Strawberry Jam Bars
These easy vegan strawberry jam bars feature a buttery crust, fruity jam center, and golden crumb topping for a nostalgic, crowd-pleasing treat!
Servings: 16 Bars
Equipment
- 9 x 13 Inch Baking Pan
- Mixing Bowls
Ingredients
- 2½ cups All-Purpose Flour To make this gluten-free, use 1½ cup 1:1 gluten-free flour and 1 cup almond flour
- ¾ cup Cane Sugar
- ½ tsp Sea Salt
- 1 cup Plant-Based Butter Softened or at room temperature
- 1 tbsp Lemon Zest About the zest of 1 lemon
- 3 tbsp Chopped Nuts of Choice Pistachios or almonds work great
- 1½ cups Strawberry Jam or Preserve My fruit spread* works great here.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Line the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving some over the edges for easy removal of the bars.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Now add the softened plant-based butter and stir, I find using my hands to mix this dough the easiest. until everything is well combined. The mixture should be rather crumbly, but do not over mix, stop mixing as soon as the dough begins to come together.
- In a small bowl, set aside 1 cup of the shortbread dough, this will be used as the crumble on top of the bars. Add the lemon zest and chopped nuts to this dough and gently mix them into the dough.
- Press the larger amount of the shortbread dough evenly into your parchment lined 9 x 13 inch baking pan and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven and spread the strawberry jam or fruit spread* over the warm crust, creating an even layer. Note the crust layer will not be fully baked and will be soft, be gentle when spreading your jam layer over the crust. Then sprinkle on the reserved shortbread dough. This will not be enough to cover the jam, rather you just want to sprinkle it around and leave the jam to peek through.
- Place the bars back in the oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. The filling should be bubbling on the edges and in the middle.
- Allow the bars to cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Then Lift the bars out of the pan with the parchment paper, transfer to a cooling rack, and let them cool for at least 2 hours, before cutting.
- Cover these bars with beeswax paper or a lid and keep them at room temperature for up to 5 days.