STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE BARS (2024)

Published by Jessica on July 7, 2020

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Strawberry Shortcake Bars are made with layers of sugar cookies, fresh strawberries, homemade strawberry syrup and sweetened whipped cream. These icebox cookie bars are somewhere in between traditional strawberry shortcake and fruit pizza.

Strawberry Shortcake Bars seem a little bit complicated, but they really aren’t that difficult to make – I promise! And the results are absolutely incredible. Think lasagna, but with sugar cookies, whipped cream and strawberries. The hardest part of the whole thing is making the 4 cookie layers, but if you have multiple pans, you can bake them at one time and it speeds up the process quite a bit.

I found this recipe a couple of months ago in a Better Homes & Garden magazine years ago and had it sitting in my “recipes to try” pile for a long time before I finally got around to making it. Not sure why I waited so long! I have to admit that my bars didn’t come out quite as perfect looking as the ones pictured in the magazine, but they were still delicious and were devoured quite quickly!

Make this dessert at least a day in advance so that they can chill overnight before serving. The bars will stay good for several days in the refrigerator.

Ingredients in Strawberry Shortcake Bars

Strawberry Sauce

4 cups strawberries, sliced

3/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. butter, sliced in small pieces

Cookie Layers

2/3 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

4 cups all-purpose flour

How to make Strawberry Shortcake Bars

Strawberry Sauce

Puree the strawberries until smooth. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch and then stir in the pureed strawberries. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Stir in lemon juice and butter and then remove from heat. Transfer to a bowl and chill for at least 2 hours before using.

Cookie Layer

Beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat until combined and then beat in the eggs and vanilla until well mixed. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer and then stir any remaining flour in by hand. Divide the dough into fourths.

Whipped Cream

In a chilled mixing bowl, beat cream and sugar together until soft peaks form. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to use. You can also just use Cool Whip if you prefer.

Grease a 9X9 inch baking pan. Line with parchment paper and pat in a quarter of the dough until it is evenly spread across the bottom. Bake 10-12 minutes at 375. Cool in pan for a few minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack. Once pan is cool, make two more identical layers. For the fourth layer, make sure that your parchment paper extends up on two sides of the pan so that you easily remove the bars once they are all assembled. Don’t remove the fourth layer from the pan once it is baked. Note: If you have more than one 9X9 pan, you can make multiple layers at the same time to speed up the process.

To assemble the shortcake bars:

Spoon half of the strawberry sauce on the sugar cookie layer that is still in the pan. Add another cookie layer, half of the whipped cream and 2 cups of the sliced strawberries. Add another cookie, remaining strawberry sauce, and remaining cookie. If necessary, gently press cookie layers down. Cover and chill cookie bars and remaining whipped cream overnight. Add a dollop of the remaining whipped cream on top of each bar right before serving.

Strawberry Shortcake Bars

5 from 2 votes

Ingredients

Strawberry Sauce

4 cups strawberries sliced
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. butter sliced in small pieces

Cookie Layers

2/3 cup butter softened
2/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups all-purpose flour

Sweetened Whipped Cream

3/4 cup whipping cream
1 Tbsp. sugar
+ 2 cups sliced strawberries and maybe a few more to add on top

Instructions

Strawberry Sauce

Puree the strawberries until smooth. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch and then stir in the pureed strawberries. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Stir in lemon juice and butter and then remove from heat. Transfer to a bowl and chill for at least 2 hours before using.

Cookie Layer

Beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat until combined and then beat in the eggs and vanilla until well mixed. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer and then stir any remaining flour in by hand. Divide the dough into fourths.

Whipped Cream

In a chilled mixing bowl, beat cream and sugar together until soft peaks form. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to use. You can also just use Cool Whip if you prefer.
Grease a 9X9 inch baking pan. Line with parchment paper and pat in a quarter of the dough until it is evenly spread across the bottom. Bake 10-12 minutes at 375. Cool in pan for a few minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack. Once pan is cool, make two more identical layers. For the fourth layer, make sure that your parchment paper extends up on two sides of the pan so that you easily remove the bars once they are all assembled. Don't remove the fourth layer from the pan once it is baked. Note: If you have more than one 9X9 pan, you can make multiple layers at the same time to speed up the process.
To assemble the shortcake bars:
Spoon half of the strawberry sauce on the sugar cookie layer that is still in the pan. Add another cookie layer, half of the whipped cream and 2 cups of the sliced strawberries. Add another cookie, remaining strawberry sauce, and remaining cookie. If necessary, gently press cookie layers down. Cover and chill cookie bars and remaining whipped cream overnight. Add a dollop of the remaining whipped cream on top of each bar right before serving.

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HOW DO YOU WHIP CREAM?

Whipping cream is easy to do, especially if you know a little trick! Use a metal bowl and freeze it for at least 30 minutes before whipping the cream. This cuts so much time from the process! Before I learned this trick, it would take 8-10 minutes of beating the cream before it would get stiff, but now it only takes 3-4 minutes!

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Place the whipping cream in the bowl immediately after removing the bowl from the freezer. Use an electric mixer turned up fairly high to beat the whipped cream. The whipped cream is ready when stiff peaks form as you lift up the beaters.

Make sure to use a fairly large bowl, even if you don’t have much cream – it does tend to splatter if your bowl isn’t big enough! You can whip the cream a few hours or even a couple of days in advance – just store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.

ENJOYSTRAWBERRY RECIPES? HERE ARE MORE TO TRY:

Easy Strawberry Trifle recipe
Strawberry Jello Pretzel Salad recipe
Easy Strawberry Crisp recipe
Easy No-Pectin Strawberry Jam
Mini Glazed Strawberry Cupcakes
Strawberry Ice Cream Pie
Glazed Strawberry Fruit Pizza
Frosted Strawberry Cookies
Strawberry Cheesecake Bites
Easy Strawberry Butter
Quick Strawberry Ice Cream recipe
Strawberry Crumb Bars
Strawberry Shortcake Cake
Strawberry Shortcake Oreo Balls

ABOUT US

I began Butter, with a Side of Bread to delve deeper into my fascination with food! I love cooking easy, delicious recipes and trying out new products. Welcome and I hope you stick around!