All I can say is, whoever invented crumb bars was a genius. The buttery crumb topping…the fruit filling…they’re just hard to resist, especially when you make them with fresh summer fruit! I had the chance to pick some fresh wild blackberries growing right by Linn and Gayla’s home recently and I knew I was going to want to try making some crumb bars. I had made some Raspberry Jam Oat Crumble Bars last year, which have a tasty, oaty crust and crumble topping. So this year, since I had picked quite a few of those lovely blackberries, I had enough to make these crumb bars, plus a few other recipes I’ll be posting later.

If you like blackberries, you must try these! The crust and crumbly topping is rich and buttery, and the fresh blackberries, mixed with some blackberry jam, make a wonderful rich, fruity filling.

BLACKBERRY CRUMB BARS by NancyC, adapted from Allrecipes.com Makes a 9 x 13″ pan For the crust: 1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and diced

1 large egg For the filling: 1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 teaspoons cornstarch

3 cups fresh blackberries

1 cup blackberry jam Preheat oven to 375˚F. Grease a 9 x 13″ pan or line with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, blend 1 cup sugar, baking powder, and flour. Mix in cinnamon and salt. Using a fork or pastry cutter, blend in the small pieces of butter and then add in the egg, blending everything well. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into prepared pan. In another medium bowl, blend 1/4 cup sugar and the cornstarch. Gently mix in the blackberries and jam. Gently spread the mixture over the dough (don’t let this berry filling mixture touch the pan edges, to avoid burning). Crumble the remaining half of the dough over the berry filling layer. Bake at 375˚F for 35 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely, then cut into bars and serve.

Yes, you’ll want to cut these into bars instead of the big square that I cut for the photo, because they’re pretty rich! Unless you’re really hungry…then cut yourself a big square and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top while you’re at it!

Are you a fan of crumb bars like I am?

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