Blackberry Pie Bars

I’ve been wanting to make these for quite a while now and finally had the occasion to when my husband’s family joined us for dinner. This recipe is a winner for sure. It comes from The Pastry Queen’s cookbook and I discovered it over on the blog I read most frequently, Annie’s Eats.

I made just a couple of minor changes… I only had a 10-inch square dish to use for baking and my blackberries were still frozen when I put the bars into the oven… but they turned out just fine. Better than fine, delectable. This was a very easy dessert to make. Kind of a cross between both a pie and a crumble, with a sweet-tart, jammy and custardy middle just bursting with blackberries. 

They cut really nice and neatly too, making them a great option for a take-along dessert to summer gatherings.

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Blackberry Pie Bars

Ingredients

for the crust and topping

• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 3/4 c. sugar
• pinch of salt
• zest of half lemon
• 12 T. cold unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces

for the filling

• 2 large eggs
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. sour cream not low-fat
• 1/4 c. + 2 T. all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• juice of half lemon
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• 16 oz. bag frozen blackberries

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 or 10-inch square baking dish with foil (overhanging edges for easy lifting out of pan to slice) and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
• In the bowl of stand mixer, combine flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest. Mix on low speed until well combined. Keep mixer on low speed and add cold butter, one piece at a time, until texture resembles that of wet sand and butter is very well incorporated.
• Stop mixer and reserve 3/4 c. of the mixture for the topping... place this in the refrigerator until you are ready for it.
• Press the rest of the mixture gently and evenly over the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes, remove from oven and allow to cool while mixing the filling.
• In a large bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, sour cream, flour, salt, lemon juice and vanilla. Whisk until very well combined. Gently fold in frozen blackberries.
• Pour the filling evenly into the pan over the prepared crust. Evenly crumble the reserved topping mixture over the filling.
• Bake on center rack for 45-50 minutes, or until filling is just set. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack and chill in the refrigerator a bit before slicing and serving.

Notes

Adapted from The Pastry Queen via Annie's Eats