Blackberry Bars

We went blackberry picking earlier this week and I now have 2 gallons of ripe, juicy and delicious blackberries to use for a multitude of purposes. We have been enjoying eating them all on their own, baking fabulous blackberry pies and now seeking out additional recipes before freezing the remaining for smoothies!

I was looking for a non-cobbler type recipe, but still a dessert recipe to make and ran across a decent sounding blackberry bar recipe. I changed a few ingredients to make it a bit healthier & more natural (e.g. used freshly milled soft white wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour and used sucanat instead of brown sugar). I also added a few ingredients to my tasting. (e.g. used almond extract instead of vanilla and added a few tsp. of cane sugar to toss with the blackberries). The finished product was absolutely delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cup freshly milled soft white wheat flour (NOTE: original recipe called for 1 cup of all-purpose flour, so to substitute with soft white wheat flour, add an additional 1/4 cup of flour for every 1 cup called for in recipe)
  
• 3/4 cup Sucanat
  
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sour cream
  
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract (I prefer almond)
  
• 1 cup fresh blackberries (I used a heaping cup!)
  
• powdered sugar, sifted

Preparation:

Combine freshly milled flour and sucanat; cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Press 1 1/3 cups of mixture in bottom of an greased 8-inch square pan.

Combine remaining crumb mixture, sour cream, egg, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla (or almond extract); blend well. Stir in blackberries. (optional: add a few tsp. of cane sugar) Spoon over crust, spreading evenly. Bake at 350° for 30 to 40 minutes. Cool; cut into 2 1/2 x 2 1/2-inch bars. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Makes about 12 bars

Enjoy!