Streusel Strawberry Bars

By Addie

Tender butter cookies filled with strawberry jam make the perfect anytime treat. Cut down on prep time by topping them with powdered sugar instead of homemade icing.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped
• 2 10-ounce jar (2 cups) strawberry preserves or seedless red raspberry preserves
• Powdered Sugar Icing (see recipe below) or
• Sifted powdered sugar

Preparation

Step 1

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with foil, allowing foil to extend over ends of pan; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour and the pecans (mixture will be crumbly). Set aside 2 cups of the pecan mixture.

2. Press the remaining pecan mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Bake crust for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Carefully spread preserves to within 1/2 inch of the edges. Sprinkle reserved pecan mixture on top of preserves.

3. Bake for 35 minutes more or until top is golden brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Drizzle with Powdered Sugar Icing. Use foil to lift uncut bars from pan; gently pull foil away from sides of uncut bars. Cut into bars.

Tip To Tote:Cover and transport in baking pan. (Or cut into bars and place in a single layer in a shallow container.)
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Powdered Sugar Icing:

1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Milk


In a small bowl combine powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Stir in additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until icing is of drizzling consistency.


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REVIEWS:

Love this recipe! I have to laugh every time I make it as I get the glare from my friends and family for being a "diet killer." I have never had a problem with getting the dough crumbly I actually have to use a tad less flour or I wind up with too crumbly of dough.

I made these this morning using the 2 cups of butter. My batch was anything but crumbly. What a waste of butter and other ingrediants. Someone needs to review recipes before posting for errors.

This recipe is off. After adding the flour, it should have been crumbly and was instead creamy like a chocolate chip cookie dough. I had to add at least an extra 2 cups of flour to get it crumbly.