Strawberry Lemonade Bars
Crust and Crumble Topping
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
pinch salt, optional and to taste
Filling
1 Harvest Haven egg
1/2 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt; or sour cream
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Strawberry Layer
2 heaping cups diced frozen strawberries, thawed
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon zest, or to taste
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8 inch baking pan with butter. Line with parchment paper.
Crust and Crumble Topping
Whisk together butter and sugars. And the flour, optional salt, and stir to combine. Mixture will be very dry and sandy with some larger, well-formed crumble pieces.Set a heaping 3/4 cup crumble mixture aside.
Transfer remaining mixture to prepared pan, and using a spatula or your fingers, hard-pack the mixture to create an even, smooth, flat crust; set aside.
Filling
In a medium bowl, add the egg, Greek yogurt, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, and whisk to combine or beat with a handheld electric mixer until smooth. Add the flour and whisk to combine or beat with a handheld electric mixer until smooth. Evenly pour filling over the crust and jiggle pan to help distribute it or smooth it with a spatula; set aside.
Strawberry Layer
In a separate medium bowl, add all filling ingredients except flour and toss to combine.Evaluate mixture and if it's very thin, runny, soupy, or liquidy, add up to 2 tablespoons flour to help thicken it. Evenly distribute strawberry mixture over the filling, smoothing it lightly with a spatula. Evenly sprinkle with the reserved heaping 3/4 cup crust mixture. Before sprinkling, squeeze the mixture in your hands to encourage bigger crumble pieces to form.
Bake for about 60 to 75 minutes (place pan on a cookie sheet for insurance against overflow if your pan is quite full), or until edges are bubbling quite vigorously and there's some bubbling in the center. Crumble topping should appear set and very pale golden. Watch your bars, not the clock, when evaluating doneness. Place pan on a wire rack and allow bars to cool for at least 2 hours (overnight is even better) before slicing and serving.
After cooling overnight, place pan in the fridge 2 hours before slicing to ensure clean, neat cuts. If you try to slice bars before they've cooled completely, they'll be extremely messy and could fall apart. Bars will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, in the fridge for up to 10 days, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Adapted from: https://www.averiecooks.com/2014/07/strawberry-lemonade-bars.html
