Blackberry Bars

We went peach and blackberry picking yesterday at Windmill Hill Farm. I learned that just because a blackberry is black it isn't necessarily RIPE. Thankfully, it was easy to find blackberries that were black and had big, puffy (mature) drupelets.

photo from here

Since we have an abundance of berries, I went looking for recipes. We made popsicles, ate berries plain from the bowl, and also made these bars. I found a recipe for "Blackberry Breakfast Bars" here and modified it for our family. I didn't consider it a "good" breakfast with more than 1 cup of sugar in it! This recipe is similar to bars I've made with jam before. Very yummy! I doubled the original recipe to make a 9 x 13 pan. You can easily make half the recipe for a 9x9. We did have it for breakfast (with healthy shakes), but I think it's more of a sweet treat.

Blackberry Bars

4 cups blackberries
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups (whole wheat) flour

2 cups regular rolled oats
2/3 cup sweetener (I used sucanat)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup coconut oil, melted
2 Tablespoons ground flax seed (optional)

3 Tablespoons chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

1. For filling: in a medium saucepan combine berries, sugar, water, lemon juice and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or till slightly thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

2. In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, oats, sucanat, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, salt, flax, and baking soda. Stir in melted oil till thoroughly combined. Set aside 2 cups of the oat mixture for topping. Press remaining oat mixture into an ungreased 9x13 pan. Bake in a 350 oven for 20 minutes.

3. Carefully spread filling on top of baked crust. Sprinkle with reserved oat mixture (add walnuts to this mixture, if desired). Lightly press oat mixture into filling.

4. Bake in the 350 oven for 15-20 minutes more or till topping is golden.

5. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars. This made 32 small bars for us.