Strawberry Lemon Cake Bars
PIN IT!These fluffy strawberry lemon cake bars literally melt-in-your-mouth. Soft, fluffy and so incredibly moist, you’ll have trouble eating just one!
Like clockwork, the day before I leave for a trip, I always get hit with this innate desire to bake something. It’ll be 3pm, I’ll be done with my work and all of a sudden, I’m being pulled by some Betty Crocker magnet, to my kitchen. I’m pulling out cake pans, measuring flour and cracking eggs. Before I realize what I’ve done, I have a cake in the oven and I’m halfway through a rich buttercream in my trusty Kitchen Aid mixer. It’s almost like the ghost of bakers past are using my body to create these fluffy, delicious concoctions the day before a trip.
My husband and his coworkers don’t complain, as they get to eat the end results of my black out baking. But me, whose left with a sink full of dishes and a mess on my photo board to clean up, I’m a little less than pleased. It makes sense though. I hate packing and my subconcious knows that. So instead of telling me to march upstairs and find my suitcase, it tells me to bake. The better of both evils, I guess.
At least with this I’m left with cake to eat, or in this weeks case, strawberry lemon cake bars. Which almost didn’t make it past 6pm on Wednesday night. I’m not a fan of using the word literally, but with these, I have to. They LITERALLY melt in your mouth with each bite. The centers are moist and chewy, almost like brownies and the glaze drips into the cake, making it even more moist than before.
They definitely made the late-night packing (or scramble) worth it, even though my tired husband would probably disagree with that.
Strawberry Lemon Cake Bars
CLICK HERE FOR THE PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE!
Serves about 16.
Prep time: <10 minutes
Cook time: About 32 minutes
Ingredients:
For the bars:
- 1 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- Dash of salt (about 1/3 teaspoon)
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/4 cup lemon zest
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 cup chopped strawberries
For the glaze:
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 4 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
- About 1/2 cup chopped strawberries
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 x 8 glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar and salt together. In a stand mixer, beat the butter, applesauce, eggs and lemon juice together. Add the flour mixture alternating with the lemon zest and mix until fully combined.
- Pour about half of the batter into the prepared cake pan. Top with chopped strawberries, evenly sprinkling them over all corners of the pan. Pour the remaining batter on top to completely cover the strawberries.
- Bake for about 30 – 36 minutes or until golden brown. (You want the middle to be moist, but solid). An easy to way to test is to shake the pan just a little to ensure the middle isn’t still liquidy.
- Let cool completely. While they cool, prepare the glaze by whisking the powdered sugar, heavy cream and lemon zest together. Once the cake has cooled, pour over the glaze. Top with chopped strawberries and slice!
Nutritional information per bar:
Calories: 238
Fat: 9.2 grams
Carbohydrates: 33.5 grams
Fiber: > 1 gram
Protein: 3.25
Weight Watchers Points: 6
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