These buttery crumb bars are filled with mixed berries and a touch of lemon. This simple recipe uses the same mixture for the the crust and topping making ait an easy dessert you can whip up all summer long.
If you love baking with berries this is the recipe for you. Every bite is bursting with summer flavors and you can pack them up and take them wherever you are headed.
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Why you’ll love this recipe
- Made with basic ingredients
- The crust and topping are made from the mixture
- Filled with the fresh berries of your choice
- Flavored with vanilla and a touch of lemon
- Great for feeding a crowd
- Easy to slice and serve
Recipe overview
Crust and topping: A buttery, lemon-scented dough is used as both the crust and topping. Press half of it into the bottom of a pan, and reserve the rest for crumbling over the fruit.
Filling: Here’s where you can adapt this recipe to suit your taste (or whichever berries you have on hand). I like a mixture of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries (as pictured). You can absolutely use all of one berry or a mixture of berries. Cornstarch thickens the berry mixture and a touch of lemon complements the fresh flavors.
Recipe tips
- Line your pan with parchment paper or foil for easy removal
- When grating lemon zest, only use the yellow part of the skin, not the white pith
- Mix up the types of berries to suit your tastes
- Chill in the fridge before cutting, this makes for cleaner slices
- Plan to make these the day you are serving them (ideally) or up to 24 hours in advance.
- If you love a crumb topping, you should also try our Raspberry Crumble Cookies
Serving options
These bars can be served chilled or at room temperature. Serve as-is or top with ice cream or whipped cream.
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Note July 2018: I changed this recipe just slightly. After a few comments requesting a larger quantity, I increased the recipe to make a 9×13 pan. I also added a bit of lemon to brighten the berry flavors.
More summer desserts
Recipe
Mixed Berry Crumble Bars
Ingredients
Crust and Topping:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- finely grated zest of 1 small lemon, optional, but so good!
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Berry Filling:
- 4 ½ cups chopped fresh berries, see note
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch
- juice of 1 small lemon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a 9×13 pan with foil or parchment, and butter or spray with non-stick spray.
For the crust and topping:
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine granulated sugar, baking powder, flour, and salt. Add lemon zest, butter, egg, and vanilla. Beat on low speed until the butter is evenly distributed in small pieces and the mixture is crumbly.
- Dump a little more than half of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Use your hand or the bottom of a measuring cup to evenly press the dough into the pan.
Filling:
- Gently stir together all ingredients until well incorporated.
- Spread the filling over the crust, then crumble the remaining dough over the top of the berries.
- Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes, until the top is light golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely. For the cleanest slices refrigerate before cutting.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Haley
Those are so good.
Isabela
Can I use frozen berries instead of fresh?
Celebrating Sweets
I have never tried it, so I can’t say for sure. If you try I would suggest adding an extra teaspoon or 2 of cornstarch to help soak up the extra liquid. Enjoy!
Katelyn
I have used frozen berries for this 3-4 times and they turn out delicious! I recommend rinsing the berries from frozen until they run nearly clear (I’ve heard frozen berries bake better if you rinse them first) then patting some of the water off with a paper towel. Note that your yield will decrease when defrosted by about a cup/cup and a half so you’ll likely need to throw in some extra and eyeball as you go. Additionally , your cornstarch sugar mixture will be slightly soupy but this won’t impede the end product (-:
Celebrating Sweets
Thanks for sharing, Katelyn. Happy baking! 🙂
Denise
These bars are excellent!! Even better with ice cream!! Followed recipe exactly (baked them an additional 10 min) and they came out perfect!
Celebrating Sweets
I’m so happy to hear that. I’m glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Shari
Made these, turned out delicious! Thank you for the recipe! ( I added chopped pecans to the crumble, really good)
Celebrating Sweets
I’m glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂 -Allison
Jolene
Just made these and they are perfect! The most difficult part of the recipe…. was waiting for them to cool before eating the whole pan! Can’t get over that lemon zest addition to the dough.
Celebrating Sweets
Ha! I’m glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Susan
Thanks for the great recipe! My family loved it! I used strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. I’ll be making these bars again for sure.
Celebrating Sweets
Fantastic! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. Enjoy!
Penny
Delicious! Used frozen berries and put some oats in the topping. Really yummy. Thanks for the recipe.
Celebrating Sweets
You’re welcome! Thanks for the kind review. 🙂
Marie
How did you adjust the cornstarch for the frozen berries? And did you thaw first? Thanks!
Penny
Second time making these. Really delicious!!
Celebrating Sweets
I’m glad you enjoy them! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Angel
These are so delicious and bright and fresh. I have made them several times since I discovered the recipe in July.
Celebrating Sweets
I’m glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Lisa Cassidy
I made this today with blueberries and strawberries and the lemon zest. Absolutely wonderful! Thank you.
Celebrating Sweets
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂