Strawberry Lemon Bars — 🍓🍋🎉 Imagine crossing lemon bars with a strawberry pie. These easy bars taste like strawberry lemonade! A firm crust with a soft and juicy strawberry and lemon filling, and topped with buttery crumbles, these EASY layered bars are perfect for casual summer entertaining, BBQs, picnics, potlucks, summer holidays, and more!
Table of Contents
Strawberry lemonade is such a quintessential summer drink. Bars that taste like strawberry lemonade are even better than drinking it!
These strawberry lemonade bars are what you’d get if you crossed a crumble-topped strawberry pie with a lemon bar.
They’re sweet from the strawberries with some tart lemon flavor that peeks through. They’re soft, juicy, satisfying, and I love crumble-topped anything.
Between the firm crust, soft filling, juicy strawberries, fragrant lemon zest, and sandy crumbles, there are so many wonderful textures and flavors in every thick bite.
They taste fancy enough to serve at a special event, luncheon, or brunch, yet are homey and comforting. A perfect summertime treat!
This is easily my favourite recipe on your page. I have made it at least once a month since finding it last summer, and it’s a solid 10/10. I’ve made it with both strawberries and blueberries, and it is always incredible. Thank you for creating this delicious bar, I am going to go make more of them now :)
Shannon
Ingredients for Strawberry Lemon Bars
To make these strawberry lemon blondies, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Egg
- Greek yogurt
- Lemon juice and zest
- Vanilla extract
- Strawberries
- Cornstarch
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Strawberry Lemon Bars
If you’re craving a strawberry lemon dessert, you’re going to adore these bars! Here’s an overview of how the recipe comes together:
- Mix together the crust mixture, which also doubles as the crumble topping.
- Set aside 3/4 cup of the mixture. Press the rest into the bottom of an 8-inch square pan.
- Next, whisk together the lemon filling. Pour the filling into the prepared crust.
- Mix together the strawberry layer and spread evenly over the lemon filling.
- Sprinkle the reserved crumble topping over the strawberry layer, then bake the strawberry lemon bars for about an hour.
- Let cool for at least 2 hours before cutting into them.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can use either in these strawberry lemon bars! I used a mixture of fresh and frozen berries, and you’re welcome to do the same. If using fresh berries, you may not need to add any flour to the strawberry layer. If using frozen berries, you likely will need 2 tablespoons. Just use your best judgement and add some flour if the mixture looks at all watery.
You should be able to use any berry you’d like in these bars without issue. Just note that some berries are sweeter than others, which will affect the flavor of the baked bars.
You should be fine to use a gluten-free 1:1 flour substitute, but I wouldn’t recommend using a nut flour.
Yes, double all the ingredients and bake in a 9×13-inch pan. The baking time may increase by a few minutes at most, but that certainly will not double.
Absolutely! You can cut into these strawberry bars after they’ve rested for 2 hours, but they’re best when they’ve been left overnight.
Storage Instructions
Room temp: These bars will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Fridge: Store airtight for up to 10 days (they’re good slightly chilled if you like chilled pie and I store them in the fridge).
Freezer: Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, seal in a freezer bag, and freeze for up to 6 months. When ready to eat, thaw overnight in the fridge.
Pin This Recipe
Enjoy AverieCooks.com Without Ads! 🆕
Go Ad Free
Strawberry Lemonade Bars
Ingredients
Crust and Crumble Topping
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
Filling
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt, lite is okay (or use sour cream)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
Strawberry Layer
- 2 heaping cups diced strawberries, (fresh or frozen; I used a combo)
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar, or 1/2 cup if berries are sour
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest, or to taste
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, * (see notes)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray; set aside. Lining the pan will really help with cleanup and is recommended.
- Crust and Crumble Topping – In a large, microwave-safe bowl melt the butter, about 1 minute on high power.
- Add the sugars and whisk to combine.
- And the flour, optional salt, and stir to combine. Mixture will be very dry and sandy with some larger, well-formed crumble pieces.
- Set a heaping 3/4 cup crumble mixture aside.
- Transfer remaining mixture to prepared pan, and using a spatula or your fingers, hard-pack the mixture to create an even, smooth, flat crust; set aside.
- Filling – In a medium bowl, add the egg, Greek yogurt, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, and whisk to combine or beat with a handheld electric mixer until smooth.
- Add the flour and whisk to combine or beat with a handheld electric mixer until smooth.
- Evenly pour filling over the crust and jiggle pan to help distribute it or smooth it with a spatula; set aside.
- Strawberry Layer – In a separate medium bowl, add all filling ingredients except flour and toss to combine.
- Evaluate mixture and if it’s very thin, runny, soupy, or liquidy, add up to 2 tablespoons flour to help thicken it. If using fresh berries, you may not need any flour. Because I used half fresh and half frozen berries, I needed 2 tablespoons flour because my mixture was thin and soupy.
- Evenly distribute strawberry mixture over the filling, smoothing it lightly with a spatula.
- Evenly sprinkle with the reserved heaping 3/4 cup crust mixture. Before sprinkling, I squeeze the mixture in my palm to encourage bigger crumble pieces to form.
- Baking – Bake for about 60 to 75 minutes (place pan on a cookie sheet for insurance against overflow if your pan is quite full), or until edges are bubbling quite vigorously and there’s some bubbling in the center. Crumble topping should appear set and very pale golden.*
- Cooling – Place pan on a wire rack and allow bars to cool for at least 2 hours (overnight is even better) before slicing and serving. After cooling overnight, I placed pan in the fridge 2 hours before slicing to ensure clean, neat cuts. If you try to slice bars before they’ve cooled completely, they’ll be extremely messy and could fall apart.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
More Easy Strawberry Desserts:
Quick and Easy Strawberry Cobbler — 🍓🙌🏻🍓 The EASIEST strawberry cobbler ever with this no-mixer quickie dessert recipe that takes advantage of fresh strawberries! No eggs and just 7 basic ingredients to make this soft and tender cobbler that’s ready in 1 hour.
Strawberries and Cream Poke Cake — This Strawberry Poke Cake uses just four ingredients and is a hit at parties and potlucks! It’s a moist, refreshing dessert you’ll definitely want seconds of!
Crustless Fresh Strawberry Pie — FAST, super EASY, no-mixer dessert that’s perfect for summer entertaining, picnics, or potlucks!! Somewhere in between pie, cake, and blondies is what you get with this FABULOUS recipe!
The Best Strawberry Banana Bread — This strawberry bread is packed with fresh, juicy strawberries in every bite! This is an easy, no-mixer quick bread recipe you’re going to love!
Strawberry Layer Cake with Strawberry Frosting — Soft, tender cake loaded with FRESH strawberries and a sweet strawberry frosting!! An EASY strawberry layer cake that’s perfect for parties! Strawberry fans will LOVE IT!!
Strawberry Custard Bars — These easy, one bowl, no mixer custard bars are perfect for your fresh strawberries. There’s a shortbread crust, topped with diced strawberries, before a custard filling is poured over the the top.
Strawberry Oatmeal Bars — 🍓😋These buttery bars are bursting with fresh strawberries! Just 10 minutes of prep, so EASY because the crust and crumble are one and the same, and a crowd FAVORITE every time!
This post is brought to you by Sunkist. Recipe, photography, and opinions expressed are my own.
Originally published July 15, 2014 and republished May 29, 2020 and July 12, 2024 with updated text.
These were very good; very sweet though, so next time I might cut back on some of the sugar. I also used coconut milk instead of yogurt since I didn’t have yogurt on hand. Still turned out well. I followed your instructions on cooling and setting in fridge; I believe that did help keep the bars together without crumbling. I baked for 68 minutes.
These were very good; very sweet though, so next time I might cut back on some of the sugar. I also used coconut milk instead of yogurt since I didn’t have yogurt on hand. Still turned out well. I followed your instructions on cooling and setting in fridge; I believe that did help keep the bars together without crumbling. I baked for 68 minutes.
If you found them too sweet, yes, you can cut back on the sugar next time if you feel you can get away with it without them actually seeming too tart from the lemon.
I made these bars, just because I felt like baking. I am a fan of extra virgin olive oil. I used that instead of the butter. The bars turned out chewy and moist. Although I could have used a bit more fresh strawberries, even though I had the 2 full cups, just my opinion. Overall, they were a hit with my family!
I have made several of your recipes, in the last 4 years. You are always my go to recipe choices!
Thank you :)
I made these bars, just because I felt like baking. I am a fan of extra virgin olive oil. I used that instead of the butter. The bars turned out chewy and moist. Although I could have used a bit more fresh strawberries, even though I had the 2 full cups, just my opinion. Overall, they were a hit with my family!
I have made several of your recipes, in the last 4 years. You are always my go to recipe choices!
Thank you :)
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad that olive oil worked in place of butter, I am surprised, but sometimes in baking you never know until you try.
I am glad to hear my recipes are your go to for the last 4 years!
The strawberry lemonade bars are easy to make, but more importantly they are absolutely delicious. I waited until the center and edges were vigorously bubbling(tip from Averie.)That for me was the indicator they were done. I served them room temperature,but I think they are scrumptious chilled. My family loved them.
The strawberry lemonade bars are easy to make, but more importantly they are absolutely delicious. I waited until the center and edges were vigorously bubbling(tip from Averie.)That for me was the indicator they were done. I served them room temperature,but I think they are scrumptious chilled. My family loved them.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad my tip came in handy and that your family loved the bars!
Can you use a strawberry pie filling?
I’ve never tried it that way and you need to do a lot of experimenting in order to know if it will work, how much sugar you need to add or not add since pie filling is already sweetened, etc.
I would make the recipe as written because it works perfectly that way.
These taste great! My one issue is that the foil (after spraying) stuck to my crust and i could not dig it out without getting some foil in my mouth.. will try it again with parchment paper next time!!
These taste great! My one issue is that the foil (after spraying) stuck to my crust and i could not dig it out without getting some foil in my mouth.. will try it again with parchment paper next time!!
Some brands of foil stick worse than others. This one never, ever, ever sticks https://amzn.to/2T52iQW
Glad the bars taste great though!
Hi Averie
Thank you so much for posting this fabulous recipe.
I made them with frozen strawberries and half way through I realized I didn’t have enough strawberries!!!! So to make up the quantity of fruit I added fresh blackberries ( blackberry picking time here in Ireland)
They turned out amazing. Will definitely be my “go to” recipe.
Clare
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad this is a go to recipe for you and that you’ve been able to customize it!
I made these today with some minor alterations. I used blueberries instead of strawberries, added extra lemon juice and zest in both fillings, and used lemon flavored Greek yogurt instead of plain or vanilla (I wanted them to be very tart). HOLY COW!!! These came out amazing!!!! I also found you could get them to set up perfectly by putting them in the freezer for two hours (I was impatient because they smelt so yummy). Will definitely be making again! I wanted to try with raspberries but the store was sold out so maybe next time! Truly delicious!!!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad these came out amazing!
Do I need to defrost the strawberries before using?
I would yes and then drain them before using.
Just made these the other day with GF 1:1 baking flour for my niece who suffers from celiac but LOVES strawberry crumb bars. These were amazing! New favorite recipe. Thanks so much!!!
Glad these came out great with a GF 1:1 flour and this is your new favorite dessert!
Would lining with parchment work as well as the aluminum foil?
I am not a fan because I never get a very tight seal and can’t crimp it down like I can with foil but overall, it will be ‘fine’; not lining is also an option but much messier cleanup.
I made this to bring on a short road trip/weekend vacation and they were a hit! They turned out perfectly. I did cut down on the sugar a bit when adding to the fresh strawberries, but other than that I followed the recipe. Everyone loved them and will definitely be making them again!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad that you were able to successfully cut down on the sugar a bit and will definitely be making them again!
These were amazing! I made them for a girl’s night and they were gone by the end of the evening. I made them again for a staff party at the swimming pool I work at, and my coworkers loved them! Thank you for a yummy recipe and new fan favorite!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad these have been a hit with people!
That’s was easy and delicious! I would add a bit more zest for more sour tang, but otherwise very good!