Despite my own personal views, apparently cupcakes are not the solution to every problem. Sometimes you need to bake something for a brunch, for a potluck, or for a weekend treat and for some reason cupcakes just won’t work. Sigh. You don’t have to like it, but you do have to have a go-to, delicious, and simple recipe that will still get rave reviews. This is it. Plus, they have fruit in their name, so I’m thinking they’re probably very healthy.
I’ve been making a version of this with raspberries for years. It’s delightful, my peeps like it. A lot. But when I started making this blackberry version, I never got a request for raspberry again. Besides, why make raspberry crumble bars, when you can make Blackberry Bramble Bars? Just saying “bramble” makes it sound like you read Jane Austen and take long constitutionals. These bramble bars are the culinary equivalent of installing yourself on the moor for an afternoon, earnestly painting the hills and heather in watercolor.
A couple of tips:
- Let the butter get really soft. This shortbread crust also forms the base of the crumble mixture and has to be warm enough to form a short dough and hold itself in little clumps. If your butter is too cold, you’ll get a coarse meal which will be fiddly to handle and form into the crumble.
- You can use or not use the almond extract. I put almond extract in my coffee, so I may not have the proper perspective on how badly something needs almond extract.
- I like Bonne Maman and Hero jams. If you can find one with seeds, it looks more like you took the time and trouble to mash real blackberries, but it tastes just as good with a seedless jam.
- Let this cool completely. I usually make it the day or night before then dust it right before serving with the powdered sugar and optional zest. I think the lemon zest is a nice fragrant counterpoint to the sweet jam and buttery shortbread, but again, super-optional.
- To cut these, try lifting the whole enchilada out of the pan with a spatula or bench scraper and cutting it on a cutting board with your longest knife. You’ll get straighter, neater lines and you won’t scratch up the bottom of your pan.
- And finally, try not to be left alone in the house with these. You will find yourself returning to the kitchen to “even out the sides” or eat the crumbs that have fallen off into the pan. It’s a slippery slope and the goal is to have some leftover for your guests.
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 45 minutes |
| Servings |
bars
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- 2 sticks unsalted butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoons almond extract optional
- 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 ounces blackberry preserves or jam I like Bonne Maman
- 2/3 cups plain granola
- 1/3 cup sliced almonds
- confectioner's sugar for dusting
- lemon zest optional
Ingredients
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- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix butter and sugar together on medium speed until just combined. Add the vanilla and almond extracts on low speed.
- Add the flour and salt gradually and mix on low until it starts to form a ball. Press two-thirds of the mixture into the bottom on a 9-inch square baking pan, making a small lip around the sides. Spread the blackberry jam on the dough, leaving a 1/4" border.
- Hand-mix the granola into the remaining one-third of the dough. Breaking it into smallish bits, cover the jam layer. Sprinkle the almonds on top. Bake for 45 minutes, until lightly browned.
- Cool completely then cut into 16 bars. Dust with the confectioner's sugar and lemon zest.
Well shucks. I’ve been following the raspberry version for years. Can’t wait to make this asap cuz I love blackberry jam more than raspberry.
Shucks. Both versions are pretty darn good. I like the lemon zest and almond extract, really makes the sweetness of the berries pop!
I love lemon-blackberry together. I’m an almon extract fanatic, as well. Gotta make these asap! They look soooo good.
XO. Almond extract 4ever!
Can’t wait to try this! Just bought blackberries tonight!
This will be fun to try! Looks delicious. Nice to have something for my little person to have as a treat since she’s allergic to eggs.
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OMG OMG OMG I just made these and they are insane! I did not use almond extract or lemon zest as these are not my favorite things (I know I am in the minority here!). I used raspberry preserves because the store where I shopped was out of blackberry. Also, I did not wait until they were cool to lob off 1/16 so I could taste them. I can’t wait for the fam to wake up in the morning and try these!
Yay! I think they are SO GOOD. I don’t usually gravitate towards fruity desserts but these bars just get me.
I tried a variation today and it came out great (I think) … Peanut Butter & Jelly Bramble Bars!
I substituted 1/2 C creamy peanut butter for 1 stick of butter. The dough was pretty crumbly so, with the mixer on slow speed, I drizzled in about 1 TBS of canola oil until the dough reached a smooth texture.
I used strawberry Bonne Maman. I omitted the lemon zest, almonds and almond extract. I upped the granola to 1 C to make up for the omitted almonds but I don’t think that I needed to do that.
I want to try this with grape jelly next!
I made 176 of these for a community dinner. They were VERY well received. The quantity changer from 16 to 176 made it so easy to shop for the ingredients. I gave out a LOT of web links to this recipe and have been asked to make them for other group events.
AND, they freeze so well that my husband would take one out of the freezer and eat it frozen.
Every time it’s been awhile since I made these, I forget how really simple this recipe is! Blackberry batch in the oven now.