Strawberry bars, sounds like a perfect summer treat, doesn’t it? I think summer is glorious just for the fruit itself. Fruit really is Earth’s candy.
Ahhh I can’t believe summer is coming to an end already! Where did the time go?? It makes me a little sad to see it slowly drift away but I know Fall is just around the corner and I am equally excited for that as I was for summer. Until then, I am going to sneak in as much summer as I possibly can. And with that, comes these Strawberry Bars with a Lemon Poppy Seed Crust.
This crust is amazing. It’s not a normal crust. It’s a little bit flaky with a hint of lemon and lots of poppy seeds. It couldn’t get better than this. Pure perfection.
During summertime, when all the fruit is on sale, I like to buy cartons and cartons of organic fruit to freeze for later in the year. But I couldn’t freeze these strawberries. They were so pretty and sweet I had to do something with them. So.. here we are.
Combine flour, salt, lemon zest, and poppy seeds in a large bowl.
Cut very cold butter into mixture until crumbly.
Add cold water and stir until a dough forms.
Let sit in refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
Combine milk, sugar, corn starch, lemon juice, and vanilla. Set aside.
Wash and hull all the strawberries.
This is my all time favorite kitchen gadget. It really saves you a bunch of strawberry when hulling them and it is so quick and easy. You can find it here.
Cut into thin slices. Then, combine strawberries into milk mixture. Make sure it is all evenly coated.
Press dough into bottom of 9×13 casserole dish so that you have a raised lip on all sides.
Bake the crust for 10 minutes.
Pull it out and pour the filling in.
Bake for another 60 minutes.
You can sub your favorite fruit instead of the strawberries. What fruit would you pick?
Ingredients
- Crust:
- 2 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1 cup very cold unsalted butter
- ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon cold water
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- Filling:
- 2 ½ cups fresh strawberries (or frozen!)
- ½ cup milk (I used almond milk)
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Crust:
- Combine flour, salt, lemon zest, and poppy seeds.
- Cut very cold butter into mixture until crumbly.
- Add water and stir until a dough forms.
- Let sit in refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
- Filling:
- Combine milk, sugar, corn starch, lemon juice, and vanilla. Set aside.
- Wash and hull all the strawberries.
- Cut into thin slices.
- Combine strawberries into milk mixture. Make sure it is all evenly coated.
- Bake at 375 for 60 minutes or until top crust is golden brown.
- Press dough into bottom of 9x13 casserole dish so that you have a raised lip on all sides.
- Bake the crust for 10 minutes.
- Pull it out and pour the filling in.
- Bake for another 60 minutes.
