Fresh Strawberry Cream Cheese Swirl Bars Celebrate Berry Season

Have you ever taken a bite of a dessert so divine, it made you close your eyes and let out a satisfied sigh? If not, get ready to experience just that with these heavenly Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Bars.

These irresistible treats are the perfect combination of creamy, tangy, and sweet, all in one delicious bite. And the best part? They're surprisingly easy to make.

So whether you're a seasoned baker or a novice in the kitchen, get ready to elevate your dessert game with these delectable cookie bars.

Fresh strawberries just scream spring! The only drawback is that when mixed with batter that beautiful bright red color becomes a pale dusty rose.

I could have used food coloring to make up for it, but that seems ... I don't know... disingenuous?... unnecessary?... phony?  Maybe, I am as programmed as everyone else to think if it is strawberry it needs to have that artificial red color.

Instead of grabbing the food coloring I decided to chop up some fresh berries and add those too for extra strawberry flavor and a nice pop of bright red color.

Ingredients for Strawberry Cream Cheese Swirl Bars

These cookie bars are made with basic baking ingredients:

• fresh strawberries
• cream cheese (regular or low fat)
• butter (or your favorite substitute)
• sugar (or suitable substitute for baking)
• egg (or egg substitute)
• vanilla extract
• all purpose flour (see note)
• baking powder
• salt

Note that the amount of flour could be different every time you make it depending on the juiciness of the strawberries. You will need to add extra flour to the strawberry half of the dough so it is the same consistency as the other half. It is not an exact science, just come close.

Fresh Strawberry Recipes

Grab some fresh ripe strawberries when they are in season and make some of these wonderful recipes:

Strawberry Recipes

• Pork and Strawberry Salad with Buttermilk Ranch Dressing from Hezzi-D's Recipe Box
• Strawberry Cheesecake Rolls from Jen Around the World
• Strawberry Gochujang Dressing from Magical Ingredients
• Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Pie from Art of Natural Living
• Strawberry Tanghulu from Creative Cynchronicity
• Strawberry Walnut Vegetable Salad from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Strawberry Whiskey Sour from Karen's Kitchen Stories

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Recipe

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Ingredients

 

• ¾ cups strawberries
• 4 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)
• 4 ounces butter (room temperature)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼- ½ cup flour

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350℉. Grease a 9 inch square baking pan.
• Puree enough strawberries to make ½ cup of puree. Finely chop remaining berries and set aside.
  ¾ cups strawberries
• In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until blended. Add sugar and beat for 1-2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined.
  4 ounces cream cheese, 4 ounces butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• In a medium bowl whisk together 1 cup of flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to cream cheese mixture and beat until combined.
  1 cup flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon salt
• Separate half of the dough into the medium bowl and add strawberry puree. Mix until combined. Add enough flour until dough is roughly the same consistency as plain half of dough.
  ¼- ½ cup flour
• Drop heaping tablespoons of dough into a 9 inch square baking pan, alternating strawberry and plain. Top with chopped strawberries.
  
• Press down with wet hands and swirl.
  
• Bake until cookie turns light brown, about 10-15 minutes. Cool, cut into 16 bars.

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more fresh strawberry recipes

Until the next time, happy eating.
~Audrey