars

Scroll to the recipe card for details

1. Cook the filling 🍓 

Put about ⅔ of your chopped strawberries (1 pound) in a medium saucepan with the sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Cook over low heat for 5-6 minutes, stirring often and squishing the berries a little, until they soften and release juice. Raise the heat to medium and stir constantly until the mixture is thick and jammy.

2. Make the crumble 

Pulse the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, cornstarch, and salt in a food processor once or twice. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like cookie crumbs.

3. Add the wet ingredients

Add the egg and vanilla and pulse until the crumbs start to cling. Pinch some between your fingers. It should hold together.

4. Press the base

Put about ⅔ of the crumble in your prepared dish. Press it down firmly and evenly with a spoon or the bottom of a measuring cup.

5. Add the filling

🍓 Spread the strawberry mixture over the base. Shake the dish gently to level it.

6. Top it🧈 

Scatter the remaining crumble evenly over the filling.

7. Bake🔥

Bake at 350°F for 50-55 minutes, until the top is light golden brown.

8. Cool completely❄️

Wait until the pan is fully cool before you cut or glaze.

Tips for Perfect Strawberry Bars

• 🧂 Using unsalted butter? Add ½ teaspoon extra salt to the crumble.
• ⚖️ Measure the flour correctly. Too much makes the bars dry and crumbly, and they won't hold together.
• ⏳ Don't cut them warm. Warm bars fall apart. If you want them warm, spoon them over ice cream and treat them as a crumble. 🍨

Glaze Tips

Your glaze should hold its shape but still pour. Adjust the ratio of powdered sugar to milk until it does.

• 🥛 Too thick? Add milk or heavy cream, 1 teaspoon at a time.
• 💧 Too runny? Stir in more powdered sugar. Adding milk slowly from the start avoids this.
• 🥄 Spoon test. Dip the back of a spoon in the glaze. If it clings and drips very slowly, it's too thick. If it runs off in a thin stream, it's too thin.
• ✨ Sift the powdered sugar so the glaze is smooth and free of lumps.
• ⏰ When to drizzle. Drizzle before or after cutting. Both work, as long as the bars are cool.

Storage Tips

• 🚫 Freezer: I don't recommend freezing them.
• 🍽️ Best within 2 days. That's when the crumble is at its best.
• 🌡️ Room temperature: up to 24 hours in an airtight container. Fresh strawberries mean these bars can mold if left out longer.
• ❄️ Refrigerator: up to 4 days, covered.

Recipe Questions

Can I use frozen strawberries?
I recommend fresh. Frozen berries release a lot of water as they thaw and cook, which can leave the filling runny and the crust soggy.

Can I use other berries?
Yes. I've made these with raspberries and blueberries, and both were delicious.

What should I serve with them?
I like them plain. A scoop of vanilla ice cream is also good. 🍦

Why did my bars fall apart?
Usually they were cut while warm, or the flour was packed into the measuring cup. Let them cool completely and spoon and level your flour.

Serving suggestions

My suggestion is to eat these strawberry bars as is, but you can certainly serve them with ice cream as well.

Storage instructions

• Eat fresh: These strawberry bars are best serve within the first two days.
• Room temperature: You can also store them for up to 24 hours at room temperature in an airtight container.
• Refrigerate: If storing beyond that, refrigerate for up to 4 days. Because I used fresh strawberries, these bars will mold fast if they're out for more than 24 hours. 
• Please do not freeze these bars.

More delicious strawberry recipes

• Strawberry Caprese Skewers
• Berry Cream Cheese Pie
• Strawberry Peach Cake
• Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cake
• Berry Galette