If you're anything like me and basically live for Saskatoon berry season, you're going to love this Saskatoon berry recipe! These Saskatoon Berry Squares have a juicy Saskatoon berry filling, nestled between delicious buttery oat layers. They are easy to make and can be made with either fresh or frozen Saskatoon berries and pantry staples!
These delicious berries (aka Prairie Berries, or Juneberries in the United States, and Services Berries in the UK) are only in season for a short period, anywhere from mid-July to early August, (depending on where you live and the weather that year). If it's really warm and rainy, they ripen early. Where I live in Western Canada, they are typically ready the last week of July and the first week of August. You can pick them yourself at a u-pick farm or buy them fresh at Farmers markets. If you're lucky, you can often find them frozen any time of year.
This Saskatoon berry bar was inspired by my Saskatoon Berry Pie and my Date Slice (Date Square) on this site, and pairs well with a cup of coffee or tea, or a glass of milk and is a great dessert after any summer meal!
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🥘Ingredients
You will need the following ingredients for this recipe:
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups quick oats
- 1 ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 cup butter *unsalted
- 6 cups Saskatoon berries
- ½ cup +2 tbsps water (for frozen berries) *If using fresh, use additional water
- ⅔ cup white sugar
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
🔪Instructions
Prep: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/176 degrees C) and generously spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Step 1: Add Saskatoon berries, water, white granulated sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch together in a saucepan.
- Step 2: Cook and stir over medium heat, until berries and water are absorbed. *This will take about 15- 20 minutes and it will look quite watery at one point. *frozen berries will take longer
- Step 3: Cook until it is very thick (a little thicker than pie filling). Then add almond extract. *If it's not this thick, add another tablespoon of cornstarch and continue to cook until it thickens
- Step 4: Remove from heat, and cool. It should be very thick! *To speed up cooling, I put it in the freezer for a few minutes
- Step 5: In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, brown sugar and oats).
- Step 6: Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or grate it in with a box grater (a little at a time, mixing between additions) and stir until mixture is combined. (*See Top Tip for an easy way to grate the butter into dry ingredients).
- Step 7: Spread half of the crust mixture into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan and pat down with a spatula.
- Step 8: Cover with cooled Saskatoon berry filling.,
- Step 9: Add the remaining half of the mixture on top of the filling and spread evenly.
- Step 10: Bake for 35-45 minutes in a prepared oven until golden brown on top. Cool, then slice into 12 or 24 slices and garnish with a little whipped cream and cinnamon or vanilla ice cream.
Hint: To avoid getting crumbs in the filling, drop dollops of filling all over the bottom crust with a spatula or spoon. Then very carefully spread it out with a butter knife, avoiding getting the dry mixture on the knife. *You have to be very patient while you are doing this!
📖 Variations & Substitutions
- Butter - you can use salted butter but it will cut the sweetness a little
- Saskatoon Berries - you can use fresh or frozen Saskatoon berries, but the amount of water used is different, so be sure to check carefully. You could also substitute blueberries.
- Almond Extract- you could use vanilla extract instead
- Lemon Juice- if you use lemon juice from concentrate instead of fresh lemon juice, only use ½ (half) the amount of concentration lemon juice (½ tsp) or you can use ½ teaspoon lemon zest instead of juice
🍽Equipment
You will need a 9x13 pan and a medium saucepan for this Saskatoon berry crumble bar recipe. A box grater also comes in handy if you are going to grate your butter frozen. *See recipe card for recommended equipment links and photos
🌡️Storage
Store Saskatoon berry bars in an airtight container for up to 3 months. These squares freeze well in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
👪 Serving Size
This recipe makes 12 large squares. However, you can cut them in half and get 24 servings (as in the photos above). You could also half, double, or triple the recipe by clicking on the serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust.
🔢WW Points
This recipe is a lot of points! You can reduce it by using light butter and monk fruit as a sweetener. However, you'll want to use ½ the amount of monkfruit.
Top Tip
I cut my butter into portions (1 cup, ½ cup and 2 ¼ cups) then keep it frozen in the freezer. It lasts much longer and I can take out portions as I need it.
Then when I need to 'cut it' into a recipe, I use a cheese grater to grate frozen butter (or you use very cold butter) into topping instead of fussing with cubes of butter that are melty. This also distributes the butter more evenly in the topping.
🥗 Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Saskatoon Berry squares:
🦺Food safety
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
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If you're looking for Saskatoon berry recipes, you'll love this Saskatoon Berry Bar. And check out this collection of Saskatoon berry recipes:
📋 Saskatoon Berry Squares recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Filling:
- 6 cups Saskatoon berries *can use frozen or fresh or sub blueberries
- ½ cup +2 tbsps water (for frozen berries) *If using fresh Saskatoon berries, use ¾ cup water
- ⅔ cup white granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ¾ teaspoon almond extract
Crust:
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups quick oats
- 1 ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup unsalted butter
Instructions
NOTE: The photos in this recipe card will NOT print unless you set them to print by selecting "recipe image"
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/176 degrees C) and generously spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Combine Saskatoon berries, water, white granulated sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch together in saucepan. *use ¾ cup water for fresh berries6 cups Saskatoon berries, ½ cup +2 tbsps water (for frozen berries), ⅔ cup white granulated sugar, 4 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- Cook and stir over medium heat, until berries and water are absorbed. *This will take about 15-20 minutes and it will look quite watery at one point. *It will take longer if you are using frozen berries.
- Cook, stirring frequently it's thicker than pie filling. If not thick enough after 20 minutes, add another tablespoon cornstarch and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Remove from heat, and cool. Add almond extract. * I put it in the freezer for a few minutes to cool it faster.¾ teaspoon almond extract
- in a large mixing bowl combine dry ingredients ( flour, baking soda, brown sugar and quick oats) together.1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 1 ⅓ cup brown sugar, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 ½ cups quick oats
- Cut in butter (a little at a time, mixing between additions) and mix until mixture is combined. (*See Top Tip)1 cup unsalted butter
- Spread half of the crust mixture into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan and pat down with a spatula.
- Cover with cooled Saskatoon berry filling.
- Hint: To avoid getting crumbs in the filling, drop dollops of filling all over the crust with a spatula or spoon. Then very carefully spread it out with a butter knife or spatula, avoiding getting the dry mixture on the knife or spatula. *You have to be very patient while you are doing this!
- Spread the remaining half on top of the filling and pat down with a spatula.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes or until it's golden brown on top.
Notes
*Please see post contents for important recipe information, substitutions and tips!*Nutrition is calculated for 24 bars
Nutrition
More Saskatoon Berry Dessert Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Mike Lafleur
I love Saskatoon berries and I love my snacks. These squares check both boxes for me, are full of flavour and easy to make! And at only 200 calories, I have no guilt grabbing a second and maybe third piece!
Monique Castonguay
These bars were so tasty. It's hard to believe they are less than 200 cal! What a great alternative to coffee shop treats at work. I'm definitely going to start briniging these in my lunches.
Edith
These squares are so good. Love them, my new favourite square!!
Terri Gilson
Hi Edith,
So happy to hear that you loved them!Terri