Blackberry Pie Bars

Last night's dinner was another form of leftovers - hey remember the day when there didn't used to be any?  We had quite a bit of hanger steak leftover from Sunday which is not a bad thing, so I whipped up a couple of beef, caramelized onion, mushroom, Swiss and barbecue sauce panini sandwiches to fill the void.

Believe you me they were some delicious, but since there's no recipe to report, I figured I'd best tell you about the other little temptations that rounded out the meal.

Thanks to joythebaker.com, I came across these little beauties last week and absolutely had to give 'em a try. Of course there's no way in good conscience I could make the whole recipe for just two of us, never mind that 6 cups of blackberries at the price they're going for here in hell would take this bar cookie into the "liquid gold" price range - so I changed up the recipe a bit, cut it in half and added vanilla instead of lemon.

The result - a tender, crispy buttery crust with a creamy cheesecake custard like topping studded with maroon colored gems. Now that's what perception can do for you - my Eastern Oregon cowboy calls blackberries "weeds" and I call 'em gems. Anyway, this bar cookie or "square" as we Canucks call them, is very much like the Kuchen I've bragged about in the past and since imitation is the most sincere form of flattery - I can't think of a single thing wrong with that. Give one or both of them a try and you'll see what I mean. Download Blackberry Pie Bars

Blackberry Pie Bars

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 teaspoon vanilla

Filling:

2 eggs, beaten

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons heavy cream

Pinch of salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 – 16 ounce package frozen blackberries

Remove blackberries from freezer and place on a sheet pan that has been lined with paper towels to thaw.  Spray a 9 x 12 pan with cooking spray. Line bottom with parchment paper. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350.

In food processor combine flour, sugar, salt, butter and vanilla. Pulse until mixture forms fine crumbs. Remove half of the crumbs and set aside. Pour remaining half onto bottom of prepared pan and spread evenly. Press crumbs firmly into place. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Maintain oven temperature.

Beat together eggs, sugar, sour cream, cream, salt and vanilla. Spread on top of cooled crust. Sprinkle evenly with defrosted blackberries, then sprinkle reserved crumb mixture over top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until firm to the touch. Cool to room temperature before cutting.

Comments

[Tom @ Tall Clover]

This post shut me up about blackberry brambles here in the Northwest. I fight them, and then I realize I also have about 6 freezer bags of berries waiting for a recipe. I believe I found a big winner in this one.

[June]

Tom - I still maintain that God practiced for 5 days making the rest of the world, created the Pacific Northwest on the 6th day and then stepped back on the 7th and said "boy I'm good. My work here is done". You are so lucky to live there!

[Nanan]

That looks good - both things!

[June]

Thanks Lea. Nothing like a little dinner and a lot of dessert. LOL

[Mags]

I'm loving those blackberry bars. Right up my alley for sure!

[June]

Thanks Mags. They're keepers for sure and they freeze really well too.