Blackberry Crumble Bars

Blackberry crumble bars came about when I decided my craving for blackberries was greater than my determination to save my stash of summer berries I'd frozen for winter.

If you don't have such a stash, you can buy two 10-ounce bags of frozen blackberries for this recipe. And don't thaw them; use them frozen.

If you're gluten-free, just replace the flour with a combination of 1 cup sorghum flour, 3/4 cup potato starch, 3/4 cup tapioca flour and 1 teaspoon xanthan gum.

Gluten-free flour blends require more liquid than wheat flour, so you'll need to add a bit of iced water after stirring in the eggs. Add the water just a spoonful at a time so that you don't overdo it.

Cut into 2-inch squares, these crispy-crusted bars don't require a fork and are perfect for afternoon tea. Cut into larger portions, they stand in quite nicely for pie.

My Southern grandmother often made Blackberry Cobbler, another way I enjoy blackberries. What's your favorite black(or other)berry dessert? 

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Blackberry Crumble Bars

(Makes 24 2-inch squares)

The Crust and Crumble Layers

2 1/2 dip-and-sweep cups (12.5 ounces/354 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (3.5 ounces/99 grams) sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces/) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2 large eggs

The Blackberry Filling

1/3* to 2/3 cup (2.33 ounces/66 grams to 4.67 ounces/132 grams) sugar
2 tablespoons tapioca flour or non-GMO cornstarch
Pinch of salt
20 ounces (567 grams/about 5 cups) fresh or frozen blackberries
1 or 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

* We like tart rather than sweet so use 1/3 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons lemon juice.

1 Preheat oven to 375F/190C/Gas5. Grease or spray with cooking spray a 13x9x1-inch quarter-sheet pan. If you don't have a quarter-sheet pan (and you really should!), you may use a 13x9x2-inch pan. Also, you might want to line the pan with baking parchment, leaving enough paper overhanging the ends to use later for lifting the bake out of the pan for cutting. Grease or spray the paper as well.

2 In medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar and salt. Cut in the butter until mixture is like coarse cornmeal with some 1/4-inch chunks remaining. Stir in the beaten eggs to form a dough that clumps together.

3 Pour half the crumble into the prepared pan and press it into a crust just on the bottom; you may need to use a bit more of the reserved crumble. Bake the crust for 15 minutes. Keep the reserved crumble in the refrigerator until needed.

4 In small bowl, stir together sugar, tapioca flour and salt. Spread blackberries over baked crust. Sprinkle sugar mixture evenly over berries, then sprinkle on lemon juice. Sprinkle clumps of crumble topping over the berries. Bake until crumble topping is golden and berries are bubbling, which took about 1 hour with my very large frozen berries and small amount of sugar.

Note: The baking time will be shorter for fresh berries, thawed berries or smaller berries and likely shorter with the larger amount of sugar. So check on it at 30 minutes and see what's going on in there.

5 Cool in pan on wire rack until completely cool before lifting out the bake on parchment. Or just serve from the pan.