Saskatoon Berry Squares

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!

🥘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.

1. Step 1: Add Saskatoon berries, water, white granulated sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch together in a saucepan.

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Step 5: In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, brown sugar and oats).

6. 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).

7. Step 7: Spread half of the crust mixture into the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan and pat down with a spatula.

8. Step 8: Cover with cooled Saskatoon berry filling.,

9. Step 9: Add the remaining half of the mixture on top of the filling and spread evenly.

10. 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!

🍽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:

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.

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

These Saskatoon Berry squares have a juicy Saskatoon berry filling nestled between delicious buttery oat layers. They are easy to make and you can make these with either fresh or frozen Saskatoon berries and pantry staples!

5 from 3 votes

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Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American, Canadian, North American

Keyword: 2 ingredient dough

Special Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: 24 squares

Calories: 181kcal

Author: Terri Gilson

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

saucepan

muffin tin

box grater

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

US Customary - Metric

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 berries
  6 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 Facts

📋 Saskatoon Berry Squares recipe

Amount Per Serving (0.5 square)

Calories 181 Calories from Fat 72

% Daily Value*

Fat 8g12%

Saturated Fat 5g31%

Trans Fat 0.3g

Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5g

Monounsaturated Fat 2g

Cholesterol 20mg7%

Sodium 28mg1%

Potassium 66mg2%

Carbohydrates 28g9%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 21g23%

Protein 1g2%

Vitamin A 256IU5%

Vitamin C 4mg5%

Calcium 17mg2%

Iron 0.4mg2%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

 

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5square | Calories: 181kcal (9%) | Carbohydrates: 28g (9%) | Protein: 1g (2%) | Fat: 8g (12%) | Saturated Fat: 5g (31%) | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 20mg (7%) | Sodium: 28mg (1%) | Potassium: 66mg (2%) | Fiber: 1g (4%) | Sugar: 21g (23%) | Vitamin A: 256IU (5%) | Vitamin C: 4mg (5%) | Calcium: 17mg (2%) | Iron: 0.4mg (2%)

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