Berry Crumb Bars
These berry crumb bars are perfect for spring and summer baking! Raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries sandwiched between buttery crumb layers— what’s not to love?!
Last week I simply couldn’t pass up a display case filled with huge containers of raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries. When they’re in season, there’s nothing better! And one of my favorite things to bake with summer berries is these mixed berry crumb bars.
They’re a little bit sweet, a little bit tart, and so very fruity and summery. The buttery crumb crust and crumble topping is a nice contrast and personally, my favorite part. It’s like a summer pie, but so much easier to bake! Take these berry crumble bars with you on the go, for a picnic or to the beach, or serve them warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
I love the combination of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries in these bars, but you can use almost any kind of fruit in this recipe. Try just using raspberries or blueberries, or a different fruit altogether like strawberries or peaches. These bars will also work with either fresh or frozen fruit, so you can even bake them year-round!
Ingredients you’ll need
How to make these berry crumb bars
- Make crumb base and topping. Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Add cold cubed butter and egg, and use a pastry blender to cut them into the dry ingredients. Mixture will be very dry and crumbly.
- Mix berry filling. In a separate bowl, toss berries with sugar, cornstarch and fresh lemon juice.
- Assemble. Spread half of the crumb mixture into a 9×13-inch baking pan lined with parchment paper. Use your hands to press it into a flat even layer. Evenly spread berry layer over the base, and then add crumb topping over the fruit.
- Bake. Bake in a 375°F oven 45-50 minutes until topping is golden brown and filling is bubbling up in places.
- Cool and slice. Let the bars cool completely before slicing (for easiest slicing, chill completely in the fridge). To slice, use the edges of the parchment paper as a sling and move it to a cutting board.
baking tip:How parchment paper can make baking easier
For cakes: Line the bottoms of your cake pans with parchment paper and then either grease and flour, or coat with baking spray. You’ll never have a cake stick in your pan again!
For bars and breads: Line square or rectangular pans with parchment so that there’s a few inches of overhang on either side. When your baked good is ready to serve, use that overhang as a handle to lift it out of the pan. Then transfer to a cutting board and slice. No more messing up a slice trying to dig it out of the pan!
Tips for this recipe
- Feel free to try other berries and fruit in this recipe, using just one or a combination. Larger fruit like peaches, apples and strawberries should be chopped into 1-inch pieces.
- You can use fresh or frozen berries. If using frozen, do not thaw before using and increase cornstarch to 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon.
- Don’t skimp on cooling time. For bars that slice easily and hold together well, they should be cooled completely to room temperature.
- However, if you want warm gooey slices to serve with ice cream, let the bars sit only for about 10 minutes before slicing.
- If you want to serve these bars warm, you can warm them individually in the microwave for 30 seconds, or you can warm the pan (covered with foil) in the oven at 350°F for about 20 minutes.
- Store these berry crumb bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for up to 7 days (which is what I prefer, it keeps the bars firm).
- These crumble bars are perfect for freezing too. Freeze in the pan, or wrap individually with plastic wrap. Thaw at room temperature.
More crumb bar recipes
Note: This recipe was originally published September 2009.
Berry Crumb Bars
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (360 grams)
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar (300 grams), divided
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Zest and juice of one lemon
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks, 226 grams), cubed
- 1 large egg , lightly whisked
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 5 cups combination of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F. Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, 1 cup of sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. With a pastry cutter, cut in the butter and the egg. The dough will be very crumbly. Pat half of the crumb mixture into the prepared dish.
- In another bowl, combine ½ cup sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Gently fold in the berries and pour evenly over the crust. Take the other half of the crumb mixture and sprinkle on top of the berries.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes until the top has slightly browned.
- Let bars cool completely to room temperature (or chill in the fridge for even sturdier slices), then use the parchment paper to lift the bars out of the pan and transfer to a cutting board.
- Store crumb bars at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge for up to 7 days (my preferred storage method).
- Can use fresh or frozen berries. If using frozen, do not thaw before using and increase cornstarch to 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon.
- This recipe can be used with various fruits, either individually to combined. If using fruit like peaches, strawberries or apples, chop into 1-inch pieces.
5 Comments on “Berry Crumb Bars”
Berry bars
2 questions:
Can these be made with preserves instead of fresh berries?
And
How can I make these with rhubarb?
Pingback: Berry Crumb Bars – allfoodsmagazine.com
Oh my gosh I made this today and it is WonDerful!!!!!
Thank you.
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Complete deliciousness! Thank you for the quality instructions, Annalise!