Blackberry Crumb Bars

I made lemon dessert bars a while back, and I wanted to try another flavor. Blackberries have always been a favorite, so here we are with Blackberry Crumb Bars. The list of ingredients for these dessert bars was short, there were only 2 steps in the instructions, and the total time listed was under an hour. I’ve been in a sort of lazy mood lately, plus I’ve been craving something sweet. Problem solved!

These cheery, blackberry crumb bars are a summertime favorite and make a perfect afternoon snack or simple dessert.

The Ingredients

I know the author says blackberry crumb bars are a summertime favorite, and it’s January. Well, I’m not letting that stop me since fresh blackberries are in stock at my local grocery store. I suppose I could have used frozen as a backup, but I always prefer fresh when possible. Unfortunately, blackberries are sold by weight, so I had no idea how much to buy. I picked up 2 12-ounce packages, and that was just a touch over the 4 cups this recipe called for. they were a little pricey at $4.99 each, but I did get 12 generous servings out of this recipe.

The rest of the ingredients are pantry/refrigerator staples. I had to restock my butter, but I would have done that anyway.

The Process

Blackberry dessert bars are a very easy dessert to make. They are a lot like pie but without the work. The recipe has 2 steps, and they are very easy to follow. I was a little worried about the consistency of the “crust” after I added the eggs. It’s very crumbly and not at all like pie crust dough. Even so, it was easy to divide and press half into the bottom of my baking pan just using my fingers.

Next came the blackberries. Cutting them in half was the most time-consuming part of making these dessert bars, and I’m not sure I’ll bother next time. They pretty much melt while they bake anyway.

The last step before baking is to sprinkle the rest of the crust over the blackberry mixture. Besides popping the dish into the oven, this was the fastest part of the recipe. Just sprinkle the last half of the crumb mixture sort of evenly over the blackberries, and voila!

The whole process took 50 minutes, just as it was listed in the recipe. I considered the prep work on this recipe to be everything needed to get it ready to go into the oven, and that took 20 minutes (also as listed). Baking for 30 minutes had my house smelling amazingly good, and it was hard to wait for them to cool before giving this recipe a try.