Almond Flour Whipped Ricotta Fresh Strawberry Bars

Hello, friends! 

Let’s make a perfect gluten-free, fresh strawberry, ricotta dessert.  It’s an easy dessert bar, a light and fluffy cheesecake, and a celebration of fresh strawberries all in one sweet bite! 

In Louisiana, we’ve been showing off our spring strawberries for months now.  We’ve got some nerve, but by the time summer rolls through the south we’ll be wiping our brows and missing strawberry season.  As we hustle into May, I hope the beauty of strawberries has reached your neck of the woods. 

Strawberry desserts are some of the most popular on my site (see: Strawberry Pie Bars) but they’re all baked.  I wanted to throw in a fresh strawberry moment – all the bright, juicy strawberry flavor of eating strawberries straight from the basket.  

Is it time?  Let’s bake! 

Here’s what you’ll need to make these gluten-free fresh strawberry bars: 

•  almond flour and butter to create a tender cookie crust for our bars.  You might recognize this crust from our Almond Flour Lemon Raspberry Bars – it’s easy and versatile! 

•  whole milk ricotta cheese that we’ll flavor with a hint of lemon juice and zest for our cheesecake-like filling.  You’re welcome to substitute the lemon flavoring for a dash of balsamic vinaigrette or a grind of black peppercorns if you prefer.  I think both would compliment the strawberries very nicely. 

•  granulated sugar for the crust, whipped ricotta, and strawberries.  We’ll sweeten throughout.  

•  cornstarch to add a crisp to the almond flour crust and to thicken our strawberry filling.  

•  butter, salt, and vanilla extract,  the pillars of every tasty baked good.  

We’ll start by draining some of the water out of the ricotta cheese.  

Place ricotta in a fine mesh strainer lined with a few paper towels.  Gently press a few paper towels on top and let it sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes.  A bit of moisture will drain from the cheese into the bowl or soak into the paper towel.  Don’t stress if moisture just soaks the paper towel and doesn’t drip into the bowl.

Continue reading Almond Flour Whipped Ricotta Fresh Strawberry Bars at Joy the Baker.