Strawberry Shortcake Bars

Strawberry shortcake bars recipe with an easy pat-in-the-pan shortbread crust. Topped with whipped cream cheese frosting and juicy marinated strawberries.

I can feel summer slipping away, can't you?

We brace ourselves for the heat every morning before heading out for a walk (and pause to say a few curse words under our breaths when the humidity sinks into our hair), but really, we shouldn't. It's going going gone much too soon.

My fresh berry habit each day has reached an all-time high because they're just SO GOOD this year. The blackberries have been addicting, the raspberries plump, and the strawberries juicy. What a time to be ALIVE, PEOPLE!

Blackberry cheesecake brownies are happening regularly, and so life is very good.

Baby Camille (I will call her that until she's 43) has been eating all the berries, too! I'm one of those hippie Mamas that believes in using food as medicine, and since strawberries have natural aspirin in them, I'm piling her snack cup with strawberries during this Time Of Teething. (T.O.T. is what we call it, and someone please tell me when it will end. And does it keep getting worse? Molars are bigger than front teeth. And I'm scared).

But the good news is that Camille still doesn't eat desserts, so I am free to douse them with booze. It's how I personally deal with the T.O.T., if you know what I mean.

These strawberry shortcake bars solve almost all of the problems in our life right now.

But let's not forget booze's role, heh.

Steps to make strawberry shortcake bars:

I made a shortbread base in a bread loaf pan, topped it with a thick layer of sweetened cream cheese, and placed the prettiest little strawberries on top that I soaked in Pimm's. Have you had Pimm's? It's this fruity, herby drink that goes great with summertime. I like to muddle strawberries with Pimm's in cocktails, so I added it to my bowl of strawberries on a whim. As evident by the excessive finger licking during the assembly of the dessert, I can attest it was not a bad choice.

Strawberry bars

You can adapt this recipe to your own taste by mixing up the flavors a bit. If you don't have Pimm's, orange zest and strawberries play together nicely enough that you won't even miss it. 

Make this your own strawberry shortcake bars recipe by flavoring the cream cheese with orange zest, vanilla bean, anything you like. And as for the booze, vary it according to your taste in booze. I have a feeling sparkling wine would play nicely here.

I make these small batch strawberry shortcake bars in a bread loaf to pan to make 2 generous (or 4 normal) servings. This is the exact loaf pan that I use and love.

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Yield: 2 bars

Strawberry Shortcake Bars

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Strawberry shortcake bars with whipped cream cheese frosting.

Prep Time 1 minute

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 26 minutes

Ingredients

For the shortbread base:

• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• ⅛ teaspoon salt

For the topping:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup + 1 tablespoon powdered sugar, divided use
• 3 tablespoons Pimm's, divided use
• 8-9 Driscoll's strawberries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Line a 9x5" bread loaf pan with parchment paper.
3. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the shortbread: butter, powdered sugar, flour and salt. Work the butter into the dough using a pastry blender, two knives, or your finger tips. The butter should be well-incorporated and the size of rice grains.
4. Press the dough into the bread loaf pan (use extra flour if its sticky!)
5. Bake for 25 minutes, until fragrant and golden brown around the edges.
6. Let cool completely.
7. Meanwhile, beat together the cream cheese, ½ cup of the powdered sugar and 1 ½ tablespoons of the Pimm's in a small bowl.
8. Hull, and slice the strawberries. Toss in a bowl with the remaining 1 ½ tablespoons Pimm's and 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar.
9. Frost the bars with the cream cheese, decorate with strawberries, slice in half and serve.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 448Total Fat: 40gSaturated Fat: 24gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 111mgSodium: 245mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 1gSugar: 13gProtein: 4g

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