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Crumbly moist pie dough with sweet juicy blackberries combine to make these Blackberry Pie Bars! Get the deliciousness of pie without rolling out the pie dough!
These easy blackberry pie bars are extra delicious with their thick buttery pie crust and blackberry filled bites.
While they look impressive, they are also very easy to whip together and get into the oven.
You can use any kind of berries you have on hand or even a mixture of berries for these pie bars, the flavor is easily changed!
Like pie, they are also amazing if you serve them warm with a scoop of ice cream to really take them over the top!
Blackberry Pie Bar Dough
The best way to make this pie dough is to use a food processor.
Otherwise, you will need to do it by hand by cutting the butter into the flour with a fork and it will take a lot more work.
Like a classic pie dough, we use cold butter cut into squares to make our pie bar dough.
With a food processor, this easy dough recipe will only take a few minutes.
Can I use different fruit in these pie bars?
Yes! You can use any berry with the same results, except strawberries.
Strawberries you have to slice and they can cause a little more liquid. However, they do still work, just a little different final result.
If you want to do a different spin with strawberries, I really recommend you check out my Strawberries and Cream Hand Pies!
For other fruits, if it’s a dryer fruit (like apples), they work as well. Dried fruits are also another good option.
However, I personally find these pie bars to be the best when made with the following:
- Blackberries
- Raspberries
- Blueberries
- or a mixture of those three!
These Blackberry Pie Bars are delicious and don’t require you to roll out a perfect pie dough.
The burst of fresh blackberries with a delicious butter pie crust surrounding them is absolute perfection.
If you love this recipe, you will also love my families recipe for Skillet Berry Cobbler that requires no pie crust and combines Raspberries and Blackberries!
When you try this recipe, please leave a review/comment below and let me know how the recipe turns out for you!
Blackberry Pie Bars Recipe
Crumbly moist pie dough with sweet juicy blackberries combine to make these Blackberry Pie Bars! Get the deliciousness of pie without rolling out the pie dough!
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Zest and juice of one lemon, divided
- 1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch slices
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 cups fresh blackberries
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 9×13 inch pan.
- In a food processor, pulse together flour, 1 cup of sugar, baking powder, cinnamon salt and lemon zest. Add the butter, egg and vanilla extra. Pulsing until dough is crumbly.
- Pat half of dough into the bottom of the prepared pan, saving the remaining dough for the topping.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blackberries. Sprinkle the blackberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.
- Bake in preheated oven for about 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown (you are only looking for the top to slightly brown, if you cook for too long – the bottom will burn).
- Cool completely before cutting into squares. Store in an airtight container.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12 barsServing Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 253Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 18mgSodium: 92mgCarbohydrates: 55gFiber: 4gSugar: 28gProtein: 4g
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Delicious and easy,,only one change was I doubled the fruit and sugar & cornstarch. Yummy!
Just wondering if there’s any way to lessen the sugar? Or add honey instead?
You can always cut back on the sugar if you would prefer!
These were so, so good! I only had frozen berries and was afraid there would be to much liquid so I ended up cooking it on stove to make sure it would thicken. Glad I did, as I needed to add a little clear gel (or cornstarch). This will be my go-to recipe for using up any berries. Thanks for a great recipe!
I’ve made these twice now, with frozen blackberries (I strained off the extra liquid from defrosting and made blackberry ice cream). They were a big favourite with everyone – my husband says the lemon really brings out the flavour – and even though I don’t have a food processor, still easy to make.
Just made the recipe. Really like it.
A little too tangy. Would use a half a lemon instead of a whole one. Adding a drizzle on top will sweeten it.
so easy and looks incredible! Haven’t tried them yet because I’m bringing them camping in the morning. Thank you thank you
Can I cheat and use a store bought pie crust
Not for this recipe, unless you want more pie. These “pie bars” have a different style crust than a true pie crust!
These are sooo good! Not dry at all and perfectly done after 45 min. Served with vanilla ice cream.
My hubby and I loved this recipe! They were so dood that I had to hide them from me! I used some extra zest in the berries and just a dash of salt. Those were the only changes I made. Yummy!!!
Very very tasty. My mother absolutely loves blackberry pies and cobblers and now she loves these pies bars as well. I look forward to trying different berries in the mix.
Looks delicious…can I use frozen berries?
Sure! Make sure they don’t have a lot of ice on them or they can make it soggy.
I just made those with frozen berries today, and this worked fine – not soggy at all. Could have been a bit sweeter for me (but maybe that was just the berries being a bit tart). My husband loved them exactly as they were.
I used frozen berries, strained off the extra liquid and made ice cream with it 🙂
These worked a treat and so yummy hot or cold. Very easy recipe. Thank you
Could these be frozen? Whether before or after baking?
Sorry, they are best baked fresh!
Deeply disappointed. There is inadequate moisture in the dough and so the results taste underbaked and floury.
My guess is it was too much flour. I always try and measure flour by weight rather than cup. These are definitely worth another try! If you do, make sure to aerate the flour before you measure and use a spoon to fill the measuring cup. When you mix it in the food processor, the dough should hold its shape if you squeeze it in your hand. If not, you’ve added too much flour.
It was an easy and delicous dessert let it cool completely and if you leave in a hot area i recommend to keep it in refridgerator and as you can guess it will be so fruity,if you are in love with fruity desserts,its the recipie!
HI! I made these for church choir and someone could not eat due to seeds. Can this be made with blueberries? I assume so, but someone suggested less sugar in the cornstarch/lemon juice w/fruit mix. Opinion, please. Thanks for this GREAT recipe
Hi Carol! I would keep everything exactly the same and just use blueberries! This recipe works great with any kind of berry. Hope you enjoy your blueberry pie bars! 🙂
I’ve made these with a berry mix and strawberries all were great. Can’t keep them. Great for lunch box. Grand kids love them
Hi. Our friend brought over a tray full of black berries. searched the internet for recipes. ’bout died when I saw 40+ recipes available online. i thought, no way am i going to peruse let alone find one and the time to bake. luckily came across your website and decided to try your bar recipe. well… the house smells amazing. the recipe was very easy and came together in no time. i substituted vanilla extract for almond because i ran out of the vanilla. looks amazing and I can’t wait to cut into it. Thank you!!
How much lemon juice is used and how much lemon zest? Recipe doesn’t say. thanks.
Hi Tim, yes it is the juice and zest of one lemon.
Made these yesterday – so delicious and tangy, wow. Blackberry and lemon make such a good combo. Thanks for sharing!
I doubled the recipe and it made 3-8×8 pans. Substituted gluten flour and added approx a half cup of extra sugar per batch to the berries. I sprinkled a little brown sugar on top as well before placing in the oven. I might consider adding an extra yolk next time. It was great and will make again.
I just made this with a mix of frozen blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries. I was a little concerned that they might be too wet, so I made just a little more dough to put on top. I don’t think they even needed the extra dough, they were delicious just as they were. I’d definitely make these again. Thanks for a great recipe!
I just made these and they are soo good! The lemon is such a perfect tangy touch, and the berries just burst with deliciousness.
I halved the recipe to make a smaller pan. I found that I only needed 30-35 minutes cooking time, and I covered mine with foil half way through to keep the topping from burning.
Anybody have any ideas as to how to store/freeze them?
So glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for taking the time to come back and comment on them! To store them, I leave them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. I have not tried freezing them yet. If you do, please share how it turns out!
I often get skeptical of recipes found on blogs because the photographs make the desserts look so damn good and mine never turn out like that. WELL, your recipe changed that. It was absolutely easy to make (thank you food processor) and it looked (almost) as good as yours =)
These were delicious pie bars. I didn’t have enough blackberries so I combined 2 cups of blackberries with 1 cup of raspberries and 1 cup of blueberries. Turned out wonderfully. Thank you so much!
Made for superbowl dessert.. served warm with vanilla ice cream. Crowd was very happy! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Has anyone tried to make these using blueberries?
Yes, I have also used Raspberries! 🙂
Is there something to add to last bit of dough to make it more crumbley? I hand mixed my dough, it was kinda sticky, hard to add the crumbles to the top, ended up kinda like little dough balls…
Hi Gabe, if you needed, you can add a little extra flour. But while it will be a little sticky, it should be able to turn into a crumbly top. Hope they baked up perfectly and you enjoyed them!
Would it work to add some oatmeal for the top crust if itss too wet?
Thanks
Just made these and were delicious! I decided to glaze half of them with a thin orange juice and icing sugar mix. It just takes the edge of the sharpness for those with a slightly sweeter tooth. Thanks for posting!
surprised my mom with a batch of these when she got home from work. she loved them and so did I!! Best with fresh picked blackberries!
The best kind of surprise! Thanks for taking the time to come back and comment!
I found this on Pinterest and made it last week. It was fantastic! Thanks for the recipe.
Awesome! I brought this bars to work – my colleagues were so delighted!
I love the lemon zest in the dough, great idea.
These look delicious! One question, I don’t have a food processor or a powerful blender. Should I just cut in the butter and then add the egg and vanilla or should I just put it all in a bowl and cut on the butter with it?
Yep – you can do it by hand! Just prepare for it to take a while. It’s a lot like making regular pie crust – just not as moist.
Would a blender work as well?
No, but you could use two knives, forks or a pastry cutter instead. It’s just harder to do by hand, but not impossible!
I just made these today and the only thing I changed was I made them in an 8×8 pan and halved the recipe. They were delicious!! I think when I make them again I might add a little more flour to the dough if I am going to half them because I still had to use 1 egg and it made them a little wetter.
I made these for our Sunday School class a couple of weeks ago, and they were devoured! They really do taste like blackberry pie. I will be making them again for a girl’s weekend away. Bring on the ice cream!! Thanks for the great recipe.
Looks great! I will have to try this! 🙂
I’ve made a version of this same recipe (via Smitten Kitchen, who cited All Recipes). MAN, SO GOOD.
These look heavenly! All that fresh fruit bursting through is just gorgeous. 🙂 And I kinda think that when you can make pie bars that are just as good as pie, why go through the pie-making hassle?
they sound yummy!
Oh my goodness, these pie bars look divine! I am loving this 🙂
I freakin’ love pie bars, almost more than pie itself! Gimme one of these and an espresso now..
I made these today. The perfect dessert! Thank you!
I tried these this afternoon. They were easy to make and got rave reviews all around. Do you think frozen blackberries would work?
I think you could use frozen berries if you made completely positive there was no extra water/frozen ice stuck to them. Would hate for the bars to turn out soup-y!
Jessica,
Would you recommend defrosting frozen berries completely? Would I want to drain them and omit the liquid?
Thank you
That is a LOT of traveling! I’m exhausted just thinking about it! In fact, I think I”ll need a few of these bars to sustain myself!
I totally need these bars in my life!!
I NEEEEED these in my life!!!
Love the photos. Great perspective!
Made these today and they are absolutely AMAZING!! Thanks for the recipe!! Will definitely be making these more often!
Blackberries are one of my favorite fruits and it’s hard to find good recipes using them. These looks so great!
Perfect timing! My blackberries just ripened a crop large enough for this. Time to go out and pick!
Gorgeous pictures!! These look amazingly delicious!
My mouth literally started watering when I saw that first picture.
These are absolutely stunning…and calling my name! I’m so down with anything that tastes like pie but doesn’t require making the dough. I love blackberries, too, so I’m sold!
These sound amazing!!
Ordered 3.5kg of frozen blackberries by accident so was looking for recipes & found this one!!
They are delicious & frozen berries worked fine, I had to be careful of extra juice so used a strainer but results were delicious. Will definitely be adding it to my collection & it would seem I do quite like blackberries :)) xx
I love baking with fruit and have a cake next week that uses blackberries. I love love these bars! And glad they’re bars rather than a pie – faster and less fussy 🙂 Pinned.
Whoa! You are busy! Sounds fun though!
These bars looks awesome. I love blackberries!!
Boston?! Yay! Sorry totally distracted by that. Okay these bars… helloooo! Love your styling and I bet they tasted beyond delicious.
Oh my, you DO have a jam packed rest of summer! Good luck with the rest of it. Sweets sure help when I’m feeling stressed…like these bars! Yum!
Making pie crust look pretty is my enemy so this recipe is right up my ally!
Made these today with blueberries and rasberries, the turned put great. Cut in squares for school and work lunches. MMM good. Its a keeper.