Mixed Berry Bars

Recently I made these blackberry pie bars again.  The recipe is from Rebecca Rather’s cookbook The Pastry Queen.  Buy it.  This time around I found the bottom crust to be a little on the thick side, and there was an awful lot of filling.  These bars are so substantial that they are best eaten from a plate with a fork.  These are one of the best things you will ever put in your mouth.  Ever.  They are just really decadent and I thought it would be nice to have the same flavors, but in a bar that was a little easier to eat.

So, with some extra berries I decided to make the bars again with a thinner crust, and less filling.  Since I only had a small bag of frozen blackberries I used a combination of blackberries, blueberries and strawberries.  A total of 4 cups of any berries would do.  As with the Pastry Queen’s recipe, thaw and drain any frozen berries that you’re using.

I found these bars to be much easier to just pick up and eat.  There are tons of things you could do with these.  Use different combinations of berries, maybe use peaches, add some ground pecans, almonds or walnuts to the crust and/or crumb topping or even play with spices…cinnamon, nutmeg, cardomom.  Oh, the sweet and delicious possibilities!  I might try a small batch in an 8×8 pan so that I can try more of these variations without having too many extra goodies around the house.

I find these to be extra special served with a small (or maybe a rather large) scoop of Bluebell Homemade Vanilla ice cream.  Enjoy!

Mixed Berry Bars

Adapted from Rebecca Rather’s Blackberry Pie Bars

Ingredients

Crust and Topping

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold butter, cup into cubes
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling

  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup sour cream, regular or light
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 4 cups berries (any combination you like, make sure to thaw and drain any frozen berries)

Directions

For the crust and topping:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.
  2. Combine the flour,sugar and salt in a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process until fully combined. Add the butter to the flour mixture and process until the butter is evenly distributed,but the mixture is still crumbly.
  3. Reserve 1 cup of the crumb mixture for the topping. Press the remaining crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake the crust for 12-15 minutes,or until it is golden brown. Cool for at least 10 minutes.

Filling:

  1. Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl,
  2. Add the sour cream, flour and salt. Gently fold in the berries.
  3. Spoon the mixture evenly over the crust. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs evenly over the top.
  4. Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour,or until the crust is lightly browned. Cool for at least 1 hour before cutting.