Berry Bars

Ingredient List

Crust and Topping-

3 C Flour

3 Tb. Butter, cold

4 oz. Cream Cheese

3/4 C Sugar

1/2 Tsp. Salt

3 Eggs

1 Tb. Vanilla

Filling-

4 C Berries

Zest of 1 Lemon

Juice of 1 Lemon

3/4 C Sugar (see note)

1 1/2 Tb. Cornstarch

This recipe is so versatile with what ever berries strike your fancy. We have a beautiful bounty of Raspberries, so I chose to use those in this recipe. If you want to mix berries, that would be pretty tasty as well. These bars go together pretty fast and they will not disappoint! Here is how I made the Berry Bars.

I start with the berries. If you are using frozen berries, make sure they are at room temperature. Place the 4 cups of berries into a pot and over low heat start adding the lemon zest and juice, sugar and cornstarch.  A couple things to note….1- you don’t want the mixture hot when you add the cornstarch otherwise you will have weird lumps in your berries. And 2- The amount of sugar will depend on the berries you use. So this is one of those recipes I taste as I go so there is a balanced amount of sweetness in the recipe. Heat the berries and stir until the sugars are dissolved and the mix thickens a bit.

Now for the crust and topping. I’ll be honest, there is no exact science to this. I throw all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until you texture looks like this mess. You will have some pieces of cream cheese and butter showing through. That is ok!

Now take 2/3 of the crust/topping and press it into the bottom of a 9×13 inch greased baking dish. I use my hands for this part.

Then you will pour the berry mixture into the baking dish and crumble the rest of the crust/topping onto the top of the berries. Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the topping is toasted and the crust on bottom is cooked.

After the berry bars have cooled, cut them into squares and enjoy!