Strawberry Crumble Bars!! Super fresh, tart-sweet, vanilla spiked, deliciously jammy strawberries sandwiched between a layer of buttery (but completely dairy/butter free) shortbread topped with a cinnamon-y, nutty, streusel-y crumble topping that literally oozes with awesomeness when you slice on in!
These bars are super simple, seriously easy, not to mention insanely delicious and the make absolute BEST life-giving breakfast, morning – afternoon (anytime?!) snack or show stopping dessert!
It’s funny, sometimes (← read most of the time) all I want to make are chocolate filled recipes, but then other times (especially around Easter for some reason?!) my summer sweet tooth kicks in, and all I really want to do is make light, fresh, fruit filled things. I’ve been thinking about why this is and I’ve come to the conclusion that my desire to make light, fresh, summer style treats around this chocolate filled time of year is happening for a few reasons.
1 – As we transition out of summer into autumn, I get major fomo of all the fresh produce I’ll be missing for the next few months and reason number 2 . . . I think this is my body’s way of craving a bit of a palate cleanser after all the super rich, chocolate-y treats the Easter bunny brings?!
Moral of the story (that no one asked for but I’m sharing anyway . . . ) , I’m in a light, fresh, summer style strawberry treat making phase (today anyway) and I’m rolling with it which brings me to these . . .
Strawberry crumble bars . . .
Extra buttery shortbread topped with, sweet, jammy strawberries spiked with a hint of vanilla and zesty lemon all nestled under a deliciously nutty, crisp and crunchy, cinnamon spiked, streusel-like topping! Honestly? These are the light, fresh fruity filled bars you need to make this Easter (or just today because, hello deliciousness!). Addicting-ly (addictive-ly?!) good, like melt in your mouth/ eat the entire pan in one day kind of good!
These super simple, secretly healthy, lightened up strawberry crumble bars are great for breakfast – serve with a dollop of vanilla Greek yogurt (+ a big ol’ vat of coffee, of course), mid-morning or afternoon snack (with iced vanilla latte for me pls) but, they also feel special and indulgent enough to serve as a show stopping, after dinner dessert! Especially when served with vanilla bean ice cream or freshly whipped cream (or both!!!!) .
Word of warning . . . the hardest part about making these bars is waiting for them to set. They do need to cool completely before you can cut them (if you want them to hold their shape although, word of warning, the filling will still ooze out a little as you press down to cut through the crumble topping, just go with it), but they are insanely delicious warm out of the oven eaten with a dollop of ice cream (or whipped cream), straight out of the pan . . .
I know eating them warm out of the pan isn’t technically what you’re supposed to do…but um, I wouldn’t blame you if you did. The scent is intoxicating, your kitchen/house will smell like heaven so having the self control to wait for them to cool . . . the struggle is VERY real so, if you decide you can’t wait and simply want to dive on in, I say go for it (and would be right there, ready to grab a spoon & dive on in beside you) but just be careful, as delicious as they are eaten fresh from the oven . . . that filling is HOT!
with that being said, I’ll let you make the call on how you want to eat them, because however you choose to do it, you really cant go wrong!
Super simple, insanely delicious, I know you’re going to absolutely LOVE them.
gluten free – dairy free – grain free – sugar free – low carb – paleo – keto – 100% vegan friendly!
From my heart to yours, enjoy xo
Strawberry Crumble Bars
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Persons: 4-6
- Difficulty: Easy
- Ingredients
- For the base –
- 3/4 almond meal
- 2 Tbsp coconut flour
- 2 Tbsp tapioca (arrowroot) flour
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup – I use sugar free
- 2 Tbsp (liquid) coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- For the filling –
- 1 1/2 C sliced strawberries
- 1 Tablespoon of monk fruit sweetener – or granulated sweetener of choice
- 1 Tablespoon of tapioca (arrowroot)
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
- A pinch of salt
- sqz of lemon
- For the topping –
- 1/4 cup almond meal
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons tapioca (arrowroot) flour
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons of maple syrup
- 2 Tablespoons of walnuts, roughly chopped
- 2 Tablespoons of pecans, roughly chopped
- 2 Tablespoons of macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of monk fruit sweetener – or granulated sweetener of choice to sprinkle over the top
- Instructions
- Preheat oven to 175’C/350’F – lightly grease your baking dish (or dishes), place on a lined baking tray, and set them aside.
The reason I like to place the crumble on a baking tray is so it can catch any of the jammy, lava that can sometimes bubble up and overflow a little while cooking. I find it much easier to clean up a baking tray than your entire oven . . . - Place all your base ingredients into a medium size bowl and stir to combine.
- Pour base mix in to your prepared baking dish and using your fingers (or the back of a spoon) press down into an even-ish layer smoothing to the edges as you work your way around.
- Bake for 10-15 mins until the top and edges are slightly golden.
- Remove from the oven and set aside to while you prepare your filling
- Place all filling ingredients into a bowl (the same one you used to mix up the base is fine) and stir to combine.
- Spoon filling on to your base dish and spread to the edges. Set aside.
- Place all crumble/ topping ingredients (except the granulated sweetener) into a bowl and stir to combine
- Spoon – dollop & spread your crumble topping over your filling, push it out as close to the edges of the dish as you but it’s totally fine if it doesn’t go all the way. I personally think it’s nice to leave a little room for the jammy filling to bubble up around the edges . . .
- Sprinkle with granulated sweetener
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until the top is crisp and gloriously golden and the filling is deliciously bubbly
- Serve with a big scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, frozen (or regular yogurt) and/ or whipped cream
- Enjoy xo
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Question of the day –
What’s your favorite dessert?
Feel free to share recipes, or links to your fave recipes in the comments below or on the Facebook page and please for the love of all that is good in this world when you do make your crumble (or any of the recipes you find on this blog of mine) go ahead and snap a pic and share it either on the Facebook page, or tag me on twitter or Instagram. Sharing is caring remember.
Do it, do it You know you want to ox
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