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Crumbly, sweet, slightly tangy, and full of blackberries, these Vegan Blackberry Breakfast Bars taste just like blackberry pie with extra crumble topping and the continence to be everyday snacks/desserts!
- Story behind these Vegan Blackberry Breakfast Bars
- What’s special about these Blackberry Breakfast Bars?
- What we need for making Blackberry Breakfast Bars
- How to Make Vegan Blackberry Breakfast Bars
- How to Store Vegan Blackberry Breakfast Bars
- Extra Tips for Success
- Final words
- Vegan Blackberry Breakfast Bars (Gluten-free)
Story behind these Vegan Blackberry Breakfast Bars
The motivation of making these blackberry breakfast bars is a combination of my craving for berry pie and Jonathan’s love for blackberries. Also, I just don’t have a pie mould at this moment, so let’s make some blackberry breakfast bars instead.
These blackberry breakfast bars are like double gangers of both black berry pie and berry crumble bars, packed with the tangy black berry filling and topped with tantalizing oat crumbles that I adore sooooo much!
What’s special about these Blackberry Breakfast Bars?
- Vegan & Gluten-free, no animal products and common plain flour
- Super easy to put together, no special machine required
- Healthier & taste just like blackberry pie
- Perfect for breakfast or as snacks in a lunch boxes
What we need for making Blackberry Breakfast Bars
- Frozen Blackberries: Here I use frozen because they are more budget friendly. You can also use fresh ones if you prefer.
- Coconut Sugar: I really adore the caramel-like taste of coconut sugar. But if you don’t have it, you can also use organic Cane Sugar or soft brown sugar.
- Salt: We also need a pinch of salt in our lives, so do these black berry breakfast bars. (wink wink)
- Gluten-free Plain Flour: Here, I just use store bought gluten-free plain flour. Make sure it is “all-purpose” or “plain” flour. You can also use normal plain flour if you are not keen on making these bars gluten-free.
- Rolled Oats: Oats add a perfect texture and toasted flavour to these blackberry breakfast bars.
- Fresh Lemon: It adds more flavour and makes these bars perfect for summer.
- Extra-virgin Coconut Oil: It creates a perfect texture just like butter but without the buttery flavour.
- Optional ingredients – Vanilla Extract & Ground Cinnamon: They are optional, but will bring these bars to another level.
How to Make Vegan Blackberry Breakfast Bars
First, let’s make the Blackberry Filling
- Cook the blackberries: Add blackberries, sugar, salt, and water to a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook until the blackberries are soft and juicy, about 8–10 minutes, stir occasionally. You can use the microwave to defrost the berries first if you want to cut down the total cooking time.
- Add the thickener (flour): Mix the gluten-free flour and lemon juice in a small bowl and add it to the cooked blackberries. Stir and cook for another 2 – 4 minutes until it thickens up like compote/jam. Set it aside to cool down while we make the base.
To make the Shortbread Base
- Preparation: Preheat the oven to 177°C (350°F). Line a 26 cm x 11 cm (10-inch) loaf tin with baking paper (parchment paper).
- Mix dry ingredients: In a big mixing bowl, use a spoon or fork to mix the gluten-free flour, oats, sugar, salt, and lemon zest together.
- Add the wet ingredient(s): Add the melted coconut oil and vanilla extract (if using) and mix to incorporate everything. It should be like a loose shortbread dough.
- Shape: Transfer the shortbread dough mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Use a spatula or spoon to press the mixture against the bottom of the tin to form an even base.
- Blind Bake: Place the loaf tin in the oven on a lower 1/3 rack to bake for 12 – 15 minutes until it’s like half-cooked. Then carefully transfer the tin onto a wire rack to cool down while we make the topping. Keep the oven on.
To make the Crumble Topping
- Mix the dry ingredients: Use a fork to mix everything except for the coconut oil in a medium mixing bowl.
- Add the oil: Add the coconut oil to the dry mixture. Mix to combine them. The final texture should look slightly crumbly, but can still stick together when pressed between fingers.
To assemble & bake:
- Add the blackberry filling: Pour the blackberry filling on to the base and use a small spatula to spread it out evenly.
- Add the crumble topping: Crumble the mixture with your fingers on top of the blackberry filling, ideally evenly distributed.
- Bake: Place it into the oven to bake for 25 – 28 minutes until it’s golden brown, and you should be able to see the blackberry filling has bubbled.
- Sit & serve: Transfer the tin onto a wire rack to cool down for at least 30 minutes before removing the brick from the tin by grabbing the sides of baking paper. Use a sharp knife to cut it into 8 – 10 squares. Then enjoy on its own or serve with vegan vanilla ice cream (my favourite way to enjoy!) or vegan cream.
How to Store Vegan Blackberry Breakfast Bars
Store these bourbon biscuits in an airtight container or jar in the fridge. They should last for 10–14 days.
Extra Tips for Success
- Cook the blackberries until they are thick. It’s important to reduce the juice from the frozen blackberries, so the base won’t get soaked in liquid.
- Weight your ingredients. I wrote down the cups’ measurement for people who don’t have a kitchen scale. But I always recommend using a kitchen scale instead of measuring cups for the best accuracy.
- Adjust your oven as needed. Like people on this planet, no ovens are the same (maybe this is a bad simile, but it works, I think). So adjust the baking temperature and baking time if you know your oven is on the higher/lower graph of temperature.
Final words
These blackberry breakfast bars are perfect for breakfast, snacks, or as desserts. I actually had difficulty naming this recipe because it could fit into so many categories. I settled with “Breakfast Bars” in the end after I asked Jonathan what I should call them. (I was going to call them blackberry pie crumble bars, but it’s a bit too long.)
I hope you will love these not-too-sweet yet still satisfying blackberry breakfast bars. Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts!
Love — Nora
You might be interested in these recipes as well:
Vegan Blackberry Breakfast Bars (Gluten-free)
Ingredients
For the Blackberry Filling
- 250 g frozen blackberries, (1.5 cups) or fresh
- 2 Tbsp coconut sugar, or organic cane sugar
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 4 Tbsp water
- 1 Tsp gluten-free plain flour, or cornflour (corn starch)
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
For the Shortbread Base
- 150 g gluten-free plain flour, (1 cup)
- 90 g rolled oats, (1 cup)
- 2 Tbsp coconut sugar, or organic cane sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 lemon, zest part
- 48 g extra-virgin coconut oil, melted & cooled (1/4 cup)
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract, optional
For the Crumble Topping
- 45 g rolled oats, (1/2 cup)
- 40 g gluten-free plain flour, (1/4 cup + 1 tsp)
- 2 Tbsp coconut sugar, or organic cane sugar
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp ground cinnamon, optional
- 1 Tbsp extra-virgin coconut oil, melted
Instructions
To make the Blackberry Filling
- Cook the blackberries: Add blackberries, sugar, salt, and water to a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook until the blackberries are soft and juicy, about 8–10 minutes.
- Add the thickener: Mix the gluten-free flour and lemon juice in a small bowl. Then add the mixture to the blackberries in the saucepan. Stir to combine. Cook for another 2-4 minutes until it thickens up like compote. Set it aside to cool down while we make the base.
To make the Shortbread Base
- Prepare for the baking: Preheat the oven to 177°C (350°F). Line a 26 cm x 11 cm (10-inch) loaf tin with baking paper.
- Mix dry ingredients: Add gluten-free, oats, sugar, salt, and lemon zest to a big mixing bowl. Use a spoon or fork to mix them evenly.
- Add the wet ingredient(s): Add the melted coconut oil and vanilla extract (if using). Mix to incorporate all ingredients to form into a loose shortbread dough.
- Shape: Transfer the dough into the prepared tin. Use a spatula or spoon to press the mixture down against the bottom of the tin evenly.
- Blind Bake: Place the loaf tin in the oven on a lower 1/3 rack to bake for 15 minutes. Then carefully transfer the loaf tin onto a wire rack to cool down a bit while we make the crumble topping. Keep the oven on.
To make the Crumble Topping
- Mix the dry ingredients: Add everything except for the coconut oil to a medium mixing bowl. Use a fork to mix them evenly.
- Add the oil: Add the coconut oil to the dry mix. Use a fork to combine them. The final texture should look slightly crumbly, but can still hold together when pressed between your fingers.
To assemble & bake:
- Add the blackberry filling: Pour the blackberry filling on to the base and use a small spatula to spread it out evenly.
- Add the crumble topping: Use your finger to crumble the mixture on top of the blackberry filling, ideally evenly distributed.
- Bake: Place the tin into the oven to bake for 25 – 28 minutes until it’s golden brown.
- Cool & serve: Once finish baking, transfer the tin onto a wire rack to cool down for at least 30 minutes. Then remove the brick from the tin. Use a sharp knife to cut it into 8–10 squares. Then enjoy on its own or serve with vegan vanilla ice cream or vegan cream.
Notes
- Adapted from The Roasted Root
- Storage: Once they are completely cooled, store them in airtight containers in the fridge for 3–5 days or 2 weeks in the freezer.