No Bake Meyer Lemon Strawberry Bars
These No Bake Meyer Lemon Strawberry Bars are made with sweet red strawberries, Meyer lemons, and a rolled oat crust. Easy to freeze!
Abby came to visit us in the desert and she made this delightful spring dessert: No Bake Meyer Lemon Strawberry Bars. The beauty of this dessert is it’s delicious freshly made (nice and fluffy), or frozen!
If you love strawberries, you might want to try my Strawberries Dipped in Sour Cream and Dark Brown Sugar or Tangerine Poppy Seed Cake with Strawberries.
We packed a lot into our time together, like hiking in Joshua Tree (at dusk). So beautiful. We also made good food, and enjoyed the lemon tree in front of our place, an orange tree in the back, and grapefruit tree across the street.
There’s nothing like California citrus!
No Bake Meyer Lemon Strawberry Bars
These bars taste like sweet springtime. The texture is creamy and rich when frozen, and fluffy and light when thawed. Make sure your pecans and oats are toasted, as they add a delicious, baked flavor to the no bake crust. Additionally, this is a great recipe to make ahead of time and store in the freezer until ready to serve!
All you need are these ingredients:
- Unsalted butter
- Ground toasted pecans
- Quick cook oats
- Brown sugar
- Salt
- Cream cheese
- Sweetened condensed milk
- Heavy whipping cream
- Meyer lemon
- Vanilla
- Strawberry Jam Swirl – use regular jam or make your own (recipe below)
Strawberry jam swirl
The strawberry jam swirl really makes the recipe. The sweetness combined with the tartness of the lemons is one of my favorite flavors.
Make in a 9×13 pan
We made this recipe in a 9×13 pan. If you want to order this pan (I love the baby blue colors), you can, here:
2pc Embossed Rectangular Bakeware Set, Aqua – buy it, here.
Cut the bars into 9 or 12 squares (depending on the sizes), and enjoy for Easter, spring entertaining, Mother’s Day, or a delicious summer dessert.
Can you freeze the lemon bars?
Store any leftovers in the freezer.
The bars defrost quite fast and will change from a dense, creamy texture to a light, creamy one.
Small warning: If you’re like us, you’ll pop into the freezer and take little nibbles like we did….
The recipe is delicious defrosted, fluffy and soft, or frozen—a little more firm.
ENJOY!
Get the Recipe:
No Bake Meyer Lemon Strawberry Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- ½ c unsalted butter, melted and still warm
- 1 ¼ c ground toasted pecans
- ¾ c toasted, quick cook oats, coarsely ground
- ⅓ c brown sugar, packed
- ½ tsp of salt
Lemon Filling
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
- ¾ c heavy whipping cream
- ½ c Meyer lemon juice
- Zest of 1 large Meyer lemon
- 2 tsp vanilla
Strawberry Jam Swirl
- makes about 1/2 cup
- 1 c strawberries
- ¼ c sugar
- ¼ c water
- ½ tsp lemon juice
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, add the strawberries, sugar, water, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt. Stir semi-frequently until the sugar dissolves and is no longer grainy. Reduce the heat to low and cook until strawberries soften and disintegrate—about 30 minutes. As the water evaporates, the strawberries will thicken into a syrup consistency; continue cooking until it can just coat the back of a spoon. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool to room temperature in the refrigerator.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the toasted pecans, toasted oats, sugar, salt, and warm, melted butter. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes (to hydrate the oats), then press into the bottom of a 9x13’’ pan. Refrigerate or freeze.
- In a small mixing bowl, beat the whipping cream to stiff peaks and set aside in the refrigerator.
- In a medium mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Beat until smooth, then, using a spoon, gently fold in the cold whipped cream—make sure to lift rather than press down, to keep the filling fluffy.
- Reserve 1/2 c of the filling, then spread it onto the crust in a single layer. Next, dollop the cooled strawberry jam into 8-10 circles. Using a thick wooden skewer, or similar utensil, swirl the jam into the filling. Next, divide the remaining 1/2 cup of filling onto the strawberry swirls, specifically in places where the swirls aren’t well defined, and swirl once more. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least 3 hours, or until firm enough to cut.
- Using a sharp knife that has been warmed under running water, cut the bars into 9-12 squares. The bars defrost quite fast and will change from a dense, creamy texture to a light, creamy one. Store any leftovers in the freezer.
This is delicious! My husband does not like cream cheese, so I used mascarpone instead which turned out great. Wonderful to make ahead and keeps well in freezer. Thank you!