Strawberries & Cream Freezer Bars

Since Labor Day marked the unofficial end of the season, I wanted to give summer one last hurrah with a yummy frozen dessert. I had pinned this a while back, and knew that it would be the perfect way to say goodbye to ice cold desserts and make way for the warmth of fall.

Strawberries & Cream Freezer Bars
Recipe from Sweetsonian

Ingredients:
1/2 cup pecans, toasted
8 whole graham crackers broken into pieces
1 cup butter, melted (2 sticks)
2 cups AP flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream (I used full-fat coconut milk)
1 lemon, juiced
4 oz. cream cheese (I used Tofutti dairy-free cream cheese)
2 cups diced strawberries (organic preferably, since they are on EWG's dirty dozen list)

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) In a food processor, combine the pecans and graham crackers. Pulse until crumbly. Then, transfer to a large mixing bowl with the melted butter, flour and brown sugar. Mix with a fork, and spread out onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Pat down with your fingers to make one giant cookie (you’ll be crumbling this later). Try to keep it about 1/4 to 1/2-an inch thick.
3) Bake for 15 minutes, then remove to cool. Crumble into a bowl.
4) In a large bowl, or using a stand mixer, beat the egg whites until you have soft peaks. Then, gradually add the sugar and heavy cream. Beat for another 4 minutes, until the mixture is light. Beat in the lemon juice and cream cheese until evenly mixed, and then fold in the strawberries.
5) Line a 9×13 cake pan with parchment paper. Spread half of your cookie crumbles into the pan, coating the surface evenly and pressing down lightly. Then, pour your strawberries and cream mixture on top of the crust, using a spatula to spread the cream all the way to the edges. Sprinkle the remaining crumbs over the top, coating the cream entirely.
6) Freeze overnight. When fully frozen, slice with a very sharp knife, and wrap individually with plastic wrap or parchment paper.

I love the fact that you can individually wrap these bars and store them in the freezer so they are ready to go when you need a quick treat (ps - they are pretty hard when frozen, so I like to let them sit out at room temperature for about 15 minutes before I devour them). The homemade cookie crumble is so delicious, and I had to stop myself from eating handfuls of it after it came out of the oven! I might even use the crumble recipe for other desserts; it really is that scrumptious.

Are you still filling up on summer staples or have you already moved onto fall foods?

~Tammy

PS - Don't forget to visit Daisy, Staci and Amber today for their posts in the Homemade Living series. Next week I will share my post along with Mary and our new blogger in the series, my good friend Jackie!

Shared with Down Home Blog Hop, What I Am Eating