I’ve been struggling for the past few hours with what to tell you in conjunction with these Blackberry Pie Bars.
I thought maybe we could talk about how I’m still totally dragging my feet about going to my ten year high school reunion. No… that’s been done. Boring.
Maybe we could talk about how I sat around a campfire with Andrea Zuckerman… a character from that show Beverly Hills 90210, but that was actually just a dream I had last night. Not real.
We could chat about the weather? Seen any good movies lately?
No? Ok… let’s not fight this.
Let’s get on to the bars. They’re good. Really good. Good enough to not need a silly introduction.
Think of these bars as your escape from the land of pie baking. Maybe you don’t need an escape, but let’s be honest… putting together a pie crust can be a pain in the rear sometimes. Problem solved. Just press this crust into the bottom of a pan, top it with creamy fruit filling, sprinkle it with more crust bits and you’re in business.
The result is pure summer blackberry goodness. The recipe includes directions for either frozen or fresh fruit. If you’re using frozen berries, just be sure to defrost the berries and drain the excess juices. What about raspberries or blueberries instead of blackberries? Those would probably work too! Just stay away from strawberries.
Blackberry Pie Bars with Lemon Sugar
adapted from The Pastry Queen
Crust and Topping
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes
zest of two lemons
Blackberry Filling
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
2 (16-ounce) packages frozen blackberries, defrosted and drained
(You can also use 6 cups of fresh blackberries, or 1 (16-ounce) package frozen blackberries and 3 cups of fresh blackberries)
To make the crust and topping-
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch backing pan with butter or cooking spray and set aside. Zest two lemons. Measure out the sugar onto a clean work surface. Rub the lemon zest into the sugar with a bench scraper or the back of a spoon. Rubbing the zest into the sugar will release oils from the zest and create a lemon scented sugar.
Combine lemon sugar, flour, salt and butter in an electric mixer fit with a paddle attachment. Beat the ingredients on medium speed until the mixture looks dry and crumbly.
Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crust mixture to use as the topping. Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust for 12 to 15 minutes until it is golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes while you make the filling.
To make the filling-
Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add the sugar, sour cream, flour and salt. Gently fold in the blackberries. Spoon the mixture evenly over the crust. You may have to distribute the blackberries evenly around.
Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture evenly over the filling. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes until the top is lightly browned. Cool for 1 hour before slicing.
**If you’re using frozen berries, be sure to defrost and drain the excess liquid. Place the frozen berries on a plate in the refrigerator overnight. They’re defrosted and ready for bar baking!
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Pilar,
Here is a substitute for buttermilk:
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/condimentsandspices/r/Buttermilk_Sub.htm
This is a great idea. I bet it’s good with blueberries too.
Whoa, these look awesome! Recipe saved! =)
Looking pretty darn delicious to me!
Hi Joy,
Just a short note to let you know that I would want to award you with Beautiful Blog award :)
http://www.coffeeandvanilla.com/?p=7020
Enjoy your weekend, Margot
My mom used to make something like this with either apples or rhubarb. I don’t think it had eggs in it though; I’m pretty sure there was Jello in it. (I grew up in the Midwest, where Jello found its way into a lot of things…)
Do you think rhubarb would be have too much water? (I’ve got a big clump of it it my own, albeit non-Midwestern, backyard.)
Sigh.
Joy, there’s no other way to say this: I love you. This blog restoreth my soul. And after a hot, sticky Winnipeg day involving napless toddlers and no-show roofing contractors, there was a lot of soul restoration to be done.
Six cups of fresh blackberries would cost $40 in my neck of the woods. I think I’m either cutting this recipe in half or going with another fruit!
Those look SO good! Why no strawberries? Just curious. Could you do apples??
These look so incredibly good, but I think that I am going to have to agree with Carolyn’s comment. Blackberries cost waaaaay too much here! I’m probably going to have to go with either one of her options also!
For now, I’ll simply have to sit and salivate at your pictures!
oh gosh joy these look just great!!! i can almost taste them :)
There’s a key instruction missing here:
If using frozen blackberries, drain in colander set over bowl. DO NOT discard juice. Rather, pour into glass with a bit of lemon juice and sugar and sip while completing subsequent steps.
I love your site! Your photos capture not only the deliciousness of the product, but the textures and the feel of baking and of your lovely kitchen. It always makes me want to dive elbow deep into a pile of flour!
Yum! I just made these tonight with blueberries and it was amazing. Will definitely save it and make it many times this summer. Thanks! =)
These look fantastic. I love blackberies and can’t think of a better dessert for them. Thanks!
We won’t get blackberries up here for a few more weeks–well, maybe August. But we have lots of wild bushes in the local woods and try to get to them with our plastic pails before the bears do.
This recipe reminds me of one I saw in Edward Espe Brown’s Tassajara Bread Book –though he did his with peaches, I did mine with blueberries…a good thing to do while waiting for blackberries.
Are you sure you used a 9×13 pan because it looks like a large jellyroll pan in the pics. And my 9×13 is having a hard time baking through with it being almost 3inches thick.
Andrea- I used a half sheet jelly roll pan… the pan I usually bake my cookies on. But the book instructions mentioned a 9 x 13 inch pan… that’s why I wrote it that way in the directions. I’m not sure what’s three inches thick, your pan or the bars. I think the bars will cook well if you use either a jelly roll or a 9 x 13-inch pan.
I bought beautiful fresh blackberries today at the store and made this. It was sooooo yummy. My father in law loved it!!! I substitued yogurt for the sour cream. Excellent.
could you use other fruits or berries for this?
they look heavenly
I made these yesterday; I replaced blackberry with frozen defrosted blueberries, replaced lemon with orange and halved the sugar and they were STILL excellent! Great recipe!
Beverly Hills 90210 is, and will always be my favorite show of all time!! And I am not ashamed to admit it!!!!!!!!!!! This recipe looks awesome and I def plan on trying it out!
Joy, these were absolutely amazing!!! Hands-down the hit of Father’s Day. Thank you so much for yet another delicious recipe.
Joy, I made these for Father’s Day and everyone loved them. I made mine in a 13×9 pan and they were thick, but oh.so.yummy! I am luck to have a freezer full of blackberries and more getting ready to ripen! This recipe is a fast and easy switch from cobblers! I loved Elizabeth’s suggestion about the extra juice!
I did link to your recipe on my blog, hope that is okay.
I think making them in the 9×13 makes them a bit thicker than the jelly roll pan. I left out maybe a cup of the crumble from the bottom layer because it looked way too thick. I think next time I’ll make it on a jelly roll pan because I really like the way the thin one’s look in your recipe. Good recipe, though.
I made these this weekend for a friend’s birthday get away and they were a hit! I used a standard 9×13 so mine were definitely thicker.
But, I think my effort to brown the crust led to them being a little hard and tough on the bottom. Any suggestions?
I made these last night and they are delish! I brought some to work today so that we wouldn’t eat the whole pan ourselves at home : )
Those blackberry bars look so good!
Omigosh – thanks so much for sharing such a wonderful recipe – as the proud owner of a few cups of fresh blackberries from my own plant, I’m so delighted to have a no-pie pie to make!!! I am happy to see so many cooks already tried and found them to die for! yay!
Has anyone made this w/ canned blackberries?
Joy-these were a huge hit with the fam–even caught someone hiding an extra piece in the back of the fridge for later!
just wondering..has any one made these bars yet? do you really use a 9×13 for all those ingredients..or shall i use a a bigger sheet pan such as a 12×17….these look wonderful and i thought i would make them for my daughters bridal shower.
I made this yesterday after having picked enough wild blackberries and everyone at work loved it!
I tweeked it a bit after seeing the post on another site in which she halved the recipe but still made it in a 9×13 pan. I didn’t have any sour cream but I did have plain greek yogurt and used that instead. It was fabulous!! Joy, you never let us down. This recipe is a keeper.
i made two batches of these in good faith… and i am glad i did! i took them to a birthday party and a picnic all the next day, and both had rave reviews… the “crust” is so buttery and crumbly… and everyone was pleased to have blackberrys as the fruit, such refreshing surprise!
Joy, are you using a 13x9x2 in pan or 13x9x1? Also, when your recipes call for salt are you using regular table salt or kosher salt? Thanks for your help and thanks for this AMAZING blog site!! I love it!!
It is a little difficult to source fresh/frozen blackberries here in New Zealand and instead of replacing with boysenberries or the like I used canned blackberries. Delicious…and I was also pleasantly surprised how much the recipe made (a good number of midnight snacks!)
@Lissi – I just made these the other night and used a x1 pan. It almost looks like you’re going to run out of room, but have faith! Nothing spills over!
I made the mistake of over mixing the dough I think- it was definitely in solid dough form rather than crumbles. I’m not sure if that, or maybe the dough was too warm, when I put it into the oven for the first baking pass, because the bottom of these things is HARD. Like might break a filling hard, erf. The blackberries are delicious in it and the lemon sugar is great in the crust, just don’t overmix!
These were great Joy, the whole family loved it. I made half the recipe since I didn’t have quite that much fresh blackberry, and they were gone by the next morning :)
These were great. Next time I’ll use a jelly roll pan like you did. I had to add to the baking time for the smaller pan (especially for prebaking the crust) and the whole thing was thicker than I would have wanted – however, they are delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Hello Joy,
LOVE your blog! Last night I made the Blackberry Pie Bars, and they turned out great! Do you think these would freeze well?? I want to save some for my honey who is returning home the end of the week.
Thx =9)
I made these last month with some fresh blackberries and they were a-mazing! Everyone raved! Just my luck- I have 2 quarts of frozen blackberries in my freezer for the fall :) Thanks….
These are beyond good! Thank you thank you! I’ve eaten 4 already all by myself. :)
I just made this tonight and it was amazing! Blackberries were $.97 for six ounces (which is a good price for here) so I jumped at the chance to make this. I actually quartered the recipe and baked it in a 9X9 and it worked out perfectly. The crust wasn’t too thick or too thin. I think I’m going to make it for a church activity but this time I will use the whole recipe and make it in a jelly roll pan because I know everyone will love it. Thanks for the recipe!
Oh glory! I think I just found my new item for Farmer’s Market this summer!!
This looks and sounds really good. Will have to bookmark this and make it next time I grab some frozen blackberries. Thanks for sharing!
Made this for the admin day 2 weeks ago. I didn’t have enough fresh blackberries, so I used frozen blueberries, and it was a hit! Every bit of crumbs are gone and some people even ask me to make more! Thanks for sharing your recipe Joy! :)
Can you substitute yogurt (or anything else?) for sour cream?
thank you!
Joy, I just have to tell you: these are my favorite dessert EVER. I’ve probably made them 10 times (or more?) since you first posted the recipe and it’s always the right decision. Everybody always loves them and I always give you credit (“it’s this great blog I read…”). Anyway, thanks for introducing me to The Greatest Dessert Ever.
One thing, though… I sometimes wonder whether there’s too much butter? My bottom crust always takes more than 15 minutes (closer to 20) to become golden and the butter sometimes kind of makes bubbly pock marks. Maybe I need to really pack it firmly? I’m never one to complain about butter, but wonder whether you’ve had this same problem?
I made these with blueberries, almond extract, and a smidge less butter – they were amazing! People bowed down to me at the potluck I attended. I just posted about them, and linked back to you.
Thank you!
MAde these two times now and ran into the same frustration as many above in that the bottom crust is too thick and does not become light and fluffy. I used only 2 1/2 cups butter this 2nd time and still too thick and after 25 minutes of baking was too nervous to let in any longer. I definitely think the answer will be to try a larger pan. I also subbed using cream cheese in the fillling. AWESOME. thanks. fun site.
I just made these, and they are AMAZING. I especially love the corner bits where they are all chewy!!
Joy,
Looks delicious! We just picked some wild blackberries yesterday so I was planning to make a pie. This one looks more like my style. I love lemon bars so I’m sure I would love these too.
Anyway, I only have turbinado sugar. Do you think that will work ok?
Thanks,
Charlotte
hm… i think turbinado sugar should work.
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