Mixed Berry Crumb Bars

Mixed Berry Crumb Bars

Last week I picked up a case of mixed berries; blueberry, raspberry and blackberry. We proceeded to eat them one by one in desserts, ice cream, salads, smoothies and with yogurt. That is until I made puff pastry shells with pastry cream, whip cream and berries. The pastry cream took me five tries to get right, yep that’s right five tries and two days. To top it all off I did not photograph one picture of anything, not even the finished result. In the end they were good but not Paris, France good. When finished with the above dessert I still had a little over two cups of fruit left and these delicious mixed berry crumb bars were the end result.

First of all I got the recipe for these bars right the first time, thank goodness! Plus they are incredibly easy to make. The berries came out tangy and sweet and the lemon zest and juice really brightened up the flavor. This recipe is from Deb of "Smitten Kitchen" who adapted the recipe from AllRecipes.com. I halved the recipe and used a combination of berries but otherwise kept her recipe as written, (her recipe uses blueberries only). These mixed berry bars are also delicious served warm on a plate with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Store in the refrigerator for best results.

Mixed Berry Bar 

Author: Cheri

Mixed Berry Crumb Bars

Enjoy the best that summer has to offer with these mixed berry bars.

INGREDIENTS:

Base and topping

• 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 1 large egg

For the berries

• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 cup organic cane sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 cups fresh berries ( I used blueberry, raspberry and blackberry)

INSTRUCTIONS:

For base and topping

1. Preheat the oven to 375F°. Grease a 8 x 8” pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be a little crumbly. Divide dough in half. Pat one half into the bottom of the prepared pan.

For the berries

1. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice until smooth and no lumps. Gently mix in the berries. Scoop the berry mixture over the dough. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.
2. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.
3. Store in refrigerator.

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