Easy Strawberry Cream Cheese Shortbread Bars
A few years ago I made these Almond Cream Cheese Shortbread Bars and realized the bars are perfect with strawberries as well. My eyes were bigger than my stomach when I bought 5 pounds of strawberries, and using some in this dessert was a necessary move. The easy bars consist of a buttery shortbread crust that’s topped with a cream cheese and almond-flavored filling before frosting the bars and topping with strawberries. Juicy strawberries, sweet frosting, a filling that’s slightly tangy from the cream cheese, and a buttery crust is a perfect marriage of flavors and textures.
What’s in Strawberry Shortbread Bars?
To make this strawberry cream cheese dessert, you’ll need:
Unsalted butter All-purpose flour Confectioners’ sugar Cornstarch Salt Cream cheese Egg Granulated sugar Almond extract Milk or cream Fresh strawberries
How to Make Strawberry Shortbread Bars
First, you’ll need to make the shortbread dough. Once it comes together, press it into the bottom of a 8×8-inch baking pan and bake just until barely set (it’ll be going back into the oven later). While the crust bakes, beat together the filling. Once the crust has been in the oven for about 15 minutes, pull it out and spread the filling on top. Return the bars to the oven and bake until filling is no longer jiggly. Once the baked shortbread bars have cooled completely, make the frosting and drizzle over top. The bars needs to set for about 1 hour before you can garnish with strawberries and serve.
How to Store Strawberry Shortbread Bars
These shortbread cream cheese bars will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days (without strawberries added). I’m comfortable storing frosted items at room temperature, but store in the fridge if you’re not, noting bars could become overly dry in the fridge. Or, store in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Tips for Making Strawberry Shortbread Bars
I love almond extract, it’s used in both the filling and the frosting, and the flavor really shines though. If you’re not as fond of it, you can scale back the quantity or replace it with vanilla extract. But I can’t imagine doing either since I want to wear almond extract as perfume. You MUST wait for the cream cheese shortbread bars to cool completely before frosting them. If you frost the bars while they’re still warm, the frosting will run all over. Note that the berries can run and bleed into the frosting, so if you’re serving this for an important event make sure not to add strawberries until just before serving.
More Strawberry Dessert Recipes:
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