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These blackberry crumble bars are packed with jammy berries and a surprising ingredient that takes them to the next level!
If you love this recipe you will adore Apple and Blackberry Brown Butter Crumble!
Foraging for blackberries is a family tradition. The area, where we live, is full of great spots for the delicious berry, so we end summer by bringing in a sizeable harvest that fills our freezer for the year to come.
Fortunately I’m a huge fan of baking with blackberries. The mix of sweet and tart make for interesting bakes, while the vivid colour can look stunning.
This recipe is inspired from one in Wild Honey & Rye, written by a friend of mine and a fantastic blogger Ren Behan. The original in the book is made with blueberries but I figured any seasonal berries would do.
What attracted me to the recipe is an unusual use of marzipan under the crumble layer. No sugar is added to the berries but they get sprinkled with grated marzipan.
Marzipan sweetens the blackberries, which is welcome because they can be slightly tart. It also adds an extra crunch to the crumble topping. Brilliant!
Blackberry bars
My kids proclaimed these blackberry crumble bars the best they’ve tasted and I would have to agree. This is a quick, no fuss, delicious treat, made with minimum ingredients and seasonal berries.
Quality, seasonal ingredients are alongside sharp cooking skills for the best way to get good results at home! Even if foraging isn’t an option, you will get the best results by buying blackberries when they are in season in the late summer.
Recipe Tips and Notes
These bars are made in the crumble style, and are so much more satisfying if the topping is actually crumbly and not powder. You can get the right texture by using cold butter cut into cubes.
Mix the dry ingredients together and then add the butter to create large lumps. Do this until there is not much of the dry, powdery mixture left. I’ve suggested using a food processor but it’s possible to do by hand as well.
Blackberry Crumble Bars
Ingredients
- 500 g /3 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blackberries
For the pastry
- 250 g /2 cups plain all purpose flour
- 150 g /1 1/4 cup icing sugar
- 125 g /1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold
- pinch of salt
- 2 egg yolks
For the crumble topping
- 50 g /1/2 cup plain all purpose flour
- 50 g /1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 30 g /1/4 cup icing sugar
- 100 g / 1/2 cup marzipan, grated
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a 9 inX13 (or 9inX9in) in pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Put all the ingredients for the pastry in a food processor and pulse until well blended. Alternatively you can mix the pastry with fork. Tip the rough pastry/crumbs into the lined pan and press firmly with the back of a spoon to form the base. Prick with a fork and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile prepare the crumb topping by pulsing the ingredients in a food processor until butter is evenly distributed and the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Grate the marzipan, it’s easier to do if it’s slightly chilled.
- Take the pan with the base out of the oven, spread the blackberries (no need to defrost them if using frozen), then sprinkle with grated marzipan and the crumb topping.
- Bake for 20 minutes until golden. Let it cool in the pan, then cut into bars.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Oh wow Julia, I don’t even know where to begin, this is just such a lovely post. First, welcome home from your travels in Sweden and Norway. I love that you picked a big stash of wild blackberries and then froze them – how handy they will be now! They look so pretty and tasty in this recipe and a perfect substitute for the blueberries. I made this recipe too yesterday and the kids loved it. Even better the next day when they go a bit squishy. I’m so happy that you like the book and that it invokes so many lovely memories. Salad Oliver – yes, we have to have that at every party! And I’d love to visit Lviv – so nice to hear you spend time there as a child. I’m so so happy that you cooked from the book and thank you for the beautiful images, too.
The book is gorgeous, Ren! It will be definitely stained with food over time as I am sure I will be cooking from it often! So many recipes are bookmarked already! xx
I’ve never met a crumble bar I didn’t love. These look divine! 🙂
Thank you, Laura! They are quite tasty!
What a wonderful review – I knew this book would resonate with you! These crumble bars look so wonderful I am amazed you could resist them
Loved the book! I immediately went out and bought cabbage, beets and Polish sausage! hahaha