Blackberry Pie Bars
These blackberry pie bars taste just like blackberry pie! With plenty of rich and buttery crumbs and a jammy blackberry filling, you’ll love these easy blackberry crumb bars! The crust and crumbs are made from one simple dough that comes together in 5 minutes, no mixer or special equipment required (thank you, melted butter!). Recipe makes 12 bars.
With plenty of butter, lemon zest, and vine ripened blackberries, these blackberry bars are the very essence of blackberry pie, albeit in an all too effortless crumb bar.
You can also make these bars anytime of year with frozen blackberries (no need to thaw first). And if you need crumb bars for a large group, simply double the recipe and bake in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
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Essential Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make blackberry crumble bars:
- Flour – Use all-purpose flour in this recipe. If you’d like to make these bars gluten-free, I recommend using a gluten free 1-1 baking flour for best results.
- Baking soda – Gives the crumb bars a lift.
- Salt – Brings out the flavors.
- Cinnamon – A touch of cinnamon in the crust and crumbs adds nice cozy flavor. If you’re not a fan, feel free to omit it.
- Butter – Use melted unsalted butter to make the dough.
- Sugar – The dough incorporates light brown sugar and granulated sugar. You’ll also use granulated sugar in the blackberry filling.
- Vanilla – Pure vanilla extract flavors the crumb bars.
- Lemon zest – Fresh lemon zest flavors the dough and filling.
- Blackberries – I recommend fresh blackberries for the filling. Out of season, you can use frozen blackberries straight from the freezer (do not thaw).
- Cornstarch – Thickens the blackberry filling. You can also use arrowroot starch.
- Lemon juice – Fresh lemon juice brightens the blackberry filling.
Make Crust and Crumbs
Combine all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Whisk dry ingredients together until combined.
Combine melted butter, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, vanilla extract, and fresh lemon zest in a large bowl. Whisk to combine.
Once the melted butter mixture is completely incorporated, add flour mixture to the bowl.
Fold in dry ingredients with a spatula until incorporated. Set aside 3/4 cup of dough for the crumb topping – keep chilled in the refrigerator.
Add remaining dough to a parchment-lined square baking pan.
Press dough evenly across the bottom of prepared pan. Pro tip: Use a piece of wax paper to help press the dough into an even layer.
Bake crust for 14 to 16 minutes, until lightly golden and set. Transfer crust to a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes.
Make Blackberry Filling
Combine blackberries, sugar, salt, cornstarch, fresh lemon zest, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan.
Bring to a boil, pressing firmly on berries to release juices, about 3 to 4 minutes. The sauce will start to foam at the surface.
Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, until filling is thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Remove pan from the heat and cool filling for 10 minutes.
Assemble and Bake Bars
Spoon blackberry filling over cooled crust and sprinkle remaining crumble mixture over filling. Return pan to the oven.
Bake bars for another 40 minutes or until crumble topping is golden and filling slightly bubbly. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
Just before cutting, chill in the freezer for 15 minutes. Lift parchment and transfer bars to a cutting board and cut into rectangles (or squares) with a sharp knife.
Serve bars with a dusting of powdered sugar or vanilla ice cream for the ultimate blackberry pie bar experience!
More blackberry recipes you’ll love:
- Blackberry Lemon Loaf Cake
- Blackberry Orange Vanilla Pound Cake
- Baked Blackberry Mascarpone French Toast
- Blackberry White Chocolate Scones
Did you try these Blackberry Pie Bars? Let me know by leaving a comment and rating below!
Print
Blackberry Pie Bars
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 bars
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
These blackberry pie bars taste just like blackberry pie! With plenty of buttery crumbs and blackberries, you’ll love these easy blackberry crumb bars! Recipe makes 12 bars.
Ingredients
Crust & Crumbs
- 2 cups (280 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 cup (168 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 g) light brown sugar
- 1 tsp (4 g) vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon zest
Blackberry Filling
- 2 1/2 cups (425 g) blackberries
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp (24 g) cornstarch
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1/2 Tbsp (7 g) lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
- Make crust and crumble: Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Whisk together melted butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest in a large bowl until combined. Add dry ingredients and fold in until incorporated.
- Set aside 3/4 cup (220 g) of dough for topping. Chill until ready to use. Press remaining dough evenly into bottom of prepared baking pan.
- Bake crust for 14 to 16 minutes, until lightly golden and set. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes.
- Make filling: Combine blackberries, sugar, salt, cornstarch, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, pressing firmly on berries to release juices, about 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, until filling is thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Remove pan from the heat and cool filling for 10 minutes.
- Spoon blackberry filling over cooled crust and crumble reserved dough over filling.
- Bake bars for another 40 minutes or until topping is golden and filling slightly bubbly. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
- Just before cutting, chill in the freezer for 15 minutes. Carefully lift parchment and place bars on a cutting board; cut into squares with a sharp knife.
- Store crumb bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days.
Notes
Blackberries: You can use fresh or frozen blackberries in these bars. If using frozen blackberries, add directly to the saucepan from the freezer and cook as directed (do not thaw).
Gluten Free Bars: Use your favorite 1-1 gluten-free flour.
Larger Batch: For a larger batch of crumb bars, double the recipe and bake in a 9 x 13-inch rectangular baking pan.
Freeze Crumb Bars: To freeze crumb bars, let cool completely. Once cooled, place bars on a baking sheet and freeze flat for 1 hour. Transfer bars to an airtight container and freeze up to 8 weeks. Thaw bars overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
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Keywords: Blackberry, Lemon, Blackberry Bars, Crumb Bars
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These are fantastic! Rich and full of blackberry pie flavor. Family loved them! Even my dad who hates blackberries because of the seeds, inhaled 3 bars.
★★★★★
Thank you so much, Victoria! That’s great to hear. 🙂
These bars are a favourite of my family and friends. I always make a double batch, and freeze to have on hand for a quick, tasty dessert.
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Sue! 🙂 I appreciate your feedback!
Excellent recipe! So easy to make.
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Marie!
These bars are super easy to make and so delicious! Love the blackberry filling with all the buttery crumble.
★★★★★
🎉 Laura~ I tried your recipe today! Last minute I added raspberries to the blackberries. I used tapioca pudding instead of cornstarch. I splurged and added 2 xtra tablespoons of butter. I like bars extra buttery! It’s delicious!! Thank you so much!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Tara! That’s so nice to hear. 🙂
These bars are fantastic. Great recipe!!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Wendy! 🙂
I just made these today. Divine! I didn’t have lemon, so I used some lemon essence stuff for my Soda Stream. Seems to work perfectly! I also threw in some strawberries and made too much filling, but it’s so, so good. Not overly sweet, either. I will definitely make these again and maybe follow the instructions. LOL!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Angie! Happy to hear that – any leftover filling is divine over ice cream too. 🙂
I had your blackberry peach pie pinned on Pinterest and it’s bringing me to this page. Did you remove it from the site?
Hi Amanda, it’s an older recipe that I’ve removed from the site – happy to email you a copy. Will do that now!
Can I have it as well? I recently made it and loved it! I came back to copy it down and it was gone!
Hi Hollie, great to know that the pie is well loved. 🙂 Yes, I’ll email you a copy now.
Could I also get a copy of that Blackberry Peach Pie recipe? All time best combination of the season!
Thank you.
Hi Lori, yes! Emailing you now. 🙂
Could I have the recipe as well? I had the pie recipe book marked. Thanks Laura!
Hi Mel, I’m emailing it to you now. 🙂
Easy and delicious, my favorite recipe to make with fresh blackberries!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Dawn! That’s great to hear. 🙂
This is excellent. Best blackberry dessert I have found!
That’s so nice to hear, thank you Martha! 🙂
I was so happy to find this recipe after I purchased 2, 6 oz. packages of fresh blackberries on sale at the market in the middle of January in New York! I was even happier that these bars came out so delicious and that the amount of blackberries I had (12 ounces) were more than enough for the filling. Thanks, Laura and Happy New Year!
★★★★★
These bars were a huge hit, highly recommend!
★★★★★
These were great! I cut the sugar to about 2/3 of what the recipe called for and added about an extra cup of blackberries. Will definitely make again.
★★★★★
Hi Deb, so happy to hear these bars were a hit! 🙂
How long are these good for? And what is the best way to store them until eating? Can’t wait to try!
Hi Shelbi, these bars can be stored at room temperature overnight. I usually store leftover bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several days and bring to room temperature before eating. They also freeze very well (wrap in plastic wrap or foil, then place in a freezer bag for up to 2 months).
The most delicious bars and perfect with vanilla ice cream!
★★★★★
Thank you so much for your feedback, Kelly!
Big fan!!! Is it possible to make these in a cupcake pan? If so, do you know the temp & time?
★★★★★
Hi Megan, thanks so much! 🙂 Yes, it’s definitely possible (though I have not tested it). I would fill each baking cup with a rounded tablespoon of the crust/crumble mixture, and bake the crust for about 14 minutes at 350°F, or until set. Follow the recipe as directed to make the filling, then divide the blackberry filling evenly among the baking cups and top with reserved crumble. Return to the oven and bake another 25 to 30 minutes at 350°F, or until topping is golden and filling is slightly bubbly.