Have you ever made a cover recipe? I’ve made enough of them to figure out that cover recipes are usually a pretty good bet! My daughter saw this cover and said she wanted me to make them for July 4th because of the red, ‘white’ and blue colors. So I tried them, and they were good! They will definitely be making it to her July 4th dessert buffet!

Basically, you will need 5 cups of berries, so mix and match the berries to your preference. Just a note: strawberries don’t usually bake too well, they tend to release too much liquid and take on a bit of an ugly gray tinge, so don’t use too many strawberries—maybe one cup max. Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and even pitted and halved/quartered cherries will all work well.

There is no need to top these bars with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, but… 🙂

Note that these bars need to rest overnight in the refrigerator before serving, so plan accordingly.

Summer Berry Bars

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups (375 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/3 cups (267 grams) granulated sugar, divided use
• 1 tablespoon (3 grams) lime zest (Ok to sub lemon or orange zest)
• 1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon (2.25 grams) kosher salt
• 1 cup (227 grams) cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 large egg (50 grams), lightly beaten
• 1½ tablespoons (12 grams) cornstarch
• 2 cups (260 grams) fresh raspberries
• 1 cup (147 grams) chopped fresh strawberries
• 1 cup (160 grams) fresh blackberries
• 1 cup (170 grams) fresh blueberries
• 3 tablespoons (15 grams) fresh lime juice (OK to sub lemon juice or orange juice)
• 1 teaspoon (4 grams) vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Line a 13×9″ baking pan with parchment paper, letting excess extend
   over sides of pan.
2. Stir together flour, 1 cup sugar, zest, baking powder, and salt.
3. Using a pastry blender—or a food processor—add butter to flour mixture and process OR cut in
   butter until pea-size pieces remain.
4. Stir in egg until blended and mixture is crumbly.
5. Reserve 1½ cups dough and refrigerate until needed in step 11.
6. Press remaining 3½ cups dough into bottom of prepared pan.
7. Bake for 20 minutes.
8. In another large bowl, stir together cornstarch and remaining cup of sugar.
9. Gently fold in berries, citrus juice, and vanilla until combined.
10. Scatter berry mixture over prepared crust.
11. Crumble reserved 1½ cups chilled dough over berries, pressing the dough to form small clumps before scattering over berries.
12. Bake until top is golden, about 30 minutes more. Let cool completely. Refrigerate overnight.
13. Using excess parchment as handles, remove from pan, and cut into bars.
14. Store bars in refrigerator.

So, it’s off to the farmer’s market I go! Thanks for stopping by my kitchen today!