Lemon Strawberry Shortbread Bars

A hint of lemon make these Strawberry Shortbread Bars delicious!

When my youngest sister got married their wedding favors were tiny jars of jam that said ‘spread the love’. To celebrate their most recent anniversary they sent out some gifts to those who had been in the bridal party. Those gifts were preserves (rather than jam) because they have been ‘preserving’ their wedding. I mean seriously, how cute is that.

My bottle of preserves had been sitting unopened on my counter. Rather than just use them for sandwiches I really wanted to make a dessert out of them. I love shortbread cookies. I also love thumbprint cookies with jam/preserves in the middle. These strawberry shortbread bars sort of combine those flavors. And I added some lemon juice because I love strawberry and lemon together and it cut down on the sweetness just a tad.

There is a layer of dough, topped with the strawberry preserves, and then the other half of the dough is dolloped on top. The whole thing is put into the oven to bake.

Once the bars come out of the oven I drizzled them with a lemony powdered sugar glaze.

Here you can see the layers of dough, strawberry preserves, and more dough, topped with glaze.

You’re welcome to add some additional garnishes of fresh strawberries, raspberries, and whipped cream.

Lemon Strawberry Shortbread Bars

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup strawberry preserves

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Spray a 8″x8″ square pan with nonstick spray
• In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.
• Add the butter, egg, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Use a pastry cutter or your hands to combine.
• Divide the dough in half.
• Press one half into the prepared pan.
• Spread the strawberry preserves on top of the dough.
• Dollop the remaining dough on top of the strawberry preserves.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until slightly browned.
• Allow to cool.

Optional Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp milk
• Whisk powdered sugar, lemon juice, and milk together. Drizzle on top of bars.
• I like to put the glaze into a piping bag (or you can use a reclosable plastic bag and snip off the corner) to make glazing easier. 
• Garnish according to desire!

Enjoy your Lemon Strawberry Shortbread Bars!