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We are OBSESSED with strawberry desserts, especially in the summer, and these strawberry shortcake bars are on repeat all season long! Let’s be honest, all YEAR long.
The super soft cake-like crust is the perfect base for the light cream cheese layer and the fresh, cold strawberries. These bars actually taste just like our classic Strawberry Shortcake but with less hassle! Simply mix and bake each layer and top with strawberries and Whipped Cream. It’s heavenly and easy enough for the kids to make!
Although the steps are super simple, be sure to plan ahead with time, because it does need to refrigerate for at least 3 hours! That makes it an IDEAL make-ahead dessert and a favorite chilled treat.
If you love the flavors in these shortcake bars, try these other shortcake-inspired desserts: Classic Strawberry Shortcake and Bisquick Strawberry Shortcake!
Why we think you’ll love it:
- A chilled treat. We love that this bar recipe is refrigerated, it makes a delicious warm-weather dessert!
- Just layer and bake. The steps are SUPER simple – mix and bake the batters, then top with fresh strawberries and Whipped Cream.
- Fresh strawberries. We love treats that incorporate fresh fruit – especially strawberries! It’s just so refreshing and delicious.
Strawberry Shortcake Bar Ingredients and Substitutions
Butter Vanilla Cake
- ½ cup butter, softened – see How to Soften Butter Quickly
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs – room temeprature
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour – see How to Measure Flour
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract – or ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1-pint strawberries – We prefect just using strawberries, but to mix it up you could try raspberries, blueberries, sliced bananas, or sliced kiwi.
Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ¼-½ cup powdered sugar – sifted
- 8 ounces cool whip – Thaw if frozen. We love using Cool Whip to keep it simple but you could also make our favorite Homemade Whipped Cream.
How to Make Strawberry Shortcake Bars
- PREP. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the Cool Whip from the freezer to thaw. Hull and slice the strawberries and set aside.
- CAKE LAYER. In a large bowl, beat the 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 9×13-inch baking dish.
- BAKE. Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake, the cake should be flat and light in color. Let cool completely and set aside.
- CREAM CHEESE LAYER. In a large bowl, cream the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and thawed Cool Whip. Evenly spread cream cheese mixture over top of cooled cake. Top with sliced strawberries.
- CHILL. Refrigerate for 3 hours.
Kristyn’s Recipe Tips
- Let the cake cool completely before adding the frosting, we’ve made this mistake before and the frosting will melt right into the layers!
- Ripe strawberries are a vibrant, deep red color from stem to tip with a sweet aroma and will have the BEST flavor. We love to pick up fresh strawberries from farmer’s markets.
Strawberry Shortcake Bars
Ingredients
Butter Vanilla Cake
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 pint strawberries
Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ¼-½ cup powdered sugar
- 8 ounces cool whip, thawed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the Cool Whip from the freezer to thaw. Hull and slice the strawberries and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the 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 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake, the cake should be flat and light in color. Let cool completely and set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and thawed Cool Whip. Evenly spread cream cheese mixture over top of cooled cake. Top with sliced strawberries.
- Refrigerate for 3 hours.
Video
Notes
- Using room temperature ingredients helps them incorporate more easily, resulting in a lighter cake.
- Ripe strawberries are a vibrant, deep red color from stem to tip with a sweet aroma and will have the BEST flavor. We love to pick up fresh strawberries from farmer’s markets.
- Let the cake cool completely before adding the frosting, we’ve made this mistake before and the frosting will melt right into the layers!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe FAQ
The frosting and the cake can be made a day ahead of time and stored separately until you’re ready to assemble the cake.
Store leftovers, covered, in the fridge or divided into airtight containers. The bars will last for 2-3, but the strawberries will only last for 1-2 days. The frosted cake can be frozen without the strawberries for up to 3 months.
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This recipe was originally published May 2017.
Recipe adapted from Divas Can Cook.
This is what I have been looking for!! So simple!! Thank you
Making and taking this to a July 4th party. Will be adding some blueberries so it will be red, white and blue
Delicious, everyone raved about it. The only issue I had was it took my cake at least 45 minutes to bake, maybe longer. My oven seems to be fine cooking everything else so I don’t think that was the problem. No matter, it was really good and I will make it again! Thanks for a great recipe.
Everyone loved this!
Hi, Im making this a head of time and will assemble when ready to serve.
I made the frosting and refrigerated it. My question is I just made the cake does it need to be refirgerated?
Truly our favorite dessert around here!! We LOVE these strawberry shortcake bars!
Oh my heavens these were delightful! I needed a recipe to use strawberries that I had on hand and well… now I’m going to buy more so I can make this again. Haha!
These bars are the perfect summer treat. We made them with strawberries from our garden, but I think we will be making this dessert even after our harvest is done!
I have made this several times to bring to parties. Always a hit. I sub the Cool Whip out with sweetened real whipping cream. Very easy to make…just give yourself the time it takes to be ready for serving.
I’m so glad you enjoy the bars!! Thanks for sharing!
I am going to make this for our family reunion, will try ahead of time but sure looks delicious 😋
I hope you enjoy! Thanks for giving them a try!
How much cream do you whip? 1 cup? I prefer homemade whipped cream too!
Hi! If I wanted the cake part to be a little thicker, do you think 1.5x the recipe would work? Obviously it would need to cook longer! Thanks!
I haven’t ever tried that, but you could certainly give it a try. You’ll definitely want to increase the cooking time and check with a toothpick. Just making sure it doesn’t rise over the sides of the pan. You’ll have to let us know how it turns out if you 1.5x the recipe. 🙂