Strawberry Sweetheart Bars

Roses are red, violets are blue.

I love food, and so do you.

And that, my friends, is why food is the best Valentine’s Day gift I could give you. We share a mutual love for food, you and I, and that’s an incomparable bond. I don’t even have to know anything else about you to know that you’re worthy of being my Valentine. If you’re on this site, that means you like food. And if you like food, that means I like you.

So here’s something sweet for all you Smart Cookie readers: My Strawberry Sweetheart Bars. They are chewy, moist…and sweet like me! I Sorry, I had to. I guarantee you Mother Cookie is rolling her eyes right now and saying, “Oh god.”

I absolutely love these bars because they’re so darn simple, but they make one heavenly treat. It’s a one-bowl recipe, and you just need a few ingredients. This is stress-free baking, giving you soft and chewy strawberry bliss in no time at all.

We use a boxed cake mix as the base then added eggs and butter to yield a texture that’s sturdy, but very moist and rich, like a strawberry blondie. Then, each bar is speckled with creamy white chocolate chips and chunks of Nilla Wafers that soften like cake when you bake the bars. The end product is like strawberry shortcake, but even better.

Festive pink and red V-Day sprinkles are the perfect finishing touch to these simple but scrumptious bars. Be cautioned: you will want to eat the whole pan before ever sharing with you sweetheart. Hence why I’m giving you guys a recipe for V-Day, instead of the actual bars…

A Few Tips Before You Get Cooking:

1. I tried making this in an 8×8 pan, and the bars burned around the edges before cooking in the middle, so stick to the 9×13.
2. Easily double or triple and bring these babies to a party!
3. Leave out the sprinkles or sub with rainbow ones, and these delicious bars are perfect all year-round.
4. Don’t overbake these, or they’ll dry right out. I recommend pulling them just before you think they’re done, rather than after.

Strawberry Sweetheart Bars
By The Smart Cookie Cook

Ingredients:

• 1 box strawberry cake mix (I used Pillsbury Super Moist)
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup crumbled Nilla Wafers
• ¼ cup Valentine sprinkles, plus 2 tbsp. more for topping

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the cake mix, eggs, and butter on low speed just until well-combined. Mix in the chips, Nilla Wafers, and 1/4 cup sprinkles.
3. Transfer batter to the prepared pan and press into an even layer. Cover with remaining sprinkles. Bake 20-25 minutes, checking after 15, or until puffed and set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs. Let cool completely then slice and enjoy.