Blackberry Cobbler Bars are a portable, snack-able version of everybody’s favorite summer berry dessert. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t fall hard for these vibrant shortbread bars!
Blackberry cobbler bars are a user friendly version of one of the most iconic summer desserts. In fact cobblers have deep roots in American pioneer history. Settlers often made cobblers because they were a simple way to use seasonal fruits and could be cooked over an open fire.
The name “cobbler” comes from the dessert’s appearance, the nubbly biscuit or batter topping resembles the rough surface of a cobblestone street. My blackberry bars have all the same characteristics of a classic cobbler, in a convenient hand held form!
blackberry cobbler bar ingredients
- blackberries ( about a pint)
- butter
- flour
- sugar
- vanilla and salt
what’s the difference between these classic fruit desserts?
CRISP: According to the Farmer’s Almanac, a crisp is made with a topping made of a combination of oats, flour, butter, sugar, and sometimes nuts.
CRUMBLE: Crumbles are British in origin, and are similar to crisps except they do not contain oats, and the topping is more of a streusel in texture.
BETTY: Similar to a crumble, but with the crumble topping layered throughout the fruit.
BUCKLE: a buckle is fruit and cake batter that are baked together. The fruit makes the cake ‘buckle’ as it bakes.
COBBLER: Cobblers have biscuit style dough that is dropped over the fruit creating a rough surface.
Fair warning ~ don’t use your white linens when serving these purple-icious bars, they’ll stain everything in sight! But it’s all worth it, the flavor is so tart and delicious, and the color is eye-popping.
If you’re observant you probably already noticed that my blackberries are wild.
They’re a lot tinier than regular commercial berries, and more intensely flavored. Picking berries is one of the things I look forward to most every summer, if I’m lucky enough to be in a place where that’s possible, that is. Check out my ultimate guide to berry picking for details.
If your berries are the larger supermarket variety
No worries, just give them a rough chop first. You can even cook them down to a simple jam if you like, or use actual blackberry jam, for that matter. These bars are versatile 🙂
Fresh fruit blooms in the oven!
You might have heard me talk before about what a wonderful transformation fruit goes through when you bake it. Blackberries are a great example of this phenomenon (so are apricots.) If you pop a few berries into your mouth in the produce aisle it’s one thing, and an entirely different thing when you bake them between two layers of buttery dough. The color intensifies, the flavor blooms, and that texture…!
Love blackberries?
- Almond Layer Cake with Blackberry Buttercream
- Blackberry Slab Bars
- Blackberry Moscato Slushies
- Perfect Black Raspberry Muffins
- Blackberry Pecan Crumble Squares
WANT TO TRY THESE BLACKBERRY COBBLER BARS?
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Blackberry Cobbler Bars
Equipment
- 9×9 square baking pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (almond extract works great too)
- 2 cups all purpose flour
filling
- 2 cups blackberries (or enough to cover the bottom crust)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F Line a 9×9 square baking pan with foil or parchment paper with long ends so you can lift the bars out after they've cooled for easy cutting.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. I do this in my stand mixer, but you can use electric beaters, or do it by hand. Scrape down your bowl a few times to get it evenly incorporated. Beat in the salt and vanilla, then slowly add the flour, mixing just until there is no dry flour left. Don't over mix. The dough will be crumbly.
- Take 2/3 of the dough and crumble it into the bottom of your prepared pan. Flatten gently with floured hands until you get an even layer. Add a bit more dough if needed to completley cover the bottom.
- Arrange the berries evenly over the surface.
- Top with the remaining dough, crumbling it with your fingers as you add it. Some of the berries will show through, that's fine.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until the top is just barely starting to turn golden in spots. Let cool on a rack before lifting the cobbler bars out of the pan for slicing.
these are delicious…. but need to be cooked longer. I also use almond along with the vanilla. For a more complex carbohydrate, I use 50% whole wheat flour which gives it a nice nutty flavor. Use very good quality butter– it makes a difference.
I made these but used raspberries instead. Also used half vanilla and half almond flavoring. They were delicious…put leftovers in sealed container and kept at room temperature…When I opened them to serve, I wasn’t able to remove from container without having them crumble apart. Can you tell me what I may have done wrong?
When you put fruit desserts like this in an airtight container the moisture is trapped and the cobbler becomes moist. So possibly that was your issue? I usually leave my bars under a loose layer of foil, or under a cake dome and I don’t have that problem.
I have made this now 3 times in the last 2 months. The recipe is super easy but the main thing about it is the taste. Amazing! It’s like summer in a 8X8 pan.
This looks sooo yummy!!! I’m wondering if frozen blackberries would work? I have LOTS of frozen blackberries.
This turned out fantastic!! I used fresh picked berries but chopped the larger ones in half. My oven runs hot so cooked for 30 mins and it was perfect!! My family loved it! I’ll be making it for my co-workers this upcoming week too!
Don’t even think twice about the blackberries not being cooked down in some sort of compote/sauce. If you have freshly picked blackberries you don’t need all that sugar at all. This was GREAT.
Made this recipe but sadly my berries did not melt down or pop like the pictures you show: any tips?
If your berries are very large, like they can be in supermarkets these days, you can cut or chop them, and you can always heat them in a saucepan just until they break apart.
I made these for the first time today and they were delicious! No changes to the recipe. Our family friends loved them and even my picky four year old did too. They are not too sweet and come together very easily! Thank you for another keeper!
What about storage? Do they need to be refrigerated? How long will they keep? Thinking about mailing.
I keep them at room temperature, and they are a moist bar, so they should keep up to 4 days or so. You can also refrigerate or freeze for longer storage.