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Strawberry Pie Bars

May 11, 2018 by Joy the Baker 56 Comments

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On the long list of things that sparkle this season is the fact that my back porch smells like gardenias.  The closed blossoms have a new, green perfumey smell that only deepens as the flower blooms to bright white and ages to yellow.  

The beauty is so present these days, the young greens, and the flowering trees – it feels like, if we’re paying enough attention we surely have an embarrassment of riches on our hands.  

I suppose the best way is to breath deeply, soak in that still mild sunshine, and but all of the strawberries at the market we can get our hands on.  Well… at least a few pints at a time. 

I hope this finds you looking forward to a lovely Spring weekend celebrating the mothers around you or the mother within you.  And let there be strawberries.  

We’re headed halfway towards pie with these bars.  

Think: thick shortbread crust and a pecan-studded almost-cookie topping sandwiches several heaping cups of fresh strawberries.  YES.

At The Bakehouse a few weeks back, we made loads of strawberry pies to celebrate the season and everyone took their pies home – warm pies wrapped for the taking – in these sweet Millie Lottie Tote! 

Let’s make! 

Here’s what you’ll need for these pie bars: 

•  Flour + sugar + butter, cinnamon, and salt for a shortbread press-in crust that doubles as a crumble topping.  

•  Pecans to turn the crust into crumble top.  If nuts aren’t for you, oats will do! (That was a poem, clearly.)

•  Two green baskets of fresh strawberries.  The closer those strawberries  grow from the oven you’re going to cook them in, the better they’ll be.  That’s just one of the ways the world works. 

•  Sugar and lemon juice to macerate the strawberries.  Ground ginger and nutmeg for a hint of spice. Melted butter because, always. 

•  Minute tapioca pudding as our thickener. (Linked, but you should be able to find it at the grocery.)  I find it works better than cornstarch for juicy strawberries.  

We’ll start by making the crust.  

Two sticks (that’s one cup) of unsalted, softened butter goes into a bowl.  

Two kinds of sugar:  granulated and brown.  

A splash of pure vanilla extract.  Whip until pale and fluffy.  

To the fluffy butter we’ll add our dry ingredients:  flour, salt, and a dash of cinnamon for it’s warming qualities. 

The mixture will be moist and crumbly.  You’ll know it’s right if your instinct is to eat the entire mixture raw.  Ya feel me? (I know you do.) 

We’ll divide the crust mixture into two.  Two-thirds of the dough goes into a sprayed and lined baking sheet.  A press press nudge press will spread the dough evenly across the bottom of the pan just like so.  

The remaining one third (we just did math) we’ll reserve for the topping. Try not to eat it all. 

Let’s talk to these strawberries. 

Louisiana’s Ponchatoula strawberries are some of the most delicious I’ve ever tasted which… well that’s a humble brag and I’m just going to let it stand.  

We’ll heighten the flavor with granulated sugar which will also extract the natural juices from berries.  

Fresh lemon juice will balance the sweetness of the strawberries and work with the sugar to pull out sweet sweet strawberry juice.  

A dash of salt + Ground ginger + ground nutmeg + a dash of ground cinnamon if you’d like.  

I especially like the hint of warm spice the ground ginger adds to the strawberries.  

Allowing the strawberries to sit for about 15 minutes give the strawberries time to produce some sweet juice.  

Let’s talk about thickener.  With a lot of fruit pies (apple, for example), I use cornstarch as thickener.  Cornstarch thickens as the liquid in a pie boils in the oven.  Cornstarch is great when used with a fruit that also has a decent amount of pectin in it as pectin is a natural thickener.  

With berries that have a lot of water (helloooo strawberries!), a stronger thickener is helpful.  Minute tapioca pudding is the way to go!  Minute tapioca is more coarse than cornstarch and mixes into the strawberries like little granolas.  It some time in the oven they’ll soften and bake away.  It will also continue to thicken after it bakes which doesn’t happen with cornstarch.  Consider it! 

The crust is baked to lightly golden and just set.  

Pile on the strawberries! 

We’ll turn the remaining crust into crumble but adding a handful of finely chopped pecans.  

Remember, old-fashioned oats would be a good substitute for pecans! Options! 

Crumble the topping atop the strawberries, covering as much of the strawberries as you can.  

And we’ll give it all a chance to bake! 

The crust will turn a deep golden brown as the bars bake but it’s the strawberries we’re looking out for. 

Because the strawberries are fresh, they’ll need time to soften and break down enough to release their juice and absorb the tapioca.  You’ll know because the mixture will be hot enough to bubble consistently.  

If there are white tapioca bits on top of the strawberries that haven’t softened into the bars, take the pan out of the oven and use a spoon to press the strawberries lightly into the bars.  Mix it in juuuust a bit. 

It’s best to let the bars cool completely and chill in the refrigerator before lifting them out of the pan.  

The crust is holding a lot of strawberries and the chill helps settle and harden the crust. 

Just before serving, dust lightly with powdered sugar.  

We fancy. 

Tender-fruited. Thick-crusted. Sweet and buttery.  Strawberry bars with whole fruits and a Spring in it’s step!  

Enjoy these beautiful days! 

Photos with Jon Melendez! 

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Strawberry Pie Bars

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Ingredients

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For the Crust:

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/3 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the Strawberry Filling:

  • 2 pints fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced into bite-size chunks (about 4 cups)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 tablespoons minute tapioca
  • powdered sugar for topping

Instructions

  1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line an 8×8-inch square pan with parchment paper so that the paper hangs over two edges of the pan about two inches. This will make the pie bars easier to remove after it’s baked. Lightly spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
  2. For the crust, place the butter, sugars, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light and fluffy.
  3. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour, salt, and cinnamon and mix on low speed until just combined.
  4. Scatter two-thirds of the dough into clumps in the prepared pan, flour your fingers and press the dough across the bottom of the pan and up the sides of the pan about 1/2-inch. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
  5. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and set aside to cool while you prepare the topping and filling.
  6. In a small bowl combine the remaining crust and pecans. Stir until combined and set aside.
  7. In a medium bowl toss together the sliced strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, and spices. Allow to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes until some juices develop in the bottom of the bowl. Toss in the melted butter and the instant tapioca. Stir to combine. The tapioca will look coarse within the mixture. It will dissolve in the oven.
  8. Spread the strawberries evenly over the crust
  9. Pinch medium pieces of remaining dough with your fingers and drop them evenly over the top of the strawberry mixture (they won’t cover the top completely but do your best to cover). Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the topping is brown and the strawberry mixture is bubbling. If there are still tapioca bits, take the pan out of the oven and gently stir those berries in so the tapioca gets moistened. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Chill in the refrigerator to easily remove the bars from the pan.
  10. Once cooled, remove from the pan and dust with powdered sugar just before serving.
  11. Store, wrapped individually or covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

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Questions
  1. Stefani Johnson

    July 26, 2022 at 10:41 am

    I can’t decide between these bars and your strawberry crumble pie. I am thinking of making the bars but with the crumble from the pie. Do you think that would turn out well?

    Reply
  2. Mac

    July 1, 2022 at 12:22 pm

    Can these be frozen do you think? Planning to use fresh peaches/nectarines instead of strawberries which I think will work really well—very excited!

    Reply
  3. Joanna

    June 1, 2022 at 1:02 pm

    Can tapioca flour be used in place of minute tapioca? Would it be one to one, do you think

    Reply
    • Abby Mallett

      June 22, 2022 at 1:44 pm

      Hi Joanna, after doing a little research I believe you can use the same amount of tapioca flour or if you’re unsure you can definitely use cornstarch. Hope this helps!

      Reply
  4. Lis

    July 28, 2020 at 9:34 am

    I made these yesterday for a socially distant back yard BBQ with my parents. They were a HUGE hit, everyone loved them! I can always count on you, Joy!

    Reply
    • joythebaker

      July 28, 2020 at 1:29 pm

      I’m so happy to hear this!

      Reply
    • Annie

      May 8, 2022 at 5:32 pm

      This recipe is just addictive! I knew it would be good, but I had NO IDEA!!! Joy, guuuuurl, you killed it with this.

      Reply
  5. Katrina

    June 24, 2020 at 10:53 am

    Greetings! Is there any adjustments your would make to using 1/2 strawberries and 1/2 rhubarb? Thanks!

    Reply
    • joythebaker

      June 24, 2020 at 7:23 pm

      I’d do the same recipe!

      Reply
  6. Sarah Jane

    June 26, 2019 at 7:02 pm

    I just made this after canning my strawberries from the farm down the road… oh man, so good! I left out the spices from the filling because I was nervous they would overpower the berries. Maybe I’ll add them next time because I’ll absolutely make this again. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  7. Milica

    May 26, 2019 at 12:08 pm

    I just ate two of these standing in the kitchen before serving them to guests, they are amazing! I halved the recipe and made them in a long loaf pan. They dont sell tapioka here in Serbia,so I substituted some semolina.All good.Thanks.

    Reply
  8. Betsy

    July 20, 2018 at 9:00 am

    I made these once as written and they were fabulous. I got so many complements! I love the addition of the pecans on top. I generally have stayed away from warm spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger) in my baking because I don’t love the taste, but I’m learning that small amounts of them add so much depth to a dessert, and I was surprised how well these spices worked with the strawberries.
    Then, I got some blueberries in our fruit CSA and wanted to see how this recipe did with blueberries. I had less than 4 cups (I had 1 dry pint, which is about 2.5 cups) but I decided to just go ahead with it. Perhaps my crust to filling ratio was a bit higher, but it was not a problem. I kept everything else the same, except that I put the blueberries in whole with the lemon juice and spices, and then used my hand to crush about a third of them. The result was delicious, and I’m happy to report the spices complemented the blueberries as well (I wasn’t sure they would).

    Reply
  9. Elaine

    July 4, 2018 at 7:29 am

    Strawberries are now in season in Montreal. Baked this yesterday. Wow! I used tapioca flour instead of the instant tapioca. Set perfectly. Will definitely be making this again.

    Reply
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