Best Blackberry Crumble Bars
These Blackberry Crumble Bars are oh so tasty, super easy and totally refreshing and light! Filled with a thick ribbon of fresh blackberry filling and a hint of lime zest for citrusy kick.
Servings: 15 servings
Ingredients
For the Crust and Crumble:
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Blackberry Filling:
- 4-5 cups fresh blackberries, halved if large washed and patted dry
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
- 2 Tbsp lime juice may use lemon instead if desired
- Zest of one medium lime may use lemon zest instead if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° degrees F. Line a 9x13 light metal rectangular baking pan with foil, extending the foil over the edges of the pan. Spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- For the crust: In a large bowl, combine the sugar, baking powder, salt, and flour and mix well. Add in the cubed butter, lightly beaten egg and vanilla extract and mix together using a pastry cutter or two forks, mixing until mixture resembles small pebbles. Dough will be crumbly.
- Press half of the dough into the prepared pan, using your hands to compress it into a nice, even layer. Set aside briefly.
- Meanwhile, for the filling: In a medium bowl, combine the blackberries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, and lime juice & zest with a spoon until combined. Pour the mixture evenly over the crust in the pan. Crumble the remaining crust mixture evenly over the surface of the blackberry layer.
- Bake for 38-45 minutes or until the mixture is light golden brown and bubbly and center appears set. Cool completely for at least 1-2 hours at room temperature before cutting into bars, or you may refrigerate.
Notes
The lime flavor in these is subtle, but if you'd like to punch it up, simply add more lime zest to the filling and some to the crust. A teaspoon or two in the crust mixture and another teaspoon or two in the filling should do the trick. In addition, you could also make a lime glaze with lime juice and powdered sugar to drizzle over the cooled bars.
I used a 2lb container of blackberries which equaled about heaping 4 cups. Most of my blackberries were very large so I needed to halve them. Anywhere from 4-5 cups will be fine for this recipe.