seasonal foods

 

 

 

Blackberries are a sweet summer berry and endlessly versatile. Learning to enjoy seasonal foods, we have found freezing fresh blackberries to be a wonderful way to preserve the freshness of summer to enjoy all year long. Freezing fresh seasonal blackberries is really very simple, and I want to share five easy and delicious blackberry recipes including a gluten-free blackberry oat bar, wild berry buckle (coffe-cake like), vanilla lavender blackberry jam, blackberry mead, and blackberry cobbler.

 

 

Cicada songs greeted us as we arrived at Hill Top Berry Farm and Winery. This is our favorite spot for berry picking, just a few miles from home. They don’t spray, and they use the berries grown on the farm to flavor their wines and honey meads. I love blackberry season and have five easy blackberry recipes to share.

Freezing Blackberries

Most of the berries we pick go into the freezer, and the memory of today will warm us as we enjoy blackberry goodness during the cold of winter.

Freezing blackberries is super easy. Freezing them on cookie sheets first makes them easier to remove from the bags. Simply rinse, drain, and spread over a cookie sheet and place in the freezer. Once the berries are frozen, pop them into freezer bags.

Five Blackberry Recipes

There are so many ways to enjoy blackberries, and as we moved through the fields picking berries, my mind wandered to recipes. I couldn’t quite decide what I wanted to make first…a simple blackberry cobbler, blackberry oat bars, blackberry jam?

Although most of the berries were frozen for later, I was excited to make something yummy. I ended up making one of Carl’s favorites – Blackberry Oat Bars. This is a simple recipe and we frequently substitute whatever seasonal fruits are available. I prefer to make mine gluten-free by substituting almond flour.

Blackberry Oat Bars

 

Easy to print PDF Blackberry Oat Bars Recipe

Filling
1/2 cup Blackberry jam
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blackberries
Crust
1 tablespoon ground flax seed
4 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup flour (wheat or almond flour)
1/2 -3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cup oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup coconut oil (melted)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Oil an 8×8 glass baking dish

For the Filling:
In a small bowl, mix the jam and the berries

For the Crust:
In a small bowl, combine the ground flax seeds with water.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
Stir in the oats and the walnuts.
Add the oil, vanilla, and flax to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.

Assemble the Bars:
Press half the crust mixture into the pan.
Spoon the filling over the crust.
Cover the filling with the second half of the crust mixture, pressing down firmly.
Bake for 30 – 35 minutes.
Allow to cool completely before slicing into squares. We like to keep ours in the refrigerator. It’s great served cold or warm, and is wonderful warmed with ice-cream on the side.

I asked some of the bloggers in my network for their favorite blackberry recipes, and they all sound great! Here are more ways to enjoy blackberries:

The Free Range Life loves to use her wild blackberries in a Blackberry Buckle. What is “Buckle”, you ask? She describes it like this – “A buckle is more like a coffee cake- it has a cake batter that is mixed heavily with berries and then a bit of crumb topping on the top.” Sounds great to me!

Wild Berry Buckle Recipe

One Acre Vintage Home has a lovely Vanilla Lavender Blackberry Jam

Pixie’s Pocket Shares a great Recipe for One Gallon of Blackberry Mead

Better Hens and Gardens offers her recipe for fresh Blackberry Cobbler

Do you have a favorite blackberry recipe? Let us know!

 

~Michelle