Strawberry – Raspberry Lemonade Cookie Bars

Have you ever eaten something that was so delicious, you almost didn’t have the right words to describe it?

It’s not frequent that this happens to me, but when it does….you can pretty much guarantee that I’m going to share it here.

As this week, and some of the coming weeks’ recipes will indicate, fruit-y bars have become a real favorite of mine lately. There are so many different flavor combinations and possibilities you can try out, and I haven’t had a failed experiment yet–especially not today.

You guys. These, are, SOOOOOO GOOD.

It combines two of my favorite sweet treats (a sugar cookie and strawberry lemonade) into one dessert that was just made for summer baking.

One of the best things that I appreciate most about this recipe is the ratio of the fruit to the cookie. As much as I like fruit bar recipes, a lot of times, the proportion of fruit to crust is often unbalanced, with the cookie taking up most of the ‘space’ just to ensure the curd has a sturdy foundation. Not so here; the strawberry lemonade curd is the shining star of this dessert and it is FABULOUS. The flavors are so bright, sweet and yet tart that is really does taste like strawberry lemonade that’s been thickened into a smooth, slightly textured curd.

Please make these. They really are one of the best desserts I’ve ever had or made.

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Strawberry-Raspberry Lemonade Cookie Bars

Recipe Adapted from The Improv Kitchen

Ingredients

For Crust

18 Tablespoons (2 sticks and 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch of salt

For Filling

12 oz (2 heaping cups) frozen raspberries, thawed and drained
12 oz (2 heaping cups) frozen strawberries, thawed and drained
1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups lemon juice
4 tablespoons lemon zest (6 lemons worth)
6 egg whites
2 eggs
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahreneit. Line a 13 x 9 square baking dish with parchment paper, spray with cooking spray and set aside.

For the Crust: In a medium size bowl, cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Add in vanilla. Add flour until just incorporated. If it is still too dry/crumbly to hold together, you can add 1 teaspoon of water at a time just until it is moist enough to form one dough ball.

Dump dough into baking pan and press with your hands until it evenly covers the bottom of the dish. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until slightly golden brown. Allow to cool for about 10-15 minutes.

For the filling: If you prefer for your bars to be seedless, you can press the raspberries through a sieve, or give them a blitz in the blender first. (I don’t mind seeds, so I skipped this step.)

In a medium bowl, combine the thawed and drained fruit, the sugar, egg whites, eggs, lemon juice and zest, flour, and salt to the bowl and stir with a wire whisk or a fork to combine.

Pour the mixture onto the crust (don’t worry, it’s supposed to be a very loose mixture, it will thicken) and bake for 45-50 minutes. (A pretty good way to tell if its done is if it’s firm towards the outside, but still has a tiny bit of ‘wobble’ in the middle)

Let the bars cool to room temperature and then place in the refrigerator overnight to set up fully. (You can place them in the freezer for a few hours to expedite this process, but overnight is better if you’ve got the time.)

Cut into squares and serve.