Strawberries are one of our favorite snacks, but they’re also delicious as part of a simple dessert.
What Type Of Strawberries Should You Use For This Recipe?
The best types of strawberries for desserts include fresh strawberries from your local grocery store or farmer’s market.
They have been picked at peak ripeness and will keep their shape better in recipes like these than those purchased out of season.
Common varieties of strawberries available for purchase
- Fruit-onion (or red) – This variety has an intense flavor, with small fruit on large plants.
- It can be used in both savory dishes and sweet ones, such as this recipe.
- Alpine – These berries have larger fruits than other types, which makes them easier to eat whole.
- Imperial – These berries tend to be smaller than others, making them ideal for baking into cakes and muffins.
- Merrill – A popular variety, Merrill produces plenty of very large berries, making it great for salads and smoothies.
Other types of strawberries
If you want to grow your own strawberries, there are many different varieties you could try.
Strawberries aren’t hard to grow, and if you live in a warm area, they may even survive winter!
But if you don’t live somewhere where winters are mild enough to let your strawberries grow all year round, then purchasing locally grown strawberries might be more practical.
How Do You Make The Crunch Topping For This Recipe?
This recipe calls for making a crumble topping using crushed cookies or crackers.
It can be made in advance if desired.
- Combine all dry ingredients (flour, oats, sugar, brown sugar) in a bowl.
- In another bowl combine butter/margarine with cream cheese.
- Add flour mixture into cream cheese mixture until combined.
- Fold in dried fruit pieces (or chocolate chips).
- You may need to add more flour depending on how moist your mix will get.
- Spread onto cookie sheets and bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes then reduce temperature to 325 and continue baking for an additional 15-20 minutes.
How Long Does This Recipe Take To Make?
This recipe takes about 30 minutes from start to finish.
You will need to wait around 15 minutes after baking before eating it.
- Make the crumble topping first (Step 1).
- Bake the strawberries with the crumble topping (Step 2).
- Wait 15 minutes (Step 3) until the berries have softened slightly.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
What Other Fruits Can You Use In This Recipe?
You can use any fresh fruit or vegetable you have available.
For example, you could use pineapple instead of strawberries, watermelon instead of blueberries, or peaches instead of raspberries.
If your berries aren’t sweet enough on their own, try adding some sugar (or honey) into the mix.
You may find that it helps bring out more flavor from the berry.
This recipe uses just five main ingredients, so there isn’t much room to get creative with substitutions.
How Can You Make This Recipe Healthier?
This recipe uses fresh strawberries with no added sugar or artificial sweeteners, so it is naturally healthy.
You can easily substitute frozen berries if needed by using 1/3 cup of the total amount called for below.
What Are Some Other Ways You Can Serve This Recipe?
You could use chocolate chips instead of the peanuts or even add in some shredded coconut.
You could also make it into ice cream by simply freezing your mixture before adding your whipped topping.
What if you don’t have strawberries
If you don’t eat strawberries often enough or you just don’t like them, then there are plenty of alternatives!
You could try using blueberries instead of strawberries in the recipe below, or use pineapple chunks instead of strawberries — either way it will taste great!
Just remember that when substituting fruits, always check out the nutritional information on your chosen fruit first so that you know how much sugar each fruit contains.
You might be wondering what makes strawberry crunch different from regular old strawberry shortcake – well it has something to do with the crumbly topping.
It’s a bit more rustic than the usual whipped cream and fresh berries, giving the whole dish an earthy feel.
And while I love whipped cream with my strawberries, sometimes I find myself craving something savory and not sweet at all.
So for those times, I decided to give the strawberry crunch recipe a try and was pleasantly surprised by how good it tastes.
In fact, it’s probably better than any traditional strawberry shortcake I’ve ever had before!
The best thing about this recipe is that it doesn’t require many ingredients and is super quick to prepare.
Plus, since the baking time isn’t too long (about 30-45 minutes), it’s easier to serve immediately after preparing it.
Not only does it look pretty, but it’ll satisfy even the pickiest eater.
can you still make this recipe?
This Strawberry Crunch Recipe is a great way to show off your cooking skills while creating something tasty and refreshing at the same time.
You will need strawberries, flour, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt to create this scrumptious treat.
- Step 1: Chop up fresh or frozen strawberries into small pieces with a knife or food processor.
- It doesn’t matter how big or small the pieces are.
- Just make sure they’re all roughly the same size before moving on to step 2.
- Step 2: Mix together the flour, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, and salt in a bowl until well combined.
- Step 3: Add the flour mixture to the strawberries and stir gently to combine everything evenly.
- You may need more or less liquid depending on how much moisture there is in your berries.
- If it’s too dry, add another tablespoon of water and stir again.
- Step 4: Pour the batter into an 8-inch square baking pan (or any dish you’d like) and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove from oven when done and let cool completely before serving.
- You can serve this for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even dessert! I love having this as a snack during the day because it’s so light and flavorful yet filling enough to satisfy my appetite without feeling heavy afterwards.
Can you freeze this recipe?
Yes, this recipe can be frozen.
To freeze it, remove it from the baking pan after it has cooled completely and place it in a freezer bag.
Put it back in the fridge until you want to thaw it out, then reheat it by popping it straight onto a microwave safe plate and heating it up in the microwave for about 30 seconds per portion.
What Are Some Other Ingredients You Can Add To This Recipe?
These strawberries have a nice amount of sugar in them, which can make them taste sweet even if there isn’t any added sugar.
If your fruit doesn’t seem sweet enough, try adding 1/4 cup of powdered sugar or brown sugar to the mixture before baking it.
You could also add lemon juice or orange juice into the mix at any point during cooking to bring out different flavors.
If you don’t want to use a blender, you may find it easier to crush these berries by hand with a fork instead of using an electric mixer.
Just press down on each berry firmly until all of its juices come out.
It might take a little longer than usual, so keep working toward making sure the entire batch gets crushed.
The texture of the final product depends on how well you manage to crush those berries.
Some people prefer their crunchier while others like theirs more smooth.
In either case, however, you should end up with a tasty treat!
Can This Recipe Be Made Ahead Of Time?
This recipe isn’t meant to be eaten immediately after it’s prepared.
You should store the strawberries in an airtight container until just before serving them.
They will keep well enough at room temperature, though we recommend refrigerating them if not using within 24 hours or so.
As long as the strawberries aren’t sitting around for too long, there shouldn’t be any problem with making this recipe ahead of time.
Just make sure you let the dish cool completely before storing it in an airtight container.
What Are Some Other Ways You Can Vary This Recipe?
While we love the original Strawberry Crunch recipe from Epicurious, there are plenty of variations you could try if you want something different.
For example, instead of pecans, you could use almonds or walnuts.
You might even add chocolate chips!
You can also switch out your fruit for another type of berry (like blueberries) or make it into a parfait by layering several smaller bowls with the same topping mixture and adding more berries at each layer.
The options are endless when it comes to tweaking this recipe – just remember to keep it simple so everyone enjoys their treat equally!
Equipment
- 1 Oven
Ingredients
- 24 Golden Oreos
- 1 box strawberry Jell-O
- 4 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Set the oven to 350°F.
- The Golden Oreos should be broken up into little pieces. You may either use a food processor or put the Oreos in a bag of plastic and crush them with a rolling pin or meat mallet. Not every one of them needs to be the same size.
- In a medium bowl, combine the crushed Oreos with the strawberry Jell-O powder and melted butter. To blend, gently combine.
- The mixture should be spread onto a prepared baking sheet (or top the baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat first). For 8 minutes, bake.
- Take out of the oven, then allow to cool.
Video
Nutrition
My blog is all about creating delicious meals with ingredients that are easy to find in your local grocery store. I’m passionate about making yummy meals that I can share with my friends and family.