Strawberry Almond Cake Bars

Here's a fun recipe to take you into the summer. All the goodness of strawberry shortcake with everything all built in - these bars are great with ice cream but also stand well on their own. The toasted almonds really add a wonderful dimension to these morsels, and the strawberries add great color, not to mention flavor. These would work well on a picnic, on the deck, or on the couch - wherever you happen to need dessert!

Find more great stuff at What's Cooking, Full Plate, Showcase Your Talent, Foodie Friday, Friday Flash, Friday Frenzy.

Strawberry Almond Cake Bars

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 2/3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1 pint strawberries, sliced
powdered sugar, for dusting

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

In a separate bowl, using electric mixer, cream together softened butter and brown sugar until the mixture becomes light in color and fluffy in texture, about 5 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and continue beating until well combined. Add flour, baking powder and salt and beat on low speed until well combined. Mix 3/4 cup toasted almonds into the batter.

Spread batter into a greased 8 or 9-inch square pan. Scatter sliced strawberries and remaining 1/4 cup almonds over the batter in a baking pan.

Bake at 325 for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean or only with a few crumbs on it.

Dust with powdered sugar before cutting into slices. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!

Recipe Source: Adapted from Julia's Album