These blackberry pie bars are a peak summer berry dessert! If you love fruit crisps with crumbly oat topping, you’ll love these bars. They feature a delicious sweet/tart homemade blackberry filling sandwiched between two layers of oat crumble crust.
BLACKBERRY PIE BARS WITH OAT CRUMBLE CRUST
Berry season is here and my fridge has been stocked with blackberries, raspberries and blueberries for a few weeks now. I enjoy eating berries by the handful, sprinkling them on top of yogurt parfaits and incorporating them into recipes. What I really love is baking with them! I recently found myself with a surplus of blackberries that weren’t quite as sweet as I prefer for snacking so it was the perfect opportunity to whip up a berry-themed dessert.
Fruit crisps are one of my favorite summer desserts but I got an idea to turn the crisp into a more sturdy bar and ended up with these blackberry bars that are very pie-esque.
I decided to throw a few raspberries into the mix because I also had quite a few of them on hand. Recipes like this are so versatile so feel free to use straight blackberries in this recipe or a mix of blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.
There are two steps to this recipe.
- Making the blackberry filling.
- Making the oat crumble crust.
For the berry filling, I simmered the berries with sugar and lemon zest until they reached a jammy consistency.
While the berry filling was simmering, I pre-baked the bottom crust layer of my bars for a few minutes in a square baking dish lined with parchment. This ensures that your bottom crust is crumbly and set and not doughy or underbaked.
Here’s the blackberry filling layered on top of the bottom crust layer.
And the final layer of crumbled dough on top.
All baked up fresh out of the oven!
I recommend letting the blackberry pie bars cool for a good bit before lifting the parchment out of the pan. If they’re still hot they will be gooey and spread all over the place.
If you really want a clean cut on them, I would let them cool completely, refrigerate them and then cut.
Whether you snack on these blackberry pie bars cold out of the fridge or warmed up with a scoop of ice cream, they are a delicious treat!
BLACKBERRY PIE BARS WITH OAT CRUMBLE CRUST RECIPE
