Strawberry Shortcake Crunch Bars are the perfect summer treat with a delicious strawberry crunch topping that taste like the Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars!
A flakey, buttery crust combined with cream cheese and strawberry topping and then topped with a strawberry crunch topping is the perfect dessert. This recipe is great for warm summer nights, BBQs, and summer gatherings.
STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE CRUNCH BARS
While these strawberry shortcake bars look like they might take a lot of work to make they are actually very easy. Boxed cake mix is turned into a golden crust, similar to this pumpkin pie cake, then cream cheese and fresh strawberries are combined into a delicious topping. Finish these bars up with an easy strawberry crunch topping that I always keep on hand and you have an easy, but fun summer treat.
STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE BARS INGREDIENTS
Boxed Cake Mix – This is used to make a crust for your bars.
Strawberry Crunch Topping – You can find the full recipe here, but it’s Golden Oreos, Strawberry Jell-O, and Butter.
Cream Cheese – Used for the Topping
Fresh Strawberries
Powdered Sugar
Eggs
Vanilla Extract
Honey
Vegetable Oil – but you can substitute melted butter
Heavy Whipping Cream
HOW TO MAKE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE CRUNCH BARS
Let’s get started making our Strawberry Crunch bars. There are a few steps involved. I suggest making the crumble first, but you can do the crust first if you like.
STRAWBERRY CRUNCH TOPPING
Preheat oven to 350.
Melt your butter in the microwave until fully melted.
Crush golden Oreos up. You can use a rolling pin or food processor.
Place crushed Oreos in a bowl.
Add the strawberry Jell-O to the crushed Oreos and give it a good mix to combine.
Pour in melted butter and mix well.
Spread mix onto a parchment-lined baking sheet in a thin, even layer.
Bake for 8 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool.
Take the mix and break it up into a crumble. I suggest adding the crumble to a Ziploc bag and hitting it with a rolling pin. A food processor would break it up too much.
CAKE
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Butter a 9×9 cake pan. Line the butter pans with parchment paper and butter it as well. Set aside.
This step will make it easier to take the bars out of the baked dish once done and cut them into perfect portion bites.
In a large bowl with a hand mixer, combine all the ingredients: cake mix, eggs, oil, and honey.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
Spread the dough evenly.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until the sides start to be lightly golden.
Allow the cake to cool completely before adding the frosting.
FROSTING
In a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the heavy whipping cream, 2 teaspoons powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.
Increase your speed until you have stiff peaks. Set aside
In another bowl, mix the cream cheese and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Mix until combined. I used a hand mixer, but you could also use a stand-up mixer.
Once the cream cheese mixture is combined, fold in the whipped cream. I used a spatula and carefully mixed it, keeping in mind the air in the whipped cream.
Mix until combined.
If your cake is cold, proceed to assemble, if not place the cream cheese mixture in the fridge until you are ready.
HOW TO ASSEMBLE STRAWBERRY CRUNCH BARS
Once the cake is fully cooled, spread half of the frosting on it.
Add the halved strawberries.
Add the remainder of the cream cheese mixture.
Gently spread evenly. I used an offset spatula, but you could use a butter knife or the back of a spoon.
Sprinkle the crumble evenly on top.
Place the pan into the fridge for at least one hour or overnight.
Serve and enjoy!
SUBSTITUTIONS
You can skip the frosting making steps and use Cool Whip instead.
HOW TO STORE STRAWBERRY CRUNCH BARS
Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
You can keep it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Because of the cream cheese and whipped cream, I would not recommend freezing it.
Strawberry Shortcake Crunch Bars
Strawberry Shortcake Crunch Bars are the perfect summer treat with a delicious strawberry crunch topping that taste like the Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars!
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 box (15.25 oz) of vanilla cake mix
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon honey
Crumble
- 22 Golden Oreos
- 1 package of Strawberry Jello, 3 oz box
- 1/4 cup of melted butter
Frosting
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup powdered sugar + 2 teaspoon powdered sugar, divided
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (8 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, halved
Instructions
Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Butter a 9x9 cake pan. Line the butter pans with parchment paper and butter it as well. Set aside.
This step will make it easier to take the bars out of the baked dish once done and cut them in perfect portion bites.
In a large bowl with a hand mixer, combine all the ingredients: cake mix, eggs, oil, and honey.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
Spread the dough evenly.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until the sides start to be lightly golden.
Allow the cake to cool completely before adding the frosting.
Crumble:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside
In a food process, blitz the Oreos until it has become crumbs.
Pour the Oreos into a large mixing bowl.
Add the strawberry Jell-O powder.
Mix until combined.
Add the melted butter.
Mix until all ingredients are coated with the butter
Spread the mixture evenly onto the prepared cookie sheet.
Cook in the preheated oven for 8 minutes.
Cool completely.
Place in a bowl. Set aside.
Frosting:
In a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the heavy whipping cream, 2 teaspoons powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.
Increase your speed until you have stiff peaks. Set aside
In another bowl, mix the cream cheese and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Mix until combined. I used a hand mixer, but you could also use a stand-up mixer.
Once the cream cheese mixture is combined, fold in the whipped cream. I used a spatula and carefully mixed it, keeping in mind the air in the whipped cream.
Mix until combined.
If your cake is cold, proceed to assemble, if not place the cream cheese mixture in the fridge until you are ready.
Assemble:
Once the cake is fully cooled, spread half of the frosting on it.
Add the halved strawberries.
Add the remaining of the cream cheese mixture.
Gently spread evenly. I used an offset spatula, but you could use a butter knife or the back of a spoon.
Sprinkle the crumble evenly on top.
Place the pan into the fridge for at least one hour or overnight.
Serve and enjoy!