The BEST And Most Simple Cast Iron Black Raspberry Bars That You’ll Crave All Year Long. Just Don’t Let The Thorns Get Ya On Your Way Through!

Man, do I LOVE black raspberries! Tiny and seedy little raspberries graciously planted by the birds in my hometown in Illinois. This summer we got the surprise of the year when we were walking in the back of my MIL’s property and found a TON of black raspberry bushes. I think we found a new section of bushes every day that we went out there and we collected a bunch of berries every time we went.

First, you pick the black raspberries…

The bad thing about black raspberries is that they only have berries for a couple of weeks and they don’t keep very well so you’ve got to use them or freeze them quickly! We did both! We made these yummy black raspberry bars, black raspberry jam, a black raspberry pie (that we ended up freezing before making because we had an oven mishap), and we froze some berries too for later!

Neil and I had a lot of fun making these bars while Olivia was off spending time with her grandma. We hardly saw her during the trip because as you well realize, grandmas are MUCH more fun than parents!

Here is something super cool that I learned! I was out of baking powder when I started this recipe so I found this awesome website where I learned baking powder can be replaced with some other things. I used the baking soda + lemon juice option because we happened to have those! Here is the website I looked at, in case you ever find yourself in a pickle.

Then, you make the black raspberry bars!

So here we go. Preheat your oven to 375º and make sure your cast iron is seasoned and all the mumbo jumbo (that’s Neil’s job, maybe he’ll do a guest blog post someday telling you how to season a cast iron…if not…google it 😆)

Don’t forget to sneak a few black raspberries every few minutes. That’s an important step in this recipe.

Next, in a medium bowl, mix together flour, 1 cup of sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add in the butter and egg. Using a fork at first, start to combine the ingredients. Then, with clean hands, continue to combine until your crumbly dough forms. Push half of the dough into the cast iron, leaving the rest for the top.

Halfway done already, sneak a couple
raspberries before it’s too late!

Okay, this may be the most important instruction yet. Before you have measured out your 4 cups of berries, please be sure to taste test at least a couple of handfuls of them…but NOT if that’ll leave you less than 4 cups!

In another medium bowl, carefully stir together berries, cornstarch, and the rest of the sugar (1/2 cup). You don’t want to crust your berries!

Add the berry mixture to the cast iron on top of the dough. Crumble the other half of the dough onto the top of the berries.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Allow to cool completely and then cut into 12 bars.

We could hardly get these cooled and cut fast enough before we started digging in! The perfect combination of crust and sweet berries. I hope you enjoy this easy recipe just as much as we all did. Come back soon for my Black Raspberry Jam, Black Raspberry Pie, and to see what we do with the frozen berries we hid in the freezer! Be sure to comment below or tag us on social media if you try this recipe.