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
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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.
I made this tonight with black berries freshly picked from our bushes. My husband just had a second helping with a dollop of ice cream and declared this ‘the best dessert every!’
I’m so glad Trish, we had such fun picking blackberries this year!
How would this be with blueberries?
They’d be great!
And how do you store them? Room temp for a few days or would you need to store in fridge? Thanks!!!
I store them at room temp, loosely covered with foil. They are so moist they don’t need plastic wrap.
I picked and froze a lot of blackberries back when they were in season. Can I use frozen blackberries in this recipe? Should I thaw them first? Thank you!
Yes you can use the frozen, and I think they’d be fine to use without thawing.
Delicious and want to freeze some. Is that ok
Can I freeze these after cooking
Yes, they’ll freeze beautifully.
Sue these are delicious. I had some blackberries growing wild near my house and added a few from the farmers market. So easy to make. These are definitely on my “keepers “ list. Thank you!
Thanks Laura, aren’t wild blackberries the best??
Delicious and want to freeze some. Is that ok
These will freeze nicely.
Sue everything I have made from you so far turn out fantastic!
I just made my first batch this morning, I have to make another for a bible study class tonight! They smell awesome thanks Sue!
I’m so glad, thanks Bernice 🙂
Made these this afternoon. Yum!! Hubby was very happy, too. I didn’t have a 9″ square pan so used my 8″ sq one and baked for full 40 minutes.
Oh good, I’m glad you both liked them 🙂
Hi Sue
I wanted to let you know that every recipe that I have tried from your blog has come out perfectly and is sooooo delicious! Can’t wait to try this one as I just bought some beautiful blackberries from the farmers market this morning. So thank you for such wonderful recipes, etc.
I have one question, I have a question, as I don’t want to miss one thing that you put out there for us, your videos, recipes, etc. Question is…If I sign up for your emails, do I get every other thing that you publish online, or do I have to sign up separately for each offering? I don’t want to miss a dang thing you write. Thanks.
Hi Nancy, thanks for the sweet comment! When you sign up for emails you’ll get everything sent to you, my email list is my ‘A’ list, and they get everything first, plus extra material not available elsewhere.
Thank you so much. I did not want to miss out on any of your postings. Today I am making your blackberry cobbler bars, and your Italian White Bean Soup with Sausage Meatballs…even though it’s terribly hot here in Houston…we crank down the AC. Have a great day.