Bring a taste of sunshine to your table with these Strawberry Streusel Bars. The ultimate summer dessert recipe that combines a buttery cookie base with a sweet, juicy strawberry filling and a crumbly streusel topping. These fruit dessert bars are sure to be a hit at picnics, potlucks, or a simple sweet treat at home. Made with Betty Crocker cookie mix, they're quick and easy to prepare and are bursting with fresh strawberry flavor.
Recipe Ingredients
Let's break down the delicious components of these Strawberry Streusel Bars!
Butter: Cold butter helps create those delightful pockets of air, resulting in a perfectly crumbly texture for both the base and the streusel.
Cream Cheese: Adding cream cheese to the crust makes it incredibly tender, adds a subtle tang, and contributes to a wonderfully rich flavor.
Sugar Cookie Mix: Your convenient shortcut to baking success! This mix forms the flavorful foundation for both the sturdy cookie base and the delightful streusel topping, ensuring consistent taste and texture every time.
Old-Fashioned Oats: Oats are stirred into the streusel topping, adding a lovely chewiness, a hint of nutty flavor, and extra texture.
Fresh Strawberries: Vibrant, juicy fresh strawberries provide natural sweetness, a burst of fruity flavor, and beautiful color.
Strawberry Jam: This intensifies the strawberry flavor, adds extra sweetness, and helps create a gooey filling that binds all those fresh berries together.
Lemon Juice: It brightens and enhances the natural sweetness of the strawberries, adding a zesty counterpoint that prevents the filling from being overly sweet.
Optional (but highly recommended!) for Serving: Sweetened whipped cream
How to Make Strawberry Streusel Bars
Here's how to make these delicious Strawberry Streusel Bars with some helpful tips for perfect results every time! See the full recipe below for all the details.
1. Prepare Your Cookie Base and Streusel
Keep butter and cream cheese COLD. This is crucial for the cookie base and streusel. Cold fats create a tender, flaky, and crumbly texture. If they get too warm, your crust might be tough or greasy.
2. Mix Up the Strawberry Filling
Combine the chopped fresh strawberries, strawberry jam, and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Give it a good stir until everything is well mixed. The lemon juice is key here to brighten the strawberry flavor!
3. Assemble and Bake Your Bars
Once the cookie base has cooled for 10 minutes, spread your strawberry mixture evenly over it and top with the streusel. Pop the pan back into the oven and bake for 26 to 30 minutes.
4. Cool, Chill, and Enjoy!
This step is crucial for perfectly set bars! Once baked, place the pan on a cooling rack and let it cool for 30 minutes. Then, refrigerate the bars for at least 2 hours before cutting them.
How to Store Strawberry Streusel Bars
To keep your delicious Strawberry Streusel Bars fresh, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Strawberry Streusel Bars
- Prep Time 20 min
- Total 3 hr 50 min
- Servings 16
- Ingredients 8
Ingredients
Cookie Base and Topping
- 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
- 4 oz (half of 8-oz package) cold cream cheese, cut into pieces
- 1 pouch (17.5 oz) Betty Crocker™ Sugar Cookie Mix
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
Filling
- 2 cups chopped fresh strawberries
- 1/2 cup strawberry jam
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Serve with, if desired
- Sweetened whipped cream (see Tips)
Instructions
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Step1
Heat oven to 375°F. Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.
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Step2
In a large bowl, cut butter and cream cheese into cookie mix, using a pastry blender or fork, until mixture is crumbly (do not overmix). Press 3 cups of the mixture into the bottom of the pan.
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Step3
Stir oats into remaining cookie mixture; set aside. Bake cookie base 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes.
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Step4
In a medium bowl, mix strawberries, jam, and lemon juice.
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Step5
Spread strawberry mixture evenly over partially baked crust. Sprinkle reserved cookie and oat mixture over strawberry mixture.
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Step6
Bake 26 to 30 minutes or until light golden brown and bubbling around the edges. Cool on a cooling rack 30 minutes. Refrigerate 2 hours before cutting.
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Step7
For 16 bars, cut into 4 rows by 4 rows. Serve with whipped cream.
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Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 Bar
- Calories
- 240
- Calories from Fat
- 90
- Total Fat
- 10g
- 16%
- Saturated Fat
- 6g
- 28%
- Trans Fat
- 0g
- Cholesterol
- 25mg
- 8%
- Sodium
- 170mg
- 7%
- Potassium
- 75mg
- 2%
- Total Carbohydrate
- 36g
- 12%
- Dietary Fiber
- 0g
- 0%
- Sugars
- 21g
- Protein
- 2g
% Daily Value*:
- Vitamin A
- 6%
- 6%
- Vitamin C
- 10%
- 10%
- Calcium
- 0%
- 0%
- Iron
- 4%
- 4%
