Berry Cobbler Bars

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    Cobbler for breakfast? Heck, yes. I work tonight and have been planning to make this dessert to take, as it's the fourth of July and this is a sort of red, white, and blue treat. I had high expectations of these, first, because Joy the Baker adores them and I totally respect her taste in baked goods of all sorts, and second, because nothing can be bad that involves summer berries drenched in sugar, butter, eggs, sour cream, and lemon zest. Seriously, it just ain't possible. So, I rose this morning, stretched out of bed, and promptly made my way to the kitchen to get to bakin'. Lila, my butter-loving pup (who now weighs a lofty 55-pounds, scares big men when we pass on the street, and has an unfortunately noisy aversion to fireworks. oy.) could hardly keep from launching herself onto the counter to sink her teeth into whatever morsel lay just beyond her reach. An hour later, after mixing, crumbling, and impatiently waiting, my house was filled with the dreamiest, most intoxicating aroma, and breakfast was served. And let me just say...best breakfast ever (ok, so it's a bit of a spurge for 9am. but sometimes ya just gotta live a little.). I used raspberries and blueberries that I had on hand for this batch, but you can stick to one type of berry, or toss in some blackberries, as well (Joy noted that strawberries might be too juicy for these. I agree.). I'm pretty sure you'll love everything about them. Enjoy. And happy day of independence! 

Berry Cobbler Bars

adapted from joy the baker

yields a large baking sheet-full

ingredients:

for crust and topping: 

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, cold, cut into cubes

zest of 2 lemons

for fruit filling:

4 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup sour cream

juice of 1 large lemon

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

6 cups fresh berries (or 2 16-oz packages frozen berries, thawed and drained well)

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a large jelly roll pan/baking sheet (12x17x1"...or use a 9x13" pan if you'd rather have thicker bars). Set aside.

2. For the crust/topping, measure out 1 1/2 cups sugar on clean surface and zest lemons on top. Rub zest into sugar with back of spoon until it's pretty well mixed in.

3. Whisk lemon sugar, flour, and salt in large bowl, then add cubed butter and, using clean hands, squeeze the dry mix into the butter, pressing all the ingredients together until it is all combined and looks dry and crumbly. 

4. Reserve 2 cups of the crust mixture for the topping. Press the remaining mix into the bottom of prepared pan. Bake the crust for 12-15 minutes of until just golden brown. While it is baking, prepare filling.

5. For the filling, whisk eggs in large bowl (just rinse and use the same one as for the crust). Stir in the sugar, sour cream, flour, salt, lemon juice, and almond extract. Gently fold in berries. 

6. Spread filling atop baked crust, then sprinkle reserved crust mixture over the filling. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the top is lightly golden brown. Cool for 1 hour before slicing into bars. These are also fabulous refrigerated. 

{zested lemons waiting on the sill to be juiced}

{berries bathing in their sugary, creamy mixture waiting to be cooked}