Blackberry Oatmeal Pie Bars

Now that so many different types of fruit are coming back into season, our fridge is stocked to the gills with different types.  A handful of grapes with lunch, a few cut-up juicy strawberries for a mid-day snack…you get the picture.  But what really makes me happy is baking with fruit.  Heated up, the natural sugars in fruit brighten up anything you bake them in, like these strawberry crumb bars, for example.

Take these pie bars, for example.  Blackberries have never been a favorite of mine but since I know the power some time in a 350 degree oven can have, I gave them a whirl in these bars.  I added a some strawberries also because, well…why not?  The recipe calls for frozen blackberries but since it was the first time I had ever baked with them, I wanted the full-on experience of what so many adore about these berries and I used fresh.  And as it turns out, when baked, I love blackberries!  The fresh berries held up beautifully to the heat and each bar had a few whole berries to savor.

Blackberry Oatmeal Pie Bars

The oatmeal comes into play by my own accord.  It’s not called for in the original recipe but I amended the recipe a bit to be WW PointsPlus-friendly (3 Points each by the way – 16 bars from an 8×8 inch pan).  And as it turns out, this was probably the best substitution I’ve made in ages!  The oatmeal gets whirred around in the food processor (per original recipe instructions) and breaks down into a fine oat flour, blending perfectly with a little bit of all-purpose flour.

When all baked up, it lends a delightful and almost nutty flavor to the pie bar crust and topping which blended perfectly with the sweet fruit.  Overall, these blackberry oatmeal pie bars were a fabulous end to our Mother’s Day lobster lunch yesterday with Kyle’s mom and I can definitely see different types of fresh fruit being used in this recipe in the next few months.

Blackberry Oatmeal Pie Bars

  • Prep Time: 25min
  • Cook Time: 12-15min (crust) + 45-55min (bars)
  • Yield: 12-16 servings

Ingredients

For the crust and topping:
1 cup old-fashioned oats
½ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
1/8 tsp salt
8 tbsp (½ cup) unsalted butter, chilled
¼ cup unsweetened applesauce, chilled

For the fruit filling:
2 large eggs
¾ cup sugar
½ cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp old-fashioned oats
small pinch of salt
1 tsp lemon zest
½ lb fresh blackberries
4 oz fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped

Instructions

  • 01

    To make the crust and topping: Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

  • 02

    Combine the oats, flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse a few times to mix.  Cut the butter into ½-inch cubes and add it to the flour mixture.  Process until the butter is evenly distributed but the mixture is still crumbly, 30-60 seconds. Reserve ¾ cup of the mixture to use as the topping.  Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the pan.

  • 03

    Bake 12-15 minutes.  Cool for at least 10 minutes.

  • 04

    To make the filling: While the crust bakes, whisk the eggs in a large bowl then whisk in the sugar, sour cream, flour, salt, and lemon zest.  Gently fold in the berries and spoon the mixture over the crust.  Sprinkle the remaining flour mixture evenly over the filling.

  • 05

    Bake 45 to 55 minutes.  Cool at least 1 hour before cutting into bars or scoop out of the pan to serve cobbler-style.

adapted from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather via Pink Parsley

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Leave a Comment

  • May 9, 2011 at 8:04 AM

    I love your take on the recipe! They look amazing!

  • May 9, 2011 at 9:24 AM

    So pretty and healthy! Nice to have a treat you don’t have to feel guilty about!

  • May 9, 2011 at 9:35 AM

    Tara, I love all the changes you made to the bars. Especially the oatmeal. You’d better start saving your WW points for Atlanta next week!!

  • May 9, 2011 at 10:29 AM

    The oatmeal and greek yogurt were genius additions!

  • May 9, 2011 at 10:51 AM

    These look wonderful. Great substitutions to lighten it up. I love to tuck oatmeal into recipes.

  • May 9, 2011 at 12:43 PM

    Great adaptations!

  • May 9, 2011 at 5:59 PM

    I love blackberries, so these look amazing!! Great recipe 🙂

  • May 10, 2011 at 12:34 PM

    This is the perfect summer desert! Sounds so yummy!

  • May 10, 2011 at 2:16 PM

    What a great idea… a pie bar! And with my favorite berry!!! Thanks for sharing!

  • May 10, 2011 at 3:28 PM

    I love baking with berries…so happy they are coming back in season! These look delicious!

  • May 11, 2011 at 1:19 AM

    In Seattle, blackberry bushes are considered a “troublesome weed” which means that every summer we go out and pick bowls and bowls of them and then what we can’t eat gets frozen. I am always looking for new blackberry recipes and this is definitely one for the keeper pile!

  • May 11, 2011 at 2:25 AM

    love the healthy substitutions you made! I can’t wait to try making this!

  • Joy
    May 12, 2011 at 1:36 PM

    Those look wonderful.

  • May 14, 2011 at 2:51 PM

    DAMN – that looks good! 🙂

  • March 13, 2012 at 3:14 PM

    Yeah. I should have gone with your recipe first. LOL

    These look absolutely divine!

  • sara
    May 27, 2013 at 6:50 PM

    it looks like 12 lbs of blackberries, is it supposed to be 1/2 lb, and ,if so, how many cups is that?