Strawberry Shortcake Crumbs

This recipe is one you had no idea you needed in your life until this very moment! Strawberry Shortcake Crumbs are about to open up a whole new world of dessert recipe options! So easy to prepare, and can be stored for quite a while; get ready for a strawberry taste explosion!

Remember those pink and white ice cream bars with the strawberry-flavoured crumb coating? I do! In fact, they were my favourite ice cream bar when I was growing up. Now that I’m older, I don’t care much for ice cream, because it doesn’t seem to agree with me. I’m not lactose intolerant, but ice cream makes me feel bloated and blah, so I stay away from it as much as possible.

Now, in the instance that the ice cream in question is strawberry, I can’t pass it up. Because of the fact that I’m not a fan of ice cream, it is safe to assume that I am not an ice cream connoisseur. So, go easy on me when I tell you that my favourite ice cream is the cheap ice cream, and the more artificial the strawberry flavour, the more I love it! I won’t name the brands that I like, but they package their ice cream in boxes. That’s all I’m going to say!

The number of Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars I ate when I was a kid are too high to count. I can’t tell you what the brand was, but the closest I can find are these by Good Humor. (I had to re-type ‘humor’ about five times before I could get my brain to let go of the O that should be in there – humour – it’s the Canadian in me!) Something tells me that in the 80s, the go-to brand was Nestle. Anyway, I digress!

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE CRUMBS

I’m doing something a little special this week, so bare with me while I explain my thought process. In the post you are reading right now, I’m encouraging you to make a batch of these Strawberry Shortcake Crumbs at home. But, when all is said and done, what are you going to do the crumbs? Sure, you can add a few spoons onto your vanilla ice cream, but that sounds a little bit boring. I want to offer you more options!

So, much like I did at Christmastime with my 24 Cookies of Christmas Series, and my 12 Christmas Truffles series, I’ve created a mini series that I’m going to call 7 Days of Strawberry Shortcake Sweets! So, today, I’m sharing the recipe for the crumbs, but for the next six consecutive days, I will post a new recipe which will showcase how to put the crumbs to good use.

And, yes, before you ask, I will tell you how to make a Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream that will put the Good Humour stuff to shame! Ha! It’s true – if you love ice cream, and you love strawberries, you will want to eat this ice cream until you burst. (Yes, I purposely left the O in humour this time!) Now, finish reading up this post and make up a batch of the crumbs. If you want to make all six of the recipes to follow, you will need to double this recipe!

If you’re in a big hurry and don’t want to wait until I share tomorrow’s recipe, you can get started with this delicious recipe. I call it Shelby’s Strawberry Shortcake after my cousin’s daughter. The post has all of the details and the story behind the name!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Vanilla Pudding – Just a plain box of the powdered mix is all you need. There’s no need to mix it according to the instructions on the package.
• Strawberry Jello – Again, this is just the powder. You will use the powder as it is – no need to mix it and let it set.
• Flour – Regular all-purpose flour is good.
• Butter – I used salted butter to offset some of the sweetness. Unsalted butter is certainly okay too.
• Golden Oreos – These are the vanilla flavoured Oreos. You’ll use one full package of Golden Oreos.

HOW TO MAKE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE CRUMBS

It is so easy to make these crumbs, but it does take a little bit of patience. Whatever you do, don’t rush through it, otherwise, you run the risk of two things happening. First, you want the strawberry part of the crumbs to be vividly bright pink. If you mix the ingredients in the wrong order, this will not happen. Trust me; I once ended up with a batch of crumbs that were just a mix of beige and the palest pastel pink you can imagine. Secondly, the butter can separate when baking, so please, follow each step carefully. Here’s what you do:

Preheat the oven of 350 degrees F. Add the strawberry jello powder to a bowl along with the butter. The butter must be soft! I cannot be melted, but it must be super soft. Even though my butter sits are room temperature, for this recipe, I measure out the butter into a small bowl and microwave it on low speed for five seconds. Again, super soft, but not melted is the key.

Beat the butter into the jello until well combined. It will become very bright pink and look like sand. Now, add in the vanilla powder and beat it into the pink mixture. Be sure to use the same amount of vanilla pudding powder as the strawberry jello powder! Finally, beat in the flour until mixed through and no white spots are left. Spread this mixture out onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 3 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to your fridge and let the mixture cool for at least 15 minutes.

FINISHING UP THE CRUMB MIXTURE

Once the pink jello and vanilla pudding mixture has sat in your fridge for at least 15 minutes, it is time to move on to the next part of the recipe. Using a food processor, dump in the Golden Oreos and pulse until the cookies are crumbly. You don’t want to overwork the Oreos. Don’t aim for sand, but more like little pebbles. Transfer the crumbled cookies to a bowl and set aside.

Retrieve the jello mixture from the fridge. By this point, it should have hardened. Carefully break it up into manageable pieces. Transfer the pieces to your food processor and pulse until crumbly. Again, don’t completely break down the pieces. Just like what you did with the Oreos, aim for pebble-sized pieces. Transfer the crumbs to the bowl with the Oreos.

Use a spatula or spoon to toss and mix the pink strawberry crumbles into the beige Oreo crumbs until well combined. There you have it, Dear Reader! You have just created a batch of Strawberry Shortcake Crumbs!! Go ahead; taste it! Doesn’t it taste just like those ice cream bars!?

ALTERNATIVE FLAVOURS

Ok, so what if you don’t like strawberry flavour, but you still want to make a crumb mixture? The good news is that you can alter some of the ingredients and change up the flavour. Use the same amounts so that you get the same crumb consistency. The end result, in terms of flavour, is only limited by imagination.

Let’s say you were making a key lime cake. Wouldn’t it be nice to top the cheesecake with some lime-flavoured crumbs? Well, still use the vanilla pudding and the Golden Oreos, but switch out the strawberry jello for lime jello. You can do this with almost any flavour. Keep in mind though that some jello colours can be muted, so you might want to add a few drops of food colouring to enhance the brightness.

STORING

Let’s put aside the fact that this stuff is not only delicious, but also addicting! We won’t think about that for a minute. Let’s, however, talk about how to store this stuff. Even though we are using only a few small ingredients, the end result is a pretty hefty batch of crumbs. You might not use them all up as quickly as you might think, but I’ve got good news on that front! You can store these for longer than you might think!

Transfer the crumbs to a resealable food-safe bag, or a container with a tight-fitting lid. If you choose to use a bag, squeeze out as much air as possible before sealing it up. And, if you use a container, use one that will not have any room left once it is packed with the crumbs. This will keep excess air out of the container. No air means a longer shelf life!

The crumbs will last for 7 to 10 days in a cupboard or pantry – as long as you keep the air out of the bag! Also, you can freeze the crumbs. Use the same approach – get the air out. Air in a bag or container can be a great place for ice crystals to form and those will make your crumb mixture soggy. You can freeze the crumbs for 4-6 weeks.