03 August 2012

Finally Friday! It's the last day of The Garden's Bounty recipe series hosted by Savannah of Hammock Tracks.

HammockTracks


We are ending on a sweet note.  Today we are sharing with you desserts that use up fresh garden goods.  I chose a great summertime dessert with tangy lemons and juicy sweet strawberries.  This recipe is slightly adapted from one I found at Bakeaholic Mama.


Strawberry Lemon Cake Bars with Lemon Glaze


Ingredients:
1 cup butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
Zest of 2 lemons (2-3 tbsp)
Juice of 1½ lemons (about ¼ cup +2 tbsp), divided
2¼ cups flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¾ cup fresh strawberries, diced
1 cup powdered sugar


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°.  Coat an 8x8” glass baking dish with baking spray.


In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together.  Add egg, lemon zest, and ¼ cup lemon juice.  Stir until combined.


In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just combined.  Gently fold in strawberries.


Press dough into the bottom of the pan.  Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Let cool.


For the glaze, combine the powdered sugar and remaining 2 tbsp lemon juice.  Pour over cooled bars.  Cut and serve.


Makes 9 bars.





These bars are so good!  Lemon and strawberry go so well together and they are perfect summer flavors.  The blog I got this recipe from called them "cookie bars", but they seemed more cakey to my husband and me.  They are kind of crumbly, not chewy like a cookie.  So I named my version "cake bars" instead.  Whatever the name, you'll call them delicious!

Check out the other great summertime desserts below.

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23 comments:

  1. Love this combo of sweet and tangy flavors; now following you.  Ciao, Roz

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  2. I am a strawberry lemonade-aholic, so these definitely appeal to me :)

    Thank you for linking up to Tasty Thursday!

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  3. Hi Lesa, I found your recipe while searching for a lemon bar recipe...this one looked the best!! I just popped them into the oven :) Can't wait to bring them into the office to share. Thank you for the recipe!

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  4. Thank you for letting me know you made these, Kyla! I hope you and your coworkers love them as much as I do!

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  5. I made these to take to a BBQ over the 4th of July. They were gone before the food was even off the grill. :) My husband, who normally doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, just asked me to make them again today. It's the second time he has requested them since the first time I made them. Thank you for sharing!

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  6. Thank you, Kelly, for letting me know that you tried these. I'm so glad the party guests and your husband loved them so much! Thanks for visiting!

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  7. How long do these take to make???


    Ellie

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  8. I don't ever include total prep and cook times in my recipes because that really varies from person to person. These bars bake for 35-40 minutes, and factoring in time to preheat the oven, measure ingredients, and chop strawberries, I would guess a total of about an hour.

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  9. Thank you!!! I was thinking about making these for a BBQ, but I didn't know how much earlier I would have to start them. They look so yummy!!!
    Ellie Hart, a nom nom nommer

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  10. Have you ever doubled for a 9x13?

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  11. I don't think so, but that should work just fine.

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  12. Julie - Purple Monkey MayhemApril 6, 2015 at 9:29 AM

    I made these to top off Easter dinner. They were a huge hit. Thanks for the recipe!

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  13. Great choice for Easter dessert! I'm so glad you liked them, Julie. Thanks for stopping by to let me know.

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  14. This was amazing! 2 thumbs way up!

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  15. I have a lot of raspberries. Do you think I could substitute for strawberries?

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  16. So sorry for the late reply, Mary! You could use raspberries, but I think the seeds may be an issue. Let me know if you tried it.

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  17. Looking forward to making the bars GF today. Love the combination of strawberry and lemon.

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  18. Can I use frozen strawberries?

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  19. I have not used frozen. I would be worried they would be too wet. Let me know if you try it.

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  20. I used our own fresh, frozen strawberries. After defrosting, I chopped them and put them in a colander to let the moisture drain out until I was ready to add them to the recipe. They worked out really well.

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  21. Ok, they were a little floury (is that a word?) Anyway, I'm going to work on it.

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