Blackberry Pie Bars

Blackberries are ready!! I have been so looking forward to our season of berries and trying a new recipe! I went to pick berries the other day, and made the mistake of sitting my bowl down for a few minutes while multi-tasking. Mistake. I went back to the berries, and the chickens found my bowl of berries, and ate all but two of the berries. Not the end of the world, but I had a lot of berries picked already! No worries though, I picked enough to get back inside and debate what recipe to try!

After browsing through bunches of cookbooks, scouring pinterest, and poking around facebook, I decided on this recipe from Joy the Baker.  I am so glad I did.  It was simple, and so tasty!!! I did reduce her original amount of berries by one cup, out of laziness on not wanting to pick more berries. We ended up really liking the amount of berries to the amount of crust and topping.

Blackberry Pie Bars (Adapted from Joy the Baker)

Crust and Topping

3 c. all-purpose flour

1 1/2 c. sugar

1/4 t. salt

1 1/2 c. chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes

zest of two lemons

Blackberry Filling

4 large eggs

2 c. sugar

1 c. greek yogurt

3/4 c. all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

*5 c. fresh black berries  or 2 16-oz  packages frozen blackberries, defrosted and drained

Crust and topping-

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease 9 x 13-inch backing pan.  Zest two lemons. Measure the sugar onto a clean work area.  Rub the lemon zest into the sugar with the back of a spoon (this will create a lemon scented sugar). 

Combine lemon sugar, flour, salt and butter in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment.  Beat the ingredients on medium speed until the mixture looks dry and crumbly.  Reserve 1 1/2 cups of crust mixture to use as the topping.  Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the pan.  Bake the crust for 12 to 15 minutes until it is golden brown.  Let cool for 10 minutes while you make the filling.

Filling-

Whisk eggs in a large bowl.  Add sugar, greek yogurt, flour and salt.  Gently fold in the blackberries.  Spoon the mixture evenly over the crust. 

Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture evenly over the filling.  Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until the top is lightly browned.  Cool for 1 hour before slicing.

**Note - Add up to 6 cup of fresh berries depending on your taste.



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