Strawberry Pie Bars
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Strawberry Pie Bars. With no artificial colours or flavours. Our fresh strawberry pie filling meets a graham cracker crust in these easy to make dessert bars.
These Strawberry Pie Bars were inspired by my recent recipe for Southern Style Strawberry Pie. However truth be told, we made a version of these in our family many years ago when I was a kid.
Back then, that version was made with frozen tubs of strawberries in syrup and Strawberry Jello.
However, I haven't see those frozen tubs of strawberries in years. So, I had to come up with a sort of substitute for them in another family favourite recipe, Strawberry Chiffon Squares.
I just loved the strawberry squares of my childhood and that strawberry pie recipe brought them right back to mind.
So, I decided to whip up a batch of that same strawberry pie filling to offer a second option to enjoy a version of that strawberry pie as a dessert square. I think it is a great option for those who have a fear of pastry in general.
A few tips on making these delicious dessert bars:
The strawberry pie bars were made in a 9x9 baking pan
. The recipe would make a terrific dessert for up to 9 people but you could of course cut them into smaller portions for snacking if you prefer.
My Kitchen Aid electric mixer
whipped the cream in only a couple of minutes.
The corn starch present in the icing sugar acts as a stabilizer for the cream for 3 days or so. However, I still recommend adding the cream just before serving to make it last as long as possible, particularly if you are making them a day ahead of time.
To be fully honest, exactly like my daughter Olivia, I absolutely love anything on a graham cracker crumb crust...and have all my life. These dessert squares are a great way to enjoy the flavour of the pie in smaller portions. They are easy to take along to cookouts and BBQ's too.
Since today is the 4th of July for our American friends, I've even dressed some of them up with a few fresh blueberries sprinkled on top to celebrate the old red, white and blue! Happy Independence Day!
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Strawberry Pie Bars
Strawberry Pie Bars - with no artificial colours or flavours. Our fresh strawberry pie filling meets a graham cracker crust in these easy to make dessert bars.
Ingredients
For the graham crumb crust
- 2 cups graham crumbs
- ½ cup melted butter
- ⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon sugar
For the strawberry filling
- 2 teaspoon unflavoured gelatin powder, (stirred into ¼ cup cold water)
- 6 cups sliced strawberries, (Divided in 2 halves)
- ¾ cup sugar, ( use up to 1 ¼ cups if you prefer it sweeter)
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoon corn starch, ( dissolved in ¼ cup water)
For the Vanilla Whipped Cream
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 2 tablespoon icing sugar, (powdered sugar)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
To prepare the graham crumb base
- Measure the graham crumbs into a small bowl and make a small well in the centre.
- Pour the sugar into the well, then pour the melted butter onto the sugar.
- Let this stand for a couple of minutes to let the butter seep into the sugar. Then stir well to combine all ingredients together. The purpose of this step is to get a good contact between the butter and sugar. This helps a lot in setting a graham crumb crust in the oven.
- Press the crumb mixture firmly into the bottom of a 9x9 inch baking pan that has been lightly greased and lined with parchment paper. B
- Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 8-10 minutes. Let the crust cool completely to room temperature before adding the filling.
To prepare the filling
- Add the gelatin to the ¼ cup cold water and set aside for a few minutes until needed.
- Add 3 cups of the sliced strawberries, the sugar and ¼ cup water to a small saucepan and simmer for only a few minutes until the strawberries have release most of their juice.
- Dissolve the corn starch in the ¼ cup of water and stir into the simmering strawberries.
- Stir constantly for 2 to three minutes while the strawberry mixture thickens.
- Remove from heat and stir in the gelatine mixture until it is fully dissolved.
- Allow to cool to almost room temperature before stirring in the 3 cups of fresh sliced berries.
- Pour into the baked pie shell and refrigerate for several hours or overnight until set.
To Prepare the Vanilla Whipped Cream
- Simply beat all of the ingredients together with an electric mixer until firm peaks form.
- Spread the cream on top of the set filling and cut into desired portion size.
Recommended Products
Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
Barry have you considered using Knox gelatin in your whipped cream as a stabilizer? Works extremely well.
I've never tried that but the icing sugar trick works great for me. Things with whipped cream generally dont last more than a couple of days areound here.
I have used it often and it doesn't add extra sugar. It is a professional chef's trick to prevent wilting of whipped cream. Just dissolve 1/2 tsp gelatin in a little warm water and incorporate into your whipped cream while whipping. Works a charm.
Oh my gosh, YUM! These might be thee dessert of the summer. Obsessing over here!!
These are so yummy and easy
I do remember those containers of frozen strawberries and I believe frozen raspberries as well. I expect that thawed, frozen strawberries would also work. Any tips I should be aware of? Thanks for all the great recipes!
Can you use frozen strawberries? These squares sound delicious.
Yes indeed.
Going to give this a makeover to fix my medical needs. Sugar Free cool whip, Splenda or Stevia, sugar free gelatin and Smart Balance margarine. I will keep you posted.
I appreciate that your recipes use real food ingredients. cool whip and fake butter is full of chemicals detrimental to good health. Thank you Barry for your reliable and truly healthful recipes. After all if we are going to enjoy a good dessert it is a good thing to have it be healthful as well. Organic strawberries are in season and delicious right now. I am making this for the family on our very active Father's Day. I will let you know how it goes!
I made them for Father's Day and my adult kids said it was the best dessert I ever made. My husband is still bragging to his friends about them. The only change I made was the amount of sugar, I only used about 1/4th cup in the filling. It was plenty with my fresh organic Texas strawberries!
Could you make these bars using fresh berries and then freeze the whole thing (minus the whipped cream) for a later date?
I've never done that but worth a try. Don't see why not.
I would think once they thaw it would become mushy and watery.....however if you served it frozen...that sounds delish.