Vegan Berry Bars

5 from 2 votes

These vegan berry bars are the perfect summer treat. They are bursting with flavor and a great way to use summers bounty.

Prep Time10

Cook Time49

Additional Time40

Total Time1 39

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan

Servings:

Calories: 384kcal

Author: Courtney Hunter

Ingredients

Filling

3-4 cups berries I usually use frozen, thawed out berries
½ cup sugar
2 ½ TB cornstarch
1 to 2 teaspoon lemon zest
½ teaspoon almond or vanilla extract

Crust

1 ¾ cup flour
½ cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup 2 TB vegan milk
½ cup vegan butter
5-6 graham cracker sheets

Instructions

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and greasing an 8x8 pan or place foil with an overlap so you can pull the bars out in one piece, grease the foil.
If you are using frozen berries, unthaw them in a medium bowl; it's okay if some are still frozen; you don't want them complete mush. Add the remaining filling ingredients and stir gently and set aside.
Now start the crust. Take a medium-size bowl and add the flour and sugars; stir. Take the vegan butter and a pastry cutter (or fork) and crumble the butter into the flour mixture until it's combined well, it will be a bit crumbly, and that's okay. Add your vegan milk and fold the batter until it absorbs the dough. This is a thick, somewhat crumbly dough (kind of like making biscuits).
Take the dough and press it evenly into the bottom of the 8x8 pan. Bake this for 9 minutes.
Remove from the oven and place the graham crackers on the top of the dough, covering the majority of the crust. Now take the berries they will be liquidy and pour them over the crust.
Bake this for 40-45 minutes. The berries will thicken as cooked.
Wait a few hours before cutting, or it will be too hard to move. You can speed this up by placing them in the freezer for 30 minutes and then cutting. These taste great cold from the fridge.

Notes

These can be served cold or at room temperature.

Storing- Once they are fully cooled these should be in an airtight container or covered with plastic wrap and placed in the fridge. They will remain good for about five days, but the earlier you eat them, the better they taste.

Freezer- They can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. You can defrost them either in the fridge or on the counter for a few hours.

Variations and Substitutions

Instead of a mixed berry you can make these a single flavor like vegan blueberry bars or raspberry bars.
You could add a crumb topping to make these more of a berry crumble bar.
You could use coconut oil for the vegan butter but I would stick with the vegan butter.
To make gluten-free use gluten-free flour and gluten-free graham crackers.

Expert Tips and Tricks-

1. Make sure to use a foil overhang in the pan so it's easy to get this out of the pan so you can cut it nicely.
2. Don't try to cut into this before it's had time to set.
3. Don't over mix the crust- you treat it more like a biscuit.
4. Make sure to not sub out the graham cracker as it gives it great flavor and helps the bottom not be soggy from the berries.

Nutrition