Mixed Berry Cobbler Bars

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Looking for an easy summer inspired dessert for a Memorial weekend cookout? I have you covered, these mixed berry cobbler bars scream summer and make the perfect picnic dessert. Think everything you love about pie: the flakey crust, tart fruit, and sweet crumb topping, all packaged in a perfectly portable bar!

One of the best things about late summer/early spring here in Michigan, is the sudden influx of cheap fruit.  Strawberries were 98 cents a pound at my local grocery store this week! How could I pass that up? So I loaded up on strawberries and then needed a use for them: enter in mixed berry cobbler bars.

Most cobbler, crumbles, or pies use lots of sugar to sweet the filling mixture.  For this recipe, since we have really cut back on our sugar intake in our household, I sweetened the filling with honey. This seemed to work well. The filling was sweet, but not in an overpowering way. I still used refined sugar in the cobbler topping because I thought honey would create an odd consistency and because I rarely have an alternative like stevia in the house. If you want to cut out the refined sugar completely you could always swap an alternative sweetener in the topping.

Don’t Skip the Lemon Zest

Another important component of cooking with berries is to include fresh lemon zest. Don’t worry if you have no clue what zest is or how to zest a lemon (that’s right it is both a noun and a verb) I can fill you in…

I will confess, in years past before I knew what zest was, I often skipped adding it to my baked goods.  It was my dear grandma who informed me that lemon zest was basically a fancy term for finely grated lemon peel.  Actually you can finely grate the peel of oranges, limes, or any citrus to create a natural ingredient to flavor your dishes.  I find that zest adds a certain brightness or tang to my baked goods, and makes a great addition for almost any recipe that uses blueberries.

Zesting a lemon is super easy, and for these mixed berry cobbler bars you will only need to use the zest from half of a lemon.  (I went for the full lemon the first time I baked them, and while tasty wow was that a lot of lemon flavor).  Always start with a washed organic lemon.  I really do encourage you to use an organic lemon in this case because you are consuming the peel of the fruit which is the portion most heavily treated with chemicals and pesticides. Next all you will need is a zester or fine grater.  The one I have linked here is just like mine and I absolutely love it. (You can also use it to grate garlic, hard cheese, or ginger).

So get yourself a zester, follow to recipe below, and impress your friends this weekend with an awesome easy to make summer dessert. If you try it out and love it, or have some suggestions, let me know in the comments below!

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Mixed Berry Cobbler Bars

Ingredients

• 2 lbs (cartons) strawberries
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries you can use frozen
• 2 tsp lemon zest about 1/2 of a large lemon
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp honey
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/2 stick butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/3 cup oatmeal
• 2 tps corn starch

Instructions

1. Wash and slice strawberries. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

2. Mix 2 cups flour with 1/2 cup vegetable oil, and 1/3 water to make dough for bottom crust.  If the dough seems too dry add a few tablespoons of cold water.  Once dough forms a ball transfer to a greased 9x13 inch baking dish.

3. Press dough out thinly across the bottom of the pan.  Using a fork press holes across the entire bottom of the pan to avoid bubbling. Bake for 14 minutes. 

4. While the bottom crust bakes, prepare the filling. Smash the strawberries until a few chunks remain.  Add blueberries, honey, lemon zest, lemon juice, and corn starch. Mix well. 

5. Spread fruit filling over the bottom crust. To make the crumb top mix remaining flour, butter, oatmeal, and sugar. Mix well until clumps start to form. Sprinkle mixture over the top of fruit filling. 

6. Bake for 25-30 until the top of the cobbler is lightly golden.  Let bars cool completely before cutting. 

P.S You can’t go wrong serving these mixed berry cobbler bars with vanilla ice cream!