Apple and Blackberry Crumble Bars

A fruit crumble bar on a light blue plate

5 from 3 votes

Apple and Blackberry Crumble Bars

Apple and Blackberry Crumble Bars, a super delicious dessert made with fresh seasonal fruit and a rich homemade shortcrust pastry. Very easy to make, this dessert has a delicate hint of lemon, which enhances the flavours of the ingredients used. The perfect dessert on the go too. These crumb bars are great with some custard or ice cream. My favourite summer dessert.

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: International

Servings: bars

Calories: 397kcal

Author: Daniela Apostol

Ingredients

For the filling

4 apples
1 cup blackberries
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour 1
1 teaspoon lemon extract

For the shortcrust pastry

350 g plain flour
175 g butter
¼ cup oats
2 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon extract

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

To make the filling, peel and chop the apples in small cubes, and add them to a bowl together with the blackberries, cornflour, lemon extract and sugar.
Mix to combine and set aside.
To make the shortcrust pastry, melt the butter and allow it to cool.
Sift the flour in a large bowl, add the melted butter, sugar and lemon extract.
Mix to get a crumbly texture.
Use ⅔ of the mixture to spread over the bottom of a square baking tray (mine is 20x20 cm, or 8x8 inches) - best to either grease the tray, or line it with a non-stick paper.
Press the mixture down well, and bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for 15 minutes or until golden.
Spread the fruit mixture over the baked pastry.
Mix the oat with the remaining pastry, then top the fruit with it.
Bake for a further 15 minutes.
Cool down completely, then slice.

Notes

If you'd like to see the measurements in cups and ounces, please click on the US CUSTOMARY link.
The number of ingredients can be adjusted depending on the number of servings you need. To do so, please click on the number next to SERVINGS and adjust accordingly.
When you use apples, it is best to cut them up into smaller cubes, the bigger ones will not soften enough, and the top will brown too much if left for too long.
Leave the bars to cool down completely before slicing, otherwise they will be too crumbly. Still delicious, but they won't have the desired shape anymore.
Using oats for the topping is optional, the bars will work perfectly well without too, but I find that the oats add more texture and taste, so worth using them.<
The lemon extract is also optional, or can be replaced with any other flavour of your choice. The lemon one works divinely well here, the subtle flavour is out of the world, so I highly recommend using it.
better than any so-called healthy bars that are loaded with dodgy ingredients. Do give them a try!</p>

Nutrition