strawberry crumble bars

Browned butter crust. Jammy, sticky cardamom strawberries. Crunchy crumble topping. Sweet, vanilla glaze. What's not to like? NOTHING. ZIP. ZILCH. Go make 'em. 

I tried to make it as simple as possible because I WANT YOU TO MAKE THESE because, dang, they're good. A fruity, buttery, sweet bar you need in your life is just a few steps away.

Crust & Crumble
3 sticks butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour

Start by browning your butter, let it cool. Next combine all the ingredients together in a bowl. It should look a little dry, but when you gently rub it between your fingers crumble into small bits. Press 2/3 of mixture into a 9x13 or your favorite sheet pan prepared with parchment paper. Save the rest for your crumble. 

 

Strawberries

2 pounds
1/4-1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp ground cardamom

Clean and cut strawberries into a bowl. Depending on how sweet your berries are, add between 1/4 and 1/2 a cup of brown sugar. 

Spread the sweetened strawberries on your crust in a single layer. Spoon them over so the juice is spread out and doesn't pool in one area. Crumble the rest of the browned butter dough over the strawberries in an even layer. 

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. The crumble should start to brown and the juice becomes thick and bubbly. Let cool. 

Icing

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla (bean paste)

1-3 Tbsp water

Combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, and water until all the sugar is dissolved. Add the water slowly until the icing is fluid, but not too thin. You can always add more, but it's hard to take away! Drizzle over cooled bars. 

Tips!

• you want to use enough strawberries to make a single layer in your pan. somewhere in the range of two clamshells at the grocery story, but if you can pick your own berries I'll be forever jealous.
• a 9x13 will give you a slightly thicker bar, my favorite pan is a 15x10 jelly roll pan
• you could really use any fruit [CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW GOOD PEACHES WOULD BE??]
• cardamom is readily available at your grocery story, but just like all other spices, if you have a local spice shop --> go there! 
• if you despise cardamom [or don't want to make a special trip to the store] just replace it with cinnamon
• I like to brown the butter, put it in my bowl, put the bowl in the fridge. THEN take time to cut up my fruit. Add the brown sugar and cardamom to the fruit so it can macerate and become juicy. After the fruit is getting sweet and spicy, grab your butter and mix up the dough. 
  
• you could also just use some melted butter and not browned butter. it's not the same, but it'd still be good. 
• VANILLA.BEAN.PASTE.4EVER, but you can use a good vanilla extract. this is the time when you want to use the real deal. the cheap one in the dough. the expensive one in the glaze.