Browned salted butter adds incredible nuttiness and caramel notes to these bar cookies filled with sweet strawberry preserves
One of my absolute favorite flavor combinations is jammy fruit and buttery shortbread. I reinterpret this combo over and over again in different ways, sometimes in tarts, cookies, and bars, and it never gets old. See what I mean? Blueberry Lemon Crumb Bars, Pink Lemonade Thumbprint Cookies, and Cherry Cheesecake Bars. You’ll combine easy-to-find frozen strawberries with good strawberry jam and lemon juice for an irresistible, slightly tart, fruity filling. I’ll show you a few pro tips to take this short list of ingredients in these Brown Butter Strawberry Oat Crumb Bars to the next level.
How do you brown butter?
Browning butter may seem intimidating but it’s very simple, and worth every extra minute of effort in the final product. You’re basically cooking the butter of medium heat for about 7-8 minutes. First, it will bubble up, then it will start look foamy on top, and then you’ll see the browned milk solids poking through the middle. That’s when you know you’re done! Hot tip: don’t walk away from the stove, and don’t try to multitask. You don’t want to get distracted and burn your precious salted butter. Stay close by, and whisk the butter very regularly for about 8 minutes.
Then pour the browned butter out of the pan, into a heatproof bowl, to stop the cooking. Brown butter instantly makes EVERYTHING taste richer, with real depth of fllavorbut don’t take my word for it, try it for yourself!
How to make easy crumb bars
The beauty of this recipe is that you’re making one shortbread dough for both the crust and the crumbly topping. I like to use the back of a measuring cup to firmly press down the dough for the bottom crust layer. Then, use a rubber spatula or better yet, a small offset spatula, to spread the strawberry filling evenly over the base. I add a bit more rolled oats to the topping before I crumble it on top for some extra chewiness. Very minimal effort, but very delicious bars!
For the FULL RECIPE, go to Kerrygold.com
This post is sponsored by Kerrygold USA, all opinions are 100% my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Lion’s Bread possible.