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Simple, light and refreshing Strawberry Shortcake Bars are a perfect summertime dessert. This is a seasonal favorite, and one tempting treat!
If you love the flavors in these Strawberry Shortcake Bars, you need to try these other shortcake inspired desserts!! Our favorites are No Bake Strawberry Shortcake, Strawberry Shortcake Kabobs, and even this poke cake!
bar version of a favorite!
Is your family like us in that we never need an excuse to make dessert? 😉
It should be no surprise that we love dessert, and one of our favorite summer treats is this recipe for Strawberry Shortcake Bars.
The super soft cake like crust perfectly combines with a light layer of cream cheese and whipped cream, topped with fresh cold strawberries. It’s heavenly!
It tastes just like a classic strawberry shortcake, but with a little less hassle. Plus, it easily feeds a crowd since you just make one pan and cut it into bars!
Simple Strawberry Shortcake Bars
Although the steps are super simple, make sure you plan ahead with time, because it does need to refrigerate for at least 3 hours!
PREP. Preheat oven to 350°F and remove cool whip from freezer to thaw. Slice up strawberries and set aside.
BATTER. In a large bowl, beat together sugar and butter until creamy. Mix in eggs, baking powder and salt. Alternate between adding in the flour and milk, beating after each addition. Beat until all ingredients are combined. Stir in vanilla extract.
BAKE. Pour batter evenly into a greased and floured a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
Note: Be sure not to over bake. Cake should be flat and light in color. Let cool completely. Set aside.
TOPPING. In a large bowl, cream together cream cheese, powdered sugar and frozen whipped topping.
ASSEMBLE. Evenly spread cream cheese mixture over top of cooled cake. Top with sliced strawberries.
CHILL + SERVE. Refrigerate for 3 hours.
Tips + Variations
Make ahead: The ingredients of the Strawberry Shortcake Bars can be made 1-2 days ahead of time and stored separately until you’re ready to assemble the cake.
STORE covered leftovers in the fridge. The bars will last for a few days, but the strawberries will only last for a day or two. You can easily pick off the old strawberries and top with freshly cut berries.
For a tasty variation, include different fruits such as:
- raspberries
- blueberries
- sliced bananas
- sliced kiwi
- or your favorite fruit!
If you’re a fruit lover, I’m certain you will LOVE this simple but perfectly sweet strawberry bars. See for yourself!
for even more fruity treats, check out:
- Pineapple Upside Down Cake
- Lemon Sheet Cake
- Cherry Sugar Cookie Bars
- Blackberry Cobbler
- White Chocolate Blueberry Lasagna
Strawberry Shortcake Bars Recipe
Ingredients
Butter Vanilla Cake
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 pint strawberries
Frosting
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 1/4-1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 8 oz cool whip frozen
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and remove cool whip from freezer to thaw.
- In a large bowl, beat together sugar and butter until creamy. Mix in eggs, baking powder and salt. Alternate between adding in the flour and milk, beating after each addition. Beat until all ingredients are combined. Stir in vanilla extract.
- Pour batter evenly into a greased and floured a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Be sure not to over bake. Cake should be flat and light in color. Let cool completely. Set aside.
- Slice up strawberries and set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together cream cheese, powdered sugar and frozen whipped topping. Evenly spread cream cheese mixture over top of cooled cake. Top with sliced strawberries.
- Refrigerate for 3 hours.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe adapted from Divas Can Cook.
Just wondering why in thr video you use two sticks of butter, but the recipe says 1/2 a cup of butter?
It is 1/2 cup 🙂 Hope you like these, as much as I do!!
Your video shows 2 sticks of butter which equals 1 cup but your recipie reads 1/2 cup=1 stick. Which is it?
it is 1/2 cup 🙂 Enjoy!!
Great recipe, the cake is neither too firm nor too soft, and it tastes so good.???? It’s the first time to try one of your recipes and definitely won’t be the last!
Awe, thank you so much!! I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you very much!
Made this today for 4th of July and can’t wait to try it! I do have a suggestion – I would change the recipe to have the cream cheese whipped first with the powdered sugar then add in the Cool Whip. If you just dump everything in and mix together as the recipe suggests, it comes out lumpy which isn’t very appetizing to look at. My cream cheese was at room temp too. Otherwise a great recipe!
I want to make this for my daughters baby shower. Do you think it will turn out if I do everything the night before except for adding the strawberries? I would be refrigerating it overnight.
Yes, it should, as long as it’s in the fridge and waiting to add the strawberries. It will be a hit!
Your video shows one cup of butter, but the written recipe says 1/2 cup. Which one is correct?
Thanks!
Sorry about that – my videographer must have been confused. It’s 1/2 cup butter. 😉
I used two sticks and less milk and it was yummy.
You mention a pint of strawberries in the cake mix. Was that an error? Why would you put strawberries in the cake? The pictures dont look like you have added strawberries inside the actual cake just on the top.
It’s just for topping. Thank you for stopping by! Hope you’ll give these a try 🙂
Can you cut the recipe in half?
I haven’t, but I don’t see why not 🙂 Let me know how they come out, if you do that. Thanks so much!
Am I understanding correcty, the cool whip is not thawed but left frozen? I ask because this is the first time I’ve ever seen a recipe that called for frozen cool whip. Thank you.
You saw it correctly 🙂 Hope you like it! It’s pretty darn good!
I am not a fan of the traditional strawberry shortcake, but this recipe for the Strawberry Shortcake Bars was excellent. I followed the exact recipe. At our family Easter gathering it was a huge hit.
I’m glad you liked them! Thank you for letting me know!
Thanks for that information. So many want to change the recipe. Can’t wait to make it.
You are welcome! 🙂