Last month, Ruth Reichl, food writer extraordinaire and the last editor-in-chief of the now shuttered Gourmet magazine, rounded up her 10 favorite recipes from her magazine years for Epicurious. It’s possible I’ve never clicked on a link faster. I adored the magazine; in my early years here, it really helped me crystalize a vision of what I love in cooking and do not. I cooked so many of the recipes — and yet, almost none of these. A raspberry crumble tart by Ruth Cousineau in August 2006 (just weeks before I launched SK) in particular jumped off the page. Reichl writes:
From the first moment I tasted this tart, I knew I’d be serving it again and again. I love the simplicity of the recipe, which allows the fruit to shine. I love the way it looks—a gorgeous burst of vibrant color peeking out of a shaggy top. And I really appreciate that you can use the most insipid supermarket raspberries (they emerge from the heat of the oven with a surprising intensity of flavor).
People, I ended up making it three times this week. (It helped that my store’s insipid berries have been on sale.) Here is what’s cool about this recipe: there are only seven ingredients and two are salt and water, which don’t even count. The remaining ingredients — flour, butter, sugar, almonds, and fresh raspberries — are as basic as can be. There’s no sugar in the berries and no thickener, you don’t macerate them, and the end result is that they’re not runny so there’s no liquid to contain or to fret about sogging the bottom crust. You make a simple butter-flour mixture, divide it in half, and form half into a pie crust base. You don’t don’t even need to parbake it (birds are singing!), you simply fill it with a heap of fresh raspberries and cover them with an avalanche of a loose, sugary crumble (that you’ve made from the second half of the butter-flour mixture) and this bakes onto and into the berries, mingling with any juices that release, and crisping shaggily all over.
It’s not hard see why Ruth Reichl likes it so much. It tastes grown-up. Not goopy, not heavy, not too sweet or excessively tart (using very ripe berries helps; they’re sweeter). It celebrates raspberries in such an uncluttered way, I immediately made them two more times, including one that’s slab pie-sized. I have no idea what we’re doing this weekend yet, but I know they’re coming along.
Previously
One year ago: Ice Cream Cake Roll
Two years ago: Strawberry Graham Icebox Cake and Broccoli Rubble Farro Salad
Three years ago: Almond-Rhubarb Picnic Bars
Four years ago: Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake, Fake Shack Burger, and Swirled Berry Yogurt Popsicles
Five years ago: Carrot Salad with Tahini and Crispy Chickpeas
Six years ago: Greek Salad with Lemon and Oregano and Two Classic Sangrias
Seven years ago: Vidalia Onion Soup with Wild Rice and Tzatziki Potato Salad
Eight years ago: Classic Cobb Salad, Lime Yogurt Cake with Blackberry Sauce and Blue Cheese Scallion Drop Biscuits
Nine years ago: Asparagus, Lemon and Goat Cheese Pasta and Raspberry Buttermilk Cake
Ten years ago: Martha’s Mac-and-Cheese, Crisp Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies
Eleven years ago: Cherry Cornmeal Upside-Down Cake
Twelve years ago: Homemade Oreos and Cellophane Noodle and Roast Pork Salad
And for the other side of the world:
Six Months Ago: Cabbage and Mushroom “Lasagna”
1.5 Years Ago: Salted Butter Chocolate Chunk Shortbread
2.5 Years Ago: Cheesecake Marbled Pumpkin Slab Pie and Brussels Sprouts, Apple, and Pomegranate Salad
3.5 Years Ago: Date, Feta, and Red Cabbage Salad and Pecan Pie
4.5 Years Ago: Classic Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Praline Sauce and Crispy Sweet Potato Roast
Raspberry Crumble Tart Bars
If nuts are an issue, you can skip them, or I’d recommend replacing them with an equal weight of toasted coconut flakes, roughly chopped.
- 1/2 cup (2 1/4 ounces or 65 grams) whole toasted almonds
- 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons (245 grams) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup (6 ounces, 12 tablespoons, or 170 grams) cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) cold water, plus an additional tablespoon, if needed
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon (115 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 6-ounce containers fresh raspberries (510 grams, 18 ounces, or about 4.5 cups)
Make the bars in a food processor: Pulse almonds in your food processor until coarsely chopped. Set them aside and lightly wipe crumbs from workbowl. Add flour and salt and pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse the machine in short bursts until the the largest butter bits are the size of small peas.
Both methods: Divide butter-flour mixture into two bowls (each will have 1 1/2 cups of crumbs). Drizzle cold water over first bowl, use a spoon or spatula to mix it into shaggy clumps, then use your hands to quickly, gently knead it together into one ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, flattening it a packet shape. Chill for 1 hour, or until firm.
Add sugar and chopped almonds to second bowl of butter-flour mixture and use your fingertips to pinch them together, mashing up the buttery bits, until a loosely clumped streusel is formed. Set this aside. At this point, you can refrigerate both the crumbs and the dough overnight (and up to 3 days) and bake it when needed.
Assemble your bars: Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat an 8×8-inch cake pan with nonstick spray. Line the bottom and two sides with a fitted piece of parchment paper. You can also make this in a 9- to 9.5-inch round tart pan. No need to line the bottom with parchment paper if there’s a removable base.
On a well-floured counter, unwrap your packet of dough, sprinkle the top generously with flour, and roll you dough to a 10×10-inch square (or a 13-inch round for a round pan). Gently fold it into quarters and unfold it into your prepared pan, centering the dough as best as you can. Press into the bottom of the pan and 1-inch up the sides, folding the extra dough over the walls and pressing it against the sides to reinforce the edges. Don’t worry if it’s messy — mine totally was. The only thin you want to avoid is holes or tears; patch any that you see.
Fill base with berries and sprinkle evenly with crumble topping. It will seem like too much but it’s going to be perfect once it bakes.
Bake bars: For 40 to 50 minutes, covering with foil if it browns before it’s done. Bars are done when they’re an even golden brown and (this is the most important part) you can see the berry juices bubbling through the crumbs. Let cool for 20 minutes on a cooling rack, then use the parchment sling to lift bars out of pan and cool the rest of the way on the rack. (Or, if using a tart pan with removable sides, remove them now.)
To serve: Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if you wish, and use a serrated knife to cut into squares (or if a round pan, wedges). Bars keep at room temperature or the fridge, lightly wrapped, for 5 days.
To scale this up to a 9×13 quarter-sheet pan, use:
- 1 cup (4 1/2 ounces or 130 grams) whole almonds
- 3 cups plus 3 tablespoons (415 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 1/3 cups (21 tablespoons, 10.5 ounces, or 300 grams) cold, unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) cold water
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 5 1/2 6-ounce containers fresh raspberries (905 grams, 32 ounces, or 8 cups)
FIRST!!!!
Will be making soon. <3
Oh gosh. I just made Stella Parks’s fruit jam bars last night for my co-workers. I’ll have to try these next!!
I had a lemon raspberry scone (okay, I had 2) in a small coffee shop while traveling last weekend and the best part was that the berries were practically whole in the batter and so good. This sounds very much alike and I’ll be making it this weekend!
I know I’m weird but I detest raspberries. Do you think it would work with strawberries or blueberries?
Probably, but I’m not positive, about blueberries. I do think strawberries could be too runny. Also, just to note, I have a really easy cookie-style blueberry crumb bar in the archives that we adore. This is more… grown-up.
Deb–I’m glad you mentioned those bc this recipe made me think of them. I like the ease of the dough from the blueberry bars–I’m thinking about combing that recipe and this one–what do you think? Maybe just add the almonds to the blueberry dough recipe and make with raspberries instead of blueberries? Do you think I could leave out the cornstarch?
I thought about going this way too — it was my plan! — but I liked the crispy pie shell base here too much to do it in the end. And yes, you can definitely add almonds to the crumb topping there for crunch. I would leave the cornstarch in. It’s a cookie base, it’s going to absorb more.
Any tips on making this gluten free for my mother in law?
I haven’t made this gluten-free, but here are comments from people who have:
https://smittenkitchen.com/2019/05/raspberry-crumble-tart-bars/#comment-1414810
https://smittenkitchen.com/2019/05/raspberry-crumble-tart-bars/#comment-1407023
I made the recipe this weekend using blueberries instead of raspberries. It was too juicy and I thought I’d have to serve it as a cobbler, but after draining some juice off and letting them sit for 24 hours, I could cut them into bars. Not the most impressive looking bars, though. Not like the pictures above.
Also, I scaled the recipe up to 9×13 pan with the suggested measurements, but my bars seemed to have an excessive amount of crumb filling–they are very tall. Maybe cut back on the dough a little?
Blackberries would work.
I was thinking blackberry as alternativ as well
This reminds me of Stella Parks’ recipe for Icelandic “happy marriage” cake (which she translates as Jammy Fruit Bars) on Serious Eats, which I made recently: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2019/05/jammy-fruit-bars.html
It’s not the same recipe — hers uses 1/2 and 1/2 oats and flour, and doesn’t add sugar or almonds to the streusel — but very similar in concept. Make a quick dough, press half into the pan, top with fresh fruit, top with reminder of dough in crumbles. She suggests squeezing lemon juice over the fresh fruit and sprinkling it with salt, which I would recommend.
Van i use almond flour instead?
Yes! I need to know too! I made the recipe using almond flour and it ended up a big gummy mess. I omitted the water in my base portion of the dough. Its currently chilling, but I’m anxious to see if this will turn out. My “crumble” portion is also a bit wet too, and far from a crumble. Is the trick more almond flour? I may add it just to achieve the crumbly texture.
I successfully made this gluten free with Mama’s brand Coconut Blend flour, just subbed the same amount. We are not a gluten free house, but I’ve been trying recipes for an event coming up. No one was the wiser. I also used frozen raspberries, just completely thawed and drained off most of the liquid.
Would love the scaled up version please!
The scaled up version is included above, just below the 8 X 8 recipe.
Gorgeous! I don’t have fresh, but I do have frozen raspberries. Do you think I can use frozen raspberries?
Wondering the same thing. I have two bags to use up!
Could I please get the scaled up recipe?
Yes, please on the scaled up 9×13 slab tart! 8×8 is one serving for my family and I’m guessing we’ll want leftovers of this.
If you double this recipe, it will be a very slightly skimpy 9×13. The volume of a doubled 8×8 is just slightly less than 1 4/5ths the volume of a 9×13. I never scale up for that small a volume. I always make doubled 8x8s in a 9×13 and never have a problem.
Ugh. I meant slightly more than 1 4/5ths. Sheesh.
Oh, also, do watch your cooking time since it will almost certainly need slightly more time because of the additional volume.
Yes, please, on the slab tart size instructions! I desperately need something for a Memorial Day potluck.
Would this work with blueberries or a berry mixture? Raspberries are never on sale here!
i need to try these!! look like the perfect snack plus little ingredients (which i love hahaha) thanks for sharingg
What about frozen raspberries? Do you think thawing first or baking frozen?
I had the same question (so many of last summer’s raspberries in our freezer!) and it gets answered down below (in respond to Lauren on 5/28-29). :)
Just found two people in the “I made this” section that used frozen and both said it worked!
Yes, please. 9×13 amounts. I can alternate this with the rhubarb breakfast bar thingies.
Another voice requesting thoughts about using frozen berries. This looks amazing!
I had the same question (so many of last summer’s raspberries in our freezer!) and it gets answered down below (in respond to Lauren on 5/28-29). :)
Just found two people in the “I made this” section that used frozen and both said it worked!
Is this the sort of tart crust that could be patted into place from loose crumbs, rather than rolled? I am horrible at rolling dough.
No, but if you’d like one like that, make these blueberry crumb bars.
Please do give measurements for 9 x 13!
I love raspberry desserts! These crumble bars look so delicious!
I would also love to have the scaled up 9×13 recipe. Please and Thankyou!
Nooooo, it’s in cups! Any chance of having this in weight measurements? Preferably grams?
I second the request for weights. Also, if you’ve got the weight of half of what you take out of the food processor, that would be helpful too. Can’t wait to make these one raspberry season hits the cold, wet midwest!
Yes, will fix shortly.
Will definitely make this when my raspberries are ripe as at the moment I only have frozen which I suspect will be too wet when cooking. Another request for scaled up recipe please
Absolutely please give the 9″ x 13″ amounts asap? Am making this our Memorial Day BBQ.
Worst case scenario if you don’t have time to post them (which I expect and so totally understand), I’ll make 1 1/4 times the amount and hope for the best.
A 9×13 pan is almost double the size of an 8×8 pan. (Base of a 9×13 pan = 117 sq inches. Base of an 8×8 pan = 64 sq inches. Base of two 8×8 pans = 128 sq inches.) If you try to use just 1 1/4 times the original recipe, you will be far short of what you need to fill a 9×13 pan.
Oh my! I’m so on this! Thanks for the no machine directions! And raspberries, yes!! Thanks for sharing this, I cannot wait to make it !
Just wondered if these would work with frozen raspberries, measured while frozen but then thaw before using? I have quite a few in my freezer from my bushes from last summer! Thanks!
I knew this would come up and while I’m sure it would work, I am a little more concerned about sogginess. Taste should be similar though.
Please please share the 9×13 size!!
I would love the scaled up version also!
9X13 measurements please. These look yummy. I’m not a particularly skilled cook but every one of your recipes that I’ve tried has been a success with my family. Can’t wait to try these!
Sorry for the delay — I’ve now added the 9×13-inch instructions (at the end) and weights (in both places). I love this as a 9×13-inch most of all, but it’s rather rich on ingredients and I didn’t want anyone to balk at my suggestion we should buy 8 cups of fresh raspberries. (But you should, especially when they’re on sale or looking a little soft — they’re perfect here.)
Please create a recipe for 13×9 or even slab size! I have a large family! Love what you do!
In the 9×13 version, might you have meant: “each half will have 2 + 1/3 cups of butter-flour mixture” (rather than 5 + 1/3 cups…?)
(Plus signs added for clarity.)
What a coincidence – I just returned Ruth R’s book My Kitchen Year to the library. I’ll definitely make these when raspberries come in!
My Ruth R recipe that I make again & again is the sweet potato pie in her book Comfort Me With Apples. I think it’s the dark rum that makes it so irresistable…
I saw this article by Ruth earlier too, and I agree that the raspberry bars looked like the winner of the 10 (because who has ramps hanging around their crisper? prunes in meatloaf…really?, etc.) recipes. Thank you for trying it out and tweaking it to fit the pans I have in the kitchen! I do wonder if 1/2 cup sugar is really enough…that is not much for 4.5 cups of raspberries. If, by chance, the raspberries I can get are not particularly sweet, should I add 1/4 cup more sugar to the streusel? Again, many thanks for this new look at an old recipe.
The “prune meatloaf” is exceedingly delicious and justly famous. Worth it.
Prunes are a terrific accompaniment to beef! Beef stew with prunes is a revelation (Mark Bittman has a classic version; I make one with prunes and beer, usually Guinness for St. Patty’s day). Thanks Deb for sharing the link, I’ve bookmarked several of Reichl’s favorites! Can’t wait to make these bars, and the meatloaf; I also saved the manicotti, spaghetti and meatballs (with lemon zest? intriguing…) and the bacon cheddar toasts.
Is it possible to make these using oil instead of butter- though not coconut oil?
And to make with fruit preserves/ jam rather than fresh fruit?
Where can I find the prune meatloaf recipe, please?
Penny – At the top of the post, Deb linked to Ruth Reichl’s list of her 10 favorite recipes from her years at Epicurious. The meatloaf is one of the recipes in that list.
Emily-Thank you for your help.
Thank you for answering my question about nuts before I even asked.
This was the easiest recipe to make and is great if you are short on time. I haven’t cut into it yet, but smells amazing!! The crumble is delicious and crunchy. It may seem like a lot in the bowl, but trust the recipe, it’s the perfect amount.
Could you also list butter in tablespoons so others don’t make the mistake I made? 12 T = 6 oz…
Thank you! I was just about to pull mine out of the fridge to start rolling it out. I just added the rest of the butter in and am letting it chill a bit longer.
How much salt in 9×13 version?
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt — will add.
Hi.. can they be frozen?
thanks
Phyllis
I haven’t but I think they’d freeze okay.
I’ve been digging through the comments hoping someone tried it and two people did and both said it worked. YAYYYYYYYY
Hi, I hope you might still see and respond to my question here: I really want to make something like these but with rhubarb. Can I sub it in here or in the blueberry crumb bar recipe? Or is rhubarb too wet? This is a need to know situation :)
It looks like other people have been making swaps with success, so I’d say go for it, although my initial hunch is that it could be more, but not a lot more, wet.
Fruit crumbles are my year-round trademark dish, and this is a fun one to add to my list. Thank you!
I took 2 shortcuts because I’m not in my home kitchen. (1) I toasted and crushed sliced almonds rather than attempting the rough chop of whole almonds. (2) I fork spread the crust in the pan before chilling the dough so I wouldn’t have to roll it out. I don’t usually do this, but unless you’re looking for a ribbon it still produces a tasty, crispy bottom.
could oats be subsituted for almonds/coconut and if so in same quantities?
I’d think so! I’d swap by weight if you can.
Made this today, easy peasy to make and with great result! If I could upload a photo it would be of the empty platter with some left crumbs… big success!!
Absolutely perfect! I’ll be making these again and again. I was so tempted to add vanilla or a little almond extract to the topping, but I’m glad I didn’t. These bars have a bright, uncluttered flavor. The crust was flakey and the topping just right. I only had two containers of strawberries, which was just enough to form a single layer in the pan, and it was still totally fine. Loved it.
I used rhubarb from my garden and local strawberries. Delicious.
I believe there is an error in your 9*13 recipe: there should be about 3 cups in each portion of the flour/butter mixture, not 5 1/3. This makes sense because it’s roughly a doubled batch of the original, so it’s twice the 1.5 cup yields in that recipe.
Hi Deb – think that there is a typo in the scaled up version with 5 1/3 cups of crumbs being impossible based on the amount of ingredients – Kath
Whoops — now fixed. I didn’t halve it. It should be 2 2/3 cups each.
Made these this weekend following the recipe exactly and they turned out great! I did need the full 4 tbsp amount of water for the dough, but ultimately the dough was easy to make and easy to work with. Even though the sides looked messy in the pan, all the mess was fixed through the baking. You can’t even tell that some of the sides of my tart were thicker than others since I didn’t roll it out perfectly. Crust is flaky and delicious and bars are just barely sweet. As you noted in the recipe, it did seem like too much in the pan, but it was the perfect amount once it was cooked. The raspberries here are really the star. Thank you for the recipe!
Love love love Ruth Reichl. I think I have read all of her books now, including her fiction and biographical works. The latest is well worth reading.
One question- in the top right photograph, it looks as though you have some brown ingredient in the bowl…but I can’t for the life of me figure out where it is in the recipe? Am I missing something? Also, I only used 2 packages of raspberries, so I wonder if that’s why mine didn’t hold together when I cut them. Maybe should have cooled longer or used more berries (or both)? In any event, still very yummy.
Isn’t that the toasted and chopped almonds? Looks like it to me.
Yes, it’s almonds. Mine were toasted, skin on.
I subbed equal parts tjs gluten free flour and almond meal for the flour (by weight) and then instead of rolling (it was crumbly) it I patted it into a 10.5 inch tart pan. It baaarely covered it but it worked! And was delicious. Served with vanilla ice cream and kids and grownups all loved it!
I made this tonight with one major (but delicious) change – I used blueberries in place of raspberries. Totally great, but the blueberries let off a lot of liquid. I would make again, tossing the blueberries in some flour or cornstarch to thicken.
Crust was easy, topping was spectacular. Highly recommend!
Could frozen raspberries work in this recipe, or would they be too wet? Thanks!
My hunch is that they’ll be too wet, but it’s not like it won’t work, it just might be a little softer at the base.
Tasty and pretty but I didn’t find the topping very streusel-y (particularly compared to the blueberry crumb cake here which I make often). In the bowl the streusel mix looked kind of dusty rather than crumb-y. I started with slivered almonds, might have been better to leave them alone instead of chopping them smaller than they already were. Will try this again since I love raspberries.
Ruth Reichl made me fall in love with cooking. I make her carbonara on a very regular basis. This looks incredible…. can’t wait to try it.
Do you think this recipe would work with coconut oil instead of butter?
I think the topping would but the pie crust part would be tricky. Coconut oil won’t get as firm as butter, not sure it would roll out properly, the dough might just seem soft and greasy.
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Hi there! Me, again, Nancy on Maui ~~~ I love anything with raspberries in it. We’re blessed to have fresh fruit year around, so no problem finding the fruit. The recipe was so easy … and so yummy! Thanks for sharing.
This might be unnecessarily fussy, but I’m wondering about making individual versions of these in a muffin tin. My guess would be that one might need proportionally more pastry to use up all the filling, wondering if you have any thoughts on how to approach this, or whether I should just give it a whirl and use the excess filling in other delicious ways?
Actually, I thought these would be wonderful in muffin cups and considered it. Definitely double the bottom dough to be safe.
Do you think this would work in a glass pyrex pan? I know swapping glass for metal is a no-no with many types of baked goods.
I think it will be fine. It can sometimes help to bake at 25 degrees cooler if in glass.
For the raspberries, I substituted a jar of Trader Joes morello cherries. I added about 1/4 cup of the juice, panicked, added two tablespoons of cornstarch, added the crumb topping (yeah, wow that’s a lot of crumb topping), and dared to add another 1/2 cup of the juice (though a break in the crumb topping). I like the results—full of cherry flavor and not at all wet.
OK, what do you use to roughly chop whole almonds? (Or to get a rough chop on any kind of whole nut for that matter … hazelnuts, peanuts, etc.) Is there some kind of hand-cranked chopped that doesn’t make the results too small?
I used the food processor and, no, it doesn’t control the size of the chop well but it is easy. Or you can hand chop it.
Can these be made with frozen berries? If so, can they be used frozen, or do they need to be defrosted & drained first?
So I made these today, just pulled them out of the oven, and if they taste as good as they smell, this recipe will be a keeper!
I have that 8×11 pan and its my favorite bar pan so I went with the originals’ ingredient amounts but your recipe.
Shortening instead of butter? Heck no!
Now I’m going outside and garden while they cool, otherwise I may be tempted to cut them before I should.
Thank you Deb. You make some awesome food.
Perhaps this is controversial, but I did not have the right size pan or feel like going out to buy one, so I made this in a buttered and parchment paper lined cast iron skillet — it turned out great!
Love this idea!
This was a flop for me- sure its user error but I don’t know what. The base was underbaked at the end of 50 mins and chewy. I loved the peach bars(get asked to make that a lot) so am tempted to try that base and pan size next time.
Frozen raspberries worked great. Just put them in frozen. I think I would use a little less next time. The middle was a little too much fruit but the crusty edges were perfect.
This is so useful, thanks!
I made these with a 12 oz bag of frozen raspberries that I’d defrosted over night and one 6 oz carton of fresh raspberries. I drained out excess liquid from the frozen raspberries, and it worked great! Nice hack if you’re feeling a little thrifty or if you happen to have some frozen berries in the house.
Love the taste – would like to try it with a light cream sauce as it’s a bit tart.
So helpful to someone with a freezer full of last year’s raspberries. Ha. Thank you!
Had this for breakfast with plain yogurt mmm
This was very tasty! I did make the crust and topping components 3 days ahead (with the exception of the almonds – I toasted them ahead of time and kept them stored separately until assembly). The topping was more like dry sand for me as written, so I added about 1/3 cup of milk to the topping mixture to get the crumbs to stick together. A pint of blueberries and about a cup of frozen raspberries as the filling. The crust was very good and easy to roll, and didn’t tear for me at all. I will probably make this again!
Oh! Also added 1-2 Tbsp of flour to the blueberries + raspberries since that’s worked well for me in the past, and the frozen raspberries had water crystals in them.
These look amazing! Could I use margarine or oil instead of butter to make it dairy free – has anyone done so? Thanks so much
These bars turned out so beautifully!! Got ravished with compliments by my coworkers over these. Can’t wait to make them with fresh farmers market berries!
Also – thank you for including measurements in multiple units. That was very helpful.
Everyone loved it. Very good in every respect, great contrasts in flavors and textures, not too sweet. Made in a 9” tart pan. Looked good for an indoor dinner dessert but next time I’ll make it in an 8×8 to increase the thickness of the layers a bit.
I do not think this would be as good with blueberries unless they are really tart. You also have to contend with all the wetness they create when cooked.
Yum!
I made this today with fresh raspberries from my garden and I thought it was just ok. It was actually too tart for me which is really strange because I’m usually one to cut the sugar in a recipe by a third or even a half. I’m thinking it’s because my early raspberry variety is quite tart to begin with….. If I made this with fall raspberries I think it would be much better. As such, I think next time I would add a little sugar to the berries, maybe 2 tablespoons, to round out the flavor and also to make it a little juicier (it didn’t get quite as bubbly as I like).
Agree with this. The tartness of the raspberries was a bit too disjointed from the sweet streusel on top, and I think a tablespoon or two tossed in would really help it taste more cohesive. The raspberries I used were actually pretty sweet and tasted delicious raw, but it came out too tart when baked. I also prefer lower sugar desserts. I really think the issue is that there’s sweetness added to the streusel with no sugar elsewhere (in the crust or in the raspberries).
This was fabulous! I made it in a 9’9 casserole dish and didn’t use the parchment… that might have been for the best as they ended up quite liquidy. Fabulous nonetheless! It is the first time I’ve made a frost that required rolling out and I feel quite smug about it 😉 thank you for a wonderful recipe with such clear directions.
Knew I had to try this. Made 2 substitutions that worked great:
1) Ended up one cup short on the raspberries, so I soaked dried cherries in maraschino liquer and hot water for 45 minutes or so, drained and dried. Added raspberries to crust first, then dried cherries on top (so that it would be easier to cut through bottom). Delicious!
2) Have a surplus of walnuts so used those, chopped, instead of almonds. Didn’t toast first and they were still crunchy and yummy.
One of the best and simplest desserts I’ve made in a long time!
I went for the 9×13 option using a full 2 pounds of raspberries. Fantastic flavor but the crumb topping kind of falls off. Not sure how to make it adhere more to the berries below? Maybe it doesn’t matter as the flavor is A+! But if you want a bar that somebody can pick up in their hand without the crumbs going all over the place, this is a tricky one.
I divided the 9×13 proportion crust/topping and 4 pints of raspberries between three 8×8 pans. Then I saw the chocolate chips I keep on hand to make fudge popsicles… ~ 2/3 cup scattered on each of two pans. Will make again!
Probably too late to be commenting on this, but I wanted to make the tart because I love that presentation. However, I did not want to roll out tart dough to fit my pan, so instead, I used Cook’s Illustrated olive oil tart crust that you just stir up and press into the pan, so quick and easy. Then I put in all the fresh raspberries (thank goodness for Berkeley Bowl bargain room) and topped with the streusel (I did add a bit of extra sugar to the streusel because I like my desserts to be sweet, so I should probably have added more butter too). I baked it just like you suggested. It is just delicious! The streusel was a bit sandy instead of clumpy, so if I do it again, I will add a bit more butter. Other than that, perfect. My raspberries, although really ripe, were tart (as raspberries should be, in my opinion) and the extra sugar was warranted. Thank you for a great way to use those berries. Can’t wait for a second slice tonight!
Really great and forgiving recipe! Just LET IT COOL (i.e. don’t do what I did). I made this twice, the first time in a 9×13 quarter sheet pan, the next in a 9×9 tart pan (removable bottom w/ high sides really helps hold everything together). The first time I didn’t have a rolling pin, and had to eyeball the measures with a large liquid measuring cup. It still turned out great! I just stretched out the dough by hand both times (honestly I was too lazy to clean my counters to roll out dough even when I had the equipment). Used slivered almonds that I toasted and blitzed in the food processor. I upped the ingredients by about 10-15% for the 9×9 pan (needed about 10 extra mins to bake as the crust wasn’t firm enough), and added 6 oz blueberries to the fruit which was a perfect addition. They add a little bit of sweetness, with not enough moisture at that amount to make a mess. I found out the hard way that if they don’t cool enough, the fruit isn’t set and topping is too delicate, and then it WILL become soggy (still a delicious mess though). When it’s cool it slices up beautifully, and everyone loved that it wasn’t too sweet. “Uncluttered” is really the perfect word for that fruit flavor that shines through.
I made this recipe exactly as is, in a springform pan, and it needed an hour to bake. However, the bottom crust was unbaked. It’s not my oven, as I know it is well calibrated. Maybe it was the pan? In any case, it was delicious, but next time I will parbake the crust.
Hi All,
Does anyone know what toasted almonds means? I understand roasted that are either salted or not, but I don’t understand what it means to add toasted whole almonds unless it’s just another word for unsalted roasted almonds with the skin on??
Roasted are fine too. If yours didn’t come roasted, or they don’t have a lot of flavor, you can toast them on a tray in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes (if already roasted) or 10 to 12 minutes (if they’re raw).
Hey Deb — it looks like you scaled down the original recipe by 3/4 for the 8×8 pan, but the butter quantity has stayed the same. Is this intentional? Thanks!
I take it back. The original has 3/4c butter and 1/4c shortening. You changed that to 1c butter and then scaled down to 3/4c. Thanks Deb!
I have basically only cooked or baked things from this website for the past five years or so, but I always seem to forget to account for up to a half hour more oven time than prescribed. Doesn’t matter what oven I use. Anyone else have this experience? Is your (Deb’s) oven super powered or have my ovens all been cursed?
By the way, this smells really good!
This is perfect! I made the 9×13 tart – easy to make, not too sweet, not starchy, not soggy at all and with a real berry flavour!
I got stuck with a huge amount of raspberries after a family u-pick. When everyone had enough of fresh berries, there was still more then a kilogram raspberries left. I wasn’t going to make a jam with 2 days old berries, but I didn’t want to let them spoil and go to waste either. Was I happy to have found this recipe – it saved both my berries and my conscience!
This is going on my “favourites” list, and I’ll make savoury pies with the pastry as well.
The first time I made these, they tasted great but had a floppy crust on the bottom. The next time I made them, I baked the shell with pie weights for 15 minutes at 350 degrees and it came out perfect. They tasted amazing again and help together when picked up.
I made these yesterday with an equal amount of fresh blueberries. They turned out perfectly. No changes other than toasting the almonds after they were already chopped and adding a tiny bit of vanilla powder to the streußel. Delicious!
Wonderful recipe, the streusel especially is super yummy! I delayed making it so it was no longer raspberry season, instead it was blueberries I had a huge surplus of so I made it with that and it worked out very well. Made it in a round springform pan and that also worked well. Only other comment is that when I look at the half of the dough that goes on the bottom layer it is just a pie crust recipe and so I might try and save time by just using a store bought pie crust for that half of the dough which would make the recipe really simple. Not sure if anyone else tried this?
Hi! Can I make this recipe with Apples vs. Raspberries? If so, any tips?
I haven’t tried it but it might work. I’d dice them small so the baking time has a better chance of matching.
Wow. These are incredible! I didn’t have quite enough raspberries so I added in a few blackberries and blueberries that I had in the fridge.
What amount of chopped almonds do I add to the topping?
You can swap it by weight. Or I am sure just a half-cup would be fine.
Deb, have you read her books? Save Me the Plums and Tender at the Bone are my faves!!
Love your recipes. Is there a way to just print the recipe. I click on the printer icon but it comes up with the recipe interspersed with ads. Thanks so much
I’m sorry — there’s an error in the print template we are hoping to have fixed today.
How do these compare to your raspberry breakfast bars? And do you think I would need to make any modifications if I subbed blackberries for raspberries? Thanks!
For anyone wondering about dairy-free substitutions, I just made this with Becel plant-based bricks (similar to Earth Balance buttery sticks) instead of the butter and it came out perfectly!
Other than that I made the recipe as written, and the tart raspberry filling was perfect! My only suggestion would be to chill the bars in the fridge before cutting so they can fully set. Mine were a bit of mess to cut up, even though they’d cooled completely on the counter.
More COVID baking. This is really nice, a little fancy with the crust, not too sweet. The lack of added spices really lets the toasted nuts and butter stand out. Serve with creme fraiche!
I just made this with nectarines and pecans instead of raspberries and almonds, and it is delicious. I baked in a 9 inch metal pie pan and I had to add 25 minutes to the time to get to bubbly juices stage. Also next time I would add a tbsp of tapioca starch for nectarines.
Am on the fence with this one. Used ripe, sweet homegrown rasps and somehow it was still too sharp. I sprinkled some golden caster sugar on the crumble in the end which helped a bit.
The crumble element was lovely and we really liked the nuts.
The crust came out crisp but had gone soggy the following day, as had the topping- which I guess is to be expected as eventually the fruit juice seeps through. So in summary I would add a little more sugar and only make if I knew it would all go on the day of baking.
It did occur to us that it would be good with custard…..
Can I make this with frozen raspberries that I picked earlier this summer and froze? If so, would I need to do anything differently?
You can. I’d just work with them frozen and add a little baking time.
I made these yesterday in between various chores. That’s how easy they are. I used chopped fresh figs, since we have an abundance from our tree… turned out delicious! The filling wasn’t too wet or too dry. The only downside was putting them in an airtight container overnight. The crispy crust became soft. Next time, I won’t put a lid on them.
Could one make this with apples or peaches (have a current abundance)? Love the raspberry version!
You are so awesome! I do not think I’ve read a single thing like this before.
So wonderful to discover another person with original thoughts on this issue.
Seriously.. thanks for starting this up. This website is something that is required
on the web, someone with some originality!
The images for this recipe are not being displayed on the site. Clicking on them reveals a WordPress access issue. Are other people having this issue as well?
Is it still happening? They’re loading for me now; maybe it was temporary downtime.
I’ve made these three times now: twice with raspberries (perfect), and once with blueberries (soggy). This is what I get for messing with perfection. Arbiter of All Baked Goods (husband), said the blueberry version was “edible, nice flavor, just wet”. I guess raspberries have more fiber, and less water than blueberries? Anyway, will stick with raspberries from now on.
These are really good! I love sweets and was was worried that I wouldn’t like an unsweetened filling. It turns out that the raspberries by themselves are a perfect complement for the base & topping, even with end of August store bought berries. I will totally be making these again!
It took me several days to actually make the bars because I kept running out of energy by the end of the day. I just couldn’t convince myself to put in the work of making the crust today for delayed gratification tomorrow. Instead, I skipped turning half the crumbs into crust. I added the almonds and sugar to the mix and pressed half the mixture into the bottom before adding the berries & topping. I baked as written, and the time & temp seemed to work well. In texture they are somewhere between a bar and a crumble/cobbler, and I definitely ate it with a spoon.
If I ever make this for an event instead of just because it’s Tuesday and I have raspberries, I will totally make the bottom crust as written. On the other hand, if it’s Tuesday and I want the yummy taste without chilling and rolling out dough, I will happily make and eat the easier version. :-)
This didn’t turn out the same at all. The raspberry layer was very small and the crumble layer was way too much. Also, the crumble was not anything like yours. I think the measurements that you put up are wrong.
This (as with many SK recipes) is so forgiving. I made so many modifications (mistakes), and yet it turned out spectacular.
– I only had 100 grams of butter so I just used that without scaling the rest of the recipe. I’m lucky to have access to good quality organic French butter so maybe that’s why the dough still worked?
– I used one bag of thawed frozen raspberries which were soggy and not nearly enough to fill the 8×8 tin. So I just threw in a handful of frozen berries.
– Accidentally added water to the crumble/streusel mixture.
Despite all these, ahem, modifications, the bake turned out great, no issues.
Could I make this with frozen raspberries instead of fresh? If yes, how would you adapt the recipe.
these sound amazing but do you think you could use good quality snap frozen berries? PS: I love your recipes and have been following you for a zillion years all the way from New Zealand :)