Blackberry Pie Bars
By: Taylor
Published: Sunday, June 6, 2010 - 10:12am

Ingredients




1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1" chunks
Zest of one lemon

4 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
pinch of salt

3 cups fresh blackberries (or 1 16 oz package of frozen blackberries, thawed and draine
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preparation

1 For the crust: 2 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray 8"x8" baking pan with cooking spray. 3 If using nuts, spread them out on an ungreased baking sheet and lightly toast them in the oven, about 8-10 minutes. 4 In bowl, combine the sugar and lemon zest, and rub together with fingers or the back of a spoon until lemon is fragrant and mixed into the sugar.  You will end up with lemon scented sugar. 5 Combine the lemon sugar, flour, salt, and butter and beat on medium speed with electric mixer fit with paddle attachment until mixture looks crumbly.  Reserve 3/4 cup of mixture, and press remaining onto bottom of prepared pan.  Bake crust 12-15 minutes, until it is golden brown. 6 For the filling: 7 Whisk eggs in a bowl.  Add sugar, sour cream, flour, and salt, and stir with spatula until combined.  Gently fold in blueberries.  Pour the mixture evenly over the crust, making sure to scrape entire bowl onto crust.  Also, make sure to move the blackberries around so they are evenly distributed on the crust. 8 Sprinkle remaining crust mixture over filling, along with walnuts if using.  Bake 45 to 55 minutes until the top is lightly browned. Let cool for at least 1 hour, longer if able, before slicing.  Store in refrigerator.

Comments:
Sheryl

I made these today. My family and friends loved them.  I used raspberries, because I could not find decent blackberries yet.  This is an excellent recipe, and I'm sure the bars would be wonderful with any type of berry or cherry.  I also sprinkled a bit of turbinado sugar on top for some extra sparkle.  I'll be making these again soon. Thanks!
Sheryl

I have now made these 3 times, with raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.  They are awesome! 
They are so easy to put together, and everyone loves them.  This is my "go-to" recipe for summer berries now.  I'm so glad I found this!