Blackberry Crumb Bars

by Sabrina Snyder

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5 from 9 votes
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Blackberry Crumb Bars are an easy, sweet summer breakfast. Bakery-style layer bars with a buttery crumb topping and crust with a fresh blackberry filling.

What happens when Crumb Cake gets a Blackberry Pie filling? This delicious and easy Baked Good Recipe that is perfect for breakfast on-the-go, brunch, or a light summer dessert!

Blackberry Crumb Bars in stack

BLACKBERRY CRUMB BARS

Like these Creamy Lemon Crumb Bars, this is a great recipe for bakery treats made at home. These Blackberry Crumb Bars are just as delicious and simple to make with a pastry crust made from common ingredients that doubles at the crumb topping. The fresh blackberry filling is perfect for summer time when berries are super ripe and can be found everywhere cheap.

Blackberry Crumb Bars are one of the easiest breakfast recipes. No need for a stand mixer, adding ingredients slowly, or even softening butter. The dough for Blackberry Crumb Bars is made in a food processor and the crumbly dough is also the top layer. If you don’t have a food processor, do this by hand with a pastry cutter, forks, or butter knives, like you would a pie crust.

This recipe for Blackberry Crumb Bars has a slightly sweet crust to allow the natural sweetness of the fresh berries to come through. The crust is soft and light, but thick enough that these bars can be eaten by hand. It’s could be compared to a cross between a cake and pie crust, which makes it perfect for fresh fruit fillings!

Blackberry Crumb Bars cross section in baking pan

Even though fresh blackberries can be found all year round, they are about twice as much when they are out of season. They also tend to be more tart and less juicy. If you want to make Blackberry Crumb Bars when they are not in season, use frozen blackberries. Frozen fruits and vegetables are picked at the peak of their season you won’t sacrifice taste.

If you are using frozen blackberries, thaw and drain thoroughly and pat dry. You don’t want too much liquid or your bars will get really gooey. You can use canned blackberry pie filling but don’t add the sugar. You still want to add the lemon juice and cornstarch to bring out the flavor and thicken the canned filling.

Blackberry Crumb Bars are great for summer cookouts, picnics, and potlucks. They are pie-cakes people can eat with their hands and they last for days at room temperature, so no need to worry about them getting too warm. For a tasty summer dessert at home, top warm bars with a Vanilla Ice Cream or Whipped Cream like you would with pie!

MORE TASTY BAKERY STYLE RECIPES

Blackberry Crumb Bars in baking pan

VARIATIONS ON BLACKBERRY CRUMB BARS

  • Fruit: Use seasonal fruit all year round in Blackberry Crumb Bars. Peaches, plums, or this Apple Pie Filling would taste delicious. For bananas, slice and toss in cinnamon sugar.
  • Berries: Any fresh berries can be used in these bars like strawberries, blueberries, or mulberries. Make a Mixed Berry Crumb Bars by substituting 1 cup of another berry.
  • Crumble:  Add crunch to the crumb topping with a ¼ cup rolled oats or chopped pecans after you have pressed the crust into the baking pan. You can sprinkle extra sugar over the crumb topping too for more sweetness.
  • Muffins: Press the crust mixture into a lined or well greased muffin tin. Divide the blackberry filling evenly among muffin cups and top with crumble topping. Bake for 22-26 minutes at 375 degrees, or until cooked through and golden brown.

MORE DELICIOUS BREAKFAST RECIPES

HOW TO STORE BLACKBERRY CRUMB BARS

  • Serve: These Blackberry Crumb Bars are best at room temperature or warm from the oven, cooled about 10 minutes before serving.
  • Store: Line an airtight container with a paper towel to absorb moisture. Layer parchment paper between bars if stacking. You can keep these bars at room temperature for up to 4 days.
  • Freeze: Once bars have cooled, place in a sealed container with parchment paper between layers. Freeze Blackberry Crumb Bars for up to 3 months and thaw overnight on the counter to serve.

Blackberry Crumb Bars in stack

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Dinner, then Dessert

Blackberry Crumb Bars

Blackberry Crumb Bars are an easy, sweet summer breakfast. Bakery-style layer bars with a buttery crumb topping and crust with a fresh blackberry filling.
Yield 15
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Blackberry Crumb Bars in stack
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar , packed
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 2 cups fresh blackberries
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 tablespoons cornstarch

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and spray an 8x8 pan with baking spray.
  • Add flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, butter and egg to a food processor and pulse until a crumbly dough starts coming together.
  • Add half the dough to your baking pan and press down in an even layer gently.
  • In a large bowl mix the blackberries, lemon juice, ¼ cup sugar and cornstarch.
  • Pour mixture over the crust.
  • Crumble the remaining flour mixture over the top of the blackberries.
  • Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden brown.

Nutrition

Calories: 154kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 22mg | Potassium: 63mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 247IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg
Keyword: Blackberry Crumb Bars

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Blackberry Crumb Bars collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the upcoming cookbook: Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients which is being published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  2. There are the Bomb!!! I doubled the recipe-which made a little more dough than needed but it was tasty too!!! They were easy to make & so tasty… I took some to friends & received this text “OMG! These blackberry bars are absolutely amazing! Thank you soooo much!”
    Thank you for sharing your awesome recipe!!

    Reply

  3. I made these with a gluten free flour blend for the 4th of July–they were great. I took one liberty: the dough seemed dry after pulsing, so I added the whole egg, and it seemed just right. This was a big hit with my family, and I will repeat it because I have quite a few handpicked bags of blackberries in my freezer.

    Reply

  5. Easy and delicious! This was the perfect thing to do with some blackberries my sister in law gave me from her garden. YUM!

    Reply

    1. It’s listed in the first step, 8×8 pan.

      I realize this comment is very old, so I am so sorry for the delay in replying.

      Reply

  7. Sabrina, These look delicious! If I wanted to make these for a crowd, in a half sheet pan, would I double or triple the recipe? I’m looking forward to post pandemic family parties, and 8 x 8 won’t be nearly enough. I can’t wait to try them!! Thank you!

    Reply

    1. I am so sorry, I am just seeing this tonight. I am sure the recipe has long been cooked/or not but I still want to try to help.

      Yes! double in a 9×13 pan! Half sheet pan could be tough because of the height of the wall of the pan. How tall is your pan?

      Reply

        1. Yes, you can double the recipe. For a 9×13 pan, it will take a bit longer to cook, I would just keep an eye on it.

          Reply

    2. Excellent recipe! I go berry picking often in the summer and this recipe is great. The first time I made it I didn’t have enough blackberries so I mixed in fresh blueberries and it was delicious. We like crunchy toppings so I mixed pecans and oats (total a little over 1/4 cup) the 2nd time and that came out great. So easy to make.

      Reply

  9. I picked way too many blackberries last weekend and now I’m trying different recipes. Loved this recipe, Sabrina. Just the right size. My first attempt with a different recipe resulted in a very juicy version that required a spoon. And ice cream. Tasted great but not what I was going for. Your recipe made it to the family boat (none came back). The bars held together for easy serving. Thanks!

    Reply