Blackberry Raspberry Pie Bars

Monday, September 19, 2011

Blackberry Raspberry Pie Bars

It’s still summer right? The weather here in Boston keeps having mood swings, but as I’ve said multiple times these past few weeks, I’m literally grasping to the last minutes of summer this year. The second I saw these bars come up in my Google Reader, I knew I wanted to make them.

You see, I’m not really a pie person. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good pie, I just don’t enjoy making them. Just look at my blog. I’ve posted over a hundred cupcake recipes, more than 60 brownies and bars recipes, nearly 70 cookie recipes, and only 15 posts in my pies and tarts tag. Pathetic, right? I’m hoping to find some pie mojo this fall, but for now these pie bars more than do the job.

In fact, they’re almost too perfect of a replacement for an actual pie. For starters, you don’t have to deal with rolling a pie crust. Add to that the fact that these little guys are portable. I don’t know about you, but my desserts are always leaving the house with me to go somewhere. Whether it’s work or a friend’s house, if all these desserts didn’t leave the house, Hubby and I would each be about 200 pounds heavier than we are…

I decided to use fresh raspberries and blackberries in the recipe but I love that it actually calls for frozen berries. That means you could make these bars any time of the year! And you can bet that I’ll be making these come February when I’m so sick of winter and craving a taste of summertime.

I ended up baking mine for about 15 extra minutes and the center pieces were still a bit underbaked. Turns out those underbaked pieces were my favorites though!

Blackberry Raspberry Pie Bars

Yield: 24 bars

Ingredients:

Crust and Topping
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled

Fruit Filling
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup flour
pinch salt
zest of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp almond extract
32 oz total of a mix of fresh or frozen berries, thawed and drained if using frozen

Directions:

To make the crust and topping, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to mix. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes, and add to the flour mixture. Process until the butter is evenly distributed but the mixture is still crumbly, 30-60 seconds.

Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the mixture to use as the topping. Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the pan, and bake 12-15 minutes. Cool for at least 10 minutes.

To make the filling, whisk the eggs in a large bowl, then add the sugar, sour cream, flour, salt, lemon zest, and almond extract. Gently fold in the berries and spoon the mixture over the crust. Sprinkle the remaining flour mixture evenly over the filling, and bake 45 to 55 minutes.

Cool at least 1 hour before cutting into bars, or scoop out of the pan to serve cobbler-style.

Recipe from The Pastry Queen, as seen on Pink Parsley

Bars and Brownies, Dessert

2 comments »

23 Responses to “Banana Split Cupcake”

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1

stephchows — September 15, 2009 at 12:47 pm

Great cupcake hero entry!!! yum!
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2

oneordinaryday — September 15, 2009 at 2:04 pm

You’re right – it’s a freaking cute cupcake! I especially love that frosting and how you got it to look like a scoop of ice cream. Nicely done!
This is my first CH and I can’t wait till the voting begins! : )
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3

Amanda — September 15, 2009 at 2:49 pm

Wow, what a yummy looking cupcake! Great idea!
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4

oneparticularkitchen — September 15, 2009 at 4:14 pm

This is ADORABLE!! I love it!
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5

Xiaolu — September 15, 2009 at 5:08 pm

Gorgeous cupcake, Jen! I love how the cherry stands out. How do you get that black background if you don’t mind me asking? I’m pretty new to this food photography thing 8)
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6

Amy Kingman — September 15, 2009 at 5:41 pm

Yummmm!!!!!
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7

Jen — September 15, 2009 at 5:51 pm

Xiaolu – It’s actually just my black table. I’ve also had luck using a plain black piece of construction paper (most of my backgrounds are the 12×12 scrap-booking papers) or a black towel to get the background all black.

Here is an example using paper, and one using a towel.
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Xiaolu — September 15, 2009 at 5:59 pm

Thanks! That’s really helpful.
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Joanna — September 15, 2009 at 8:28 pm

Yum! Great idea 🙂
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10

Stephanie Wagner — September 15, 2009 at 10:44 pm

Awesome idea!
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11

bcallegra — September 16, 2009 at 2:04 am

Very creative and it looks great!
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12

The Novice Chef — September 16, 2009 at 3:15 am

What a cute idea! I love it!! And I know my nieces would be in love!
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13

nutmegnanny — September 16, 2009 at 3:33 am

Great idea…they look delicious!
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14

jesstyler — September 16, 2009 at 4:08 am

holy deliciousness! I NEED one of those! 🙂
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15

Kerstin — September 16, 2009 at 4:48 am

How creative, I love them! So cute and tasty with that cherry on top!
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16

Ingrid — September 16, 2009 at 3:14 pm

Very cute looking! I like your idea.
~ingrid
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17

lifeoftheparty — September 16, 2009 at 7:25 pm

These cupcakes are pure genius… you’ve definitely got my vote!
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18

Jigginjessica — September 17, 2009 at 12:34 am

Cute idea! What a great entry!
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19

thegreatpantryraid — September 17, 2009 at 7:37 pm

Wow – super cute! A lot of work, I’m sure, but such a big payoff! Great job!
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20

Kami — September 17, 2009 at 8:32 pm

So stinkin’ cute!
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21

Caroline — September 19, 2009 at 6:23 am

Very cute, indeed and loving the pineapple in the frosting. I can just imagine how delicious this would taste. What a great idea.
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22

Keiara Wells — September 19, 2009 at 5:57 pm

MMM, it looks fantastic! I’ll have to try this one 🙂 xox
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23

Sweet and Savory — October 15, 2009 at 5:55 am

These cupcakes are precious besides, I am sure, being delicious. What a great idea.

Blackberry Raspberry Pie Bars