Berry Pie Bars

I have a serious question: does it, I mean really does it, get much better than Berry Pie Bars? This is a serious question that can only be answered with one serious answer; and that answer is, No. It certainly does not. 

This time of year always makes me feel like the weather is playing tricks on me. I love the spring weather, and those first warm rays of sun that start to awaken the earth. You feel like you can hardly take one more minute of winter and then one day the clouds break, the birds chirp, and everything begins to melt.

It's really a beautiful time and every year at this time I get inspired to clean out my freezer and make room for the coming seasons fresh crops. Inevitably, I will open my freezer and find a bag of berries that were stored away just in case a reminder of summer was needed during the drudge through winter. When spring finally arrives, there is no better way to put that last bit of berries to use than Berry Pie Bars.

This recipe came from Chew Out Loud and I liked it not only because it makes a 9x13, which, let's all admit, is absolutely necessary when it's been dark and cold so long, but also because it uses greek yogurt so you can at least feel a little bit better when you have three because you will want three.

Very Berry Pie Bars

Ingredients:

• For the crust and topping:
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1½ cup white sugar
• Zest of one large lemon
• 1½ cups salted butter, cold
• 
  
• For the filling:
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup greek yogurt
• ¾ cup all purpose flour
• ⅛ tsp salt
• Juice of one large lemon
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 30 oz any mixture of fresh blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Generously grease a 9x13 pan along bottom and sides. Set aside.
2. In bowl of a food processor, lightly pulse together the flour, sugar, and lemon zest just until blended. Cut cold butter into slices and add to bowl. With a few short pulses, cut the butter into flour mixture just until mixture is crumbly. Small bits of butter remaining is fine. (You can also use a pastry cutter if you don't have a food processor.) Set aside 1½ cups of the flour/butter mixture for the topping. Pour the rest of the mixture into bottom of prepared baking pan. Press firmly for an even layer of crust on bottom of pan. (You can cover your hand with saran wrap or a plastic bag to keep the crust from sticking to your fingers.) Bake crust about 15 minutes or until golden. Remove baked crust from oven, but keep oven on.
3. Combine eggs, sugar, Greek yogurt, flour, salt, lemon juice, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Carefully fold in the berries with rubber spatula. Gently spread filling over the baked crust. Sprinkle reserved topping over the filling, to make an even layer of crumble topping.
4. Bake about 75 min to 90 min or until topping turns golden and bars are set. Cool completely at room temp before putting in fridge to chill. Chill several hours or overnight. Cut and serve cold.