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There are moments in a girl’s life that she knows she will remember forever. Moments that make a lasting impact. I had one of those moments a few days ago. I was standing in my parent’s kitchen one evening and I glanced down at the counter. There was a gorcery ad laying there and I picked it up. Hold on to your hats, because this is where things get exciting. The ad listed 6 ounce containers of fresh blackberries for just one dollar. One dollar! I normally spend three or four times that for blackberries!
Needless to say, I ran right home and spent hours pouring over blackberry recipes. I finally settled on Blackberry Pie Bars from Joy the Baker and then I went to the store, found that they were all out of the $1.00 blackberries, wept, and then went to another store and purchased $2.00 blackberries.
And you know what? I don’t even care that I paid twice as much. Those $2.00 blackberries made something delicious.
Enough with the chit chat. Let’s make blackberry pie bars.
To start, zest one lemon into a bowl with 3/4 cups of sugar. Using the back of a spoon rub the zest into the sugar for a few minutes. Oh, man. I don’t even want to tell you how delicious this is. Just do it. And then lick it. And then cry tears of joy.
To the bowl of your mixer, add 1 1/2 cups of flour, 3/4 cups of cold butter (cut into cubes), a dash of salt, and the sugar/lemon zest mixture. Beat with the paddle attachment for a couple of minutes until you get a nice chunky dough. Go ahead. Eat a few chunks, I won’t tell.
In a greased 9 x 13 pan, press half of the dough along the bottom. Pop the dough into a preheated 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes.
Let the dough cool for 10 minutes while you make the blackberry filling.
Whisk 2 eggs in a large bowl. Stir in 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of sour cream, and 1/2 cup of flour. Mix well and then fold in 3 cups of blackberries. (Thaw and drain your blackberries first if you are using frozen!)
Pour your blackberry mixture over the dough and spread it out evenly.
Grab your reserved dough and sprinkle the rest of it over the top of the berry mixture.
Yum.
Pop it into the oven for about 50-60 minutes or until the top is just getting golden brown.
At this point, I contemplated getting out my video camera so you could see the berry mixture bubbling up between the cracks of the dough. The sound of the bubbling berries was beautiful. Then I realized that maybe I was taking my love of bubbling baked goods too far and I settled for a regular old picture.
Look at those delicious berries.
Have I said “yum” yet?
Yum.
Blackberry Pie Bars
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup cold butter cut into cubes
- Zest of one lemon
- Pinch of salt
For the filling:
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups blackberries if using frozen, thaw and drain first
Instructions
For the dough:
- Rub zest of lemon into sugar using the back of the spoon creating a lemon scented sugar.
- In the bowl of your mixer, dump in flour, sugar/lemon zest mixture, butter and salt. Beat with the paddle attachment for a couple of minutes until the dough comes together in small chunks.
- Press half of the dough into the bottom of a greased 9 x 9 pan. Set aside the remaining dough.
- Bake the dough for 10 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. Let cool for 10 minutes.
For the filling:
- Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add sugar, sour cream and flour to the eggs. Mix well and then fold blackberries.
- Pour blackberries over baked crust and spread evenly.
- Sprinkle the reserved dough on top of the blackberry mixture and bake for 50-60 minutes.
- Let cool one hour before serving.
Nutrition Information:
Adapted from Joy the Baker
Amy Kushnir says
Hi Karly!
Just wanted to let you know that I have now tried the blackberry bars as well as the cobbler.
Hmmmm – really hard to pick but if I was having my arm twisted, I would pick the bars.
Oh my goodness, every time I pass the counter, they are calling my name with their cute little crunchies on top.
I sort of have a soft spot for baked sweets and I am enjoying your blog.
Now, I’ve got my eye on something about Bacon and Choc. Chip Cookies you posted.
Do you realize all this baking goes totally against the bikini body I’m trying to attain before vacation this summer ? Oh well, blackberries ARE in season and I MUST eat them 🙂
Best,
Amy
Terry says
This recipe reminds me very much of how my grandmother used to make on of her blackberry cobbler’s. She had several diffent versions for cobbler that all depended on how fresh the blacberries were. On of this similar nature would have been used after picking fresh blackberries from the bush. An abundance of berries that sat for a day or two would be made into a more wet cobbler with a pie crust. She used to allow us as children to pick berries and put them in old quart sized crates that she had saved from the farmer’s market locally, and sell them up and down the street for a nickle so that we could have money for the ice cream truck when it came by. Sorry, this recipe evoked a wonderful memory for me. Thanks for sharing it!
Samantha says
Sorry for another comment but I have to say that this is one of the best desserts I’ve ever made and it’s so easy. I just wanted to let everyone know that my crust dough did not look like the pictures above – it was very dry. However, once it’s pressed into the pan and baked – it doesn’t matter. I’m curious to know how your crust turned out above – did it get soggy or stay hard? Mine stayed very firm even with the liquid of the bars sitting on top of it for a day or two. Just how I like i t! Also, I made mine in an 8×8 pan and baked until the middle stopped jiggling – PERFECT. It turns out more like a cobbler and would be wonderful with icecream.
Thank you for this recipe
Samantha says
I am making these right now!
My only question is – my crumb mixture looks a lot drier than yours and i noticed you halved Joy the Baker’s recipe but used the same sized pan. Is that a typo? I am making mine in a 9 x 9
Tracy says
Those look so delicious, I’m bookmarking this!
Michelle Smiles says
I adore all things blackberry – these look SO yummy!
rachel-asouthernfairytale says
We grew up making these with blueberries and dewberries or raspberries but, never blackberries! YUM!
Hi sweets <3
Linda says
I made these when I found them on Joy’s site and let me tell you they are delicious!! I have wild blackberries behind my house and didn’t know what to do with them and was excited when I found this recipe. I made it and brought it to work and it was goobled up in no time. The lemon zest in the sugar really makes it special.
Kristen says
Have I said yum yet? YUM!! Blackberries for $1 is a steal!
Love your blog. So glad you stopped by Dine & Dish. Your photography is gorgeous and I can totally get fat reading about all of the yummy stuff you bake!
Look forward to meeting you at BlogHer 🙂
Angela says
These look fantastic- but I’m pretty sure those are black raspberries, not blackberries. Blackberries tend to be larger. Those look exactly like the many black raspberries I pick in my backyard every summer. I like them better than blackberries- I prefer the tartness and small size.
Since we have so many bags of them frozen here, I’ll have to try these out once all my other baked goods have been gobbled up =)
Penny Wolf says
I also made these but with black raspberries that I picked. I will make these again! I really agree with you on the lemon sugar. I put zest and sugar in a food processor and gave it a good whirl. Afterwards I sifted most of the zest out.(I ate the zest like candy)I really like what you did concerning the crust. Dividing half for crust and topping is more balanced as opposed to the 1 1/2 cup reserved for topping.
Happy Cook says
The look so so moist and delicou.
Blackberries are really expensive here, can i use fresh cherries?
heidileonh says
love it, I will try this recipe since it looks delicious and so easy to do.thanks.
Aliceson says
These look divine! I might have to try this with some Mulberries that I need to use up.
Sophie says
MMMMMM,…Karly!
These berry bars look so scrumptious!
Yummie!