Summer berry Crumble Bars – A Hug in Slice

Mon, 21 July 2025

Here’s a brand new recipe from my plant powered kitchen to yours – proper comfort food and a bit
of a showstopper without the faff.
These Blackberry Crumble Bars are the perfect mix of sweet, buttery crumble and tangy berry filling.
Great for a baking session with the kids or with a strong cuppa midweek when you need a pick-me-up.

Ingredients
For the Crumble:
180g vegan butter (pop it in the freezer for 10 mins)
250g plain flour (or GF flour mix if needed)
1½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp fine salt
1 tsp baking powder
90g rolled oats
150g light brown sugar (or coconut sugar)

For the Blackberry Layer:
450g ripe blackberries fresh or frozen
2 tbsp plain flour (or sub cornflour if GF)
Zest of 1 lemon + 2 tbsp juice
75g light brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
2 tsp vanilla extract

Method
1. Get the oven ready
Preheat to 180°C (or 160°C fan). Line a 20cm square tin with baking paper. Grab that vegan butter
from the freezer — we want it cold.

2. Make the crumble
Grate or finely cube the cold butter. In a big bowl, mix together the flour, oats, cinnamon, cardamom,
salt, baking powder, and sugar. Chuck in the butter and cut it in with a pastry cutter or your fingertips
until it looks like rubble and sticks together when you press it. Rustic is good!
Take just under 2/3 of the mixture and press it into the base of your lined tin. Bake for 15 mins.

3. Make the berry layer
While the base is in the oven, add your blackberries, flour, lemon zest + juice, sugar, and vanilla to a
pot over low heat. Gently stir and let it bubble for a minute or so until thickened slightly. Take it off
the heat.

4. Assemble & bake again
Spread the blackberry mix over the warm base. Crumble the rest of the topping over the berries —
uneven clumps look fab and taste better!
Bake for another 30 mins until golden and the edges are bubbling.

5. Cool, slice & enjoy
Let it cool fully in the tin — pop it in the fridge overnight for clean cuts if you like it neat. Or just dive
in with a spoon if no one's looking.

Serving tip:
I love these with a dollop of plant-based cream or yoghurt and a good coffee. Works hot or cold, and
they freeze well too (if they last that long… they won’t).
Let me know if you give them a go – or better yet, share a snap and tag me