BLACKBERRY BUCKLE (a 2 banana level difficulty level)

I have some blackberry bushes at my house that are quite prolific. When the blackberries first start ripening, it's kind of fun to go out & pick blackberries & eat them or make smoothies or share them. After about 2 weeks, it is less fun as I end up picking A LOT of blackberries & my hands start looking like they broke up a fight between 2 cats!

I can eat & freeze so many blackberries before I say 'No mas' so I end up sharing quite a bit.

Up until recently, I had never heard of "Buckle" as it related to baking. However, one of my friends whom I shared some blackberries turned them into a "Blackberry Buckle" and she shared that with me. She described it as a cross between cobbler & a pie & that it was easy to make.

I'm always interested in things that are easy to make AND if it involves baking some of these blackberries, then I'm all for it!

Today, 'this monkey' will show you how to make "Blackberry Buckle"!... As well as a "Peach Buckle" as I did share some of the blackberries with my neighbors and they in turned shared some of their peaches!

WHAT YOU NEED:
4 c Fresh Blackberries (or peaches)
2 T Sugar (brown sugar may work better with the peaches)
1 t Lemon Juice
1 t Lemon Zest (optional)
1 t Vanilla Extract

6 T Butter
1 1/4 c All-Purpose Flour
3/4 c Sugar
2 t Baking Powder
1 t Salt

1 c Milk (Whole Milk is preferred, but Skim, Soy etc will do the trick)
1/2 t Vanilla Extract

2 T Sugar in the Raw for Sprinkling on top

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED:
9x9" Baking Dish (or equivalent)
2 Small Bowls
Large Bowl
Rubber Spatula
Whisk or Mixer

WHAT YOU DO:

***Remember, I am baking TWO separate buckles...the above ingredients are for ONE buckle, BUT the photos below are showing TWO buckles***

1. Pre-Heat Oven to 350 degrees
2. In Small Bowl, Combine: Blackberries (or Peaches), Sugar, Lemon Juice (and Zest), Vanilla Extract

3. Combine Milk & Vanilla Extract in another small bowl/container

4. Place Butter in Baking Dish and place in the oven to melt the butter

5. Combine the Dry Ingredients (Flour, Sugar, Salt, Baking Powder) in a large bowl

 6. Pour the Milk mixture into the Dry Ingredients and gently stir until just combined

7. Carefully remove the hot pan with the melted butter from the oven & pour in most of the batter (Reserve about 1/2-1 c of batter to drizzle over the top). Don't mix the batter into the butter. The melted butter will move out of the way & up onto the batter.

8. Sprinkle the fruit into the batter and very gently press it into the batter.

9. Drizzle the reserve batter over the top

10. Bake for 40-45 minutes...be sure to rotate your pan 180 deg at the 20 min mark for more even baking.
11. Remove from the oven, Sprinkle the sugar on top & bake for about 5 minutes more...until the top is golden brown.

12. Serve with ice cream...we had a 'Lemon Cookie' flavor that tasted GREAT!

Both Buckle varieties (Blackberry & Peach) turned out pretty darned good! I mean they contain fruit, sugar, flour, butter & are served with ice cream so they should taste good...I liked the Blackberry version better. Probably because it is a sweeter fruit to begin with. Perhaps modifying the Peach version with brown sugar may be the way to go as well as just using plain ol' Vanilla Ice Cream for the Peach...any way, I hope you enjoy!

Until next time, your favorite neighbor-web monkey!