When life gives you blackcurrants, make shortbread bars! These shortbread bars have a buttery crispy crust and a tart, but sweet, blackcurrant spread to create a perfect bar. With a similar taste to raspberry shortbread bars, except blackcurrants give it that unique taste that will make you want more. These were all gone within a day in my house, granted I did share a few with my family. If you happen to find some blackcurrants growing in your neck of the woods, be sure to pick them fast and make these bars.
I have always wondered why black currants are so rare in the United States, grocery stores do not sell the fresh berries, and it is very rare to even find packaged foods containing black currants. It is a popular berry all across Europe, used in desserts, pies, jams, juices, candies, yogurts, teas, or even dried as raisins. With a quick Google search, I came across many websites that mentioned it as a “Forbidden Fruit” in the United States because until recently, they were banned to grow. When the early English settlers brought black currant plants to the United States they realized the plants had a fungus that caused damage to white pine trees, which were widely used for lumber in the early 1900s. It’s a shame that many Americans have not tried black currants, I hope they come back in popularity as a super-food. Blackcurrants, have been shown to have twice the potassium of bananas, four times the vitamin C of oranges, twice the antioxidants of blueberries.
I am so glad that my state allows for the growth of blackcurrant bushes, most states actually have lifted the ban, just a few states think they have better things to do than lift bans on berry bushes, too bad for them. The first state to lift the ban was New York, it’s ban was lifted in 2003, and since then blackcurrants have been slowly gaining popularity farms in the United States. The blackcurrant bush is fairly easy to grow, low maintenance required, as long as you live in the right climate, they thrive in the northern states zones 3-8. If you want to buy a plant, check out you local nursery, although, they might be rare or a special order. I found this website online that features a few different varieties of the bush, I’m tempted to add to my collection.
This recipe is surprisingly very simple, unlike most buttery crusts where the butter must be cold and cut into the flour, this recipe requires only melted butter. Also, if you don’t have an electric mixer, or just do not want to take out any extra appliances, this recipe is for you! If you cannot find blackcurrants anywhere, try looking for fresh or frozen cranberries.
Ingredients for the crust and streusel topping:
- 1 cup plus 5 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted and cooled to just warm
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 tsp. table salt
- 2 large egg yolks
- 3 cups plus 3 tbs. flour
Ingredients for the blackcurrant topping:
- 2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blackcurrants
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup water
1. Line the bottom and sides of a 13×9 metal baking pan with parchment paper or foil.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together butter, sugar, salt, and egg yolks with a spoon until smooth. 
Add in the flour and mix until just combined.
3. Remove 2 cups of the crust mixture and press into the lined pan. Set the unused portion of the crust aside.
Place the pan in the freezer while the oven preheats to 325 degrees F, the chilling of the crust prevents it from expanding and rising too much during baking.
5. While the oven is preheating and the crust is chilling start on the blackcurrant topping. Combine blackcurrants, sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. 
Then reduce heat to medium and continue simmering for 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool while the crust bakes. Be careful not to eat all of the blackcurrant jam before the crust bakes ;).
6. Once the oven is preheated, remove the crust from the freezer and place in the oven to bake for 20 minutes, or until the sides are lightly browned. Then remove from the oven, and increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Spread the blackcurrant jam on top, and sprinkle the left over crust mixture on top. Place the bars near the top of the oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until the streusel is lightly browned.
Allow the bottom of the pan to cool completely before taking the bars out of the pan. Remove the bars by grabbing onto the parchment paper or foil. Then cut into 24 even bars. Keep the bars in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
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Recipe adapted from FineCooking.com
- Serves: 24
- Serving size: 1 bar (out of 24)
- Calories: 218
- Fat: 10
- Saturated fat: 6
- Unsaturated fat: 3
- Trans fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 30
- Sugar: 17
- Sodium: 76
- Fiber: 0
- Protein: 2
- Cholesterol: 41
- Ingredients for the crust and streusel topping:
- 1 cup plus 5 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted and cooled to just warm
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ tsp. table salt
- 2 large egg yolks
- 3 cups plus 3 tbs. flour
- Ingredients for the blackcurrant topping:
- 2½ cups fresh or frozen blackcurrants
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water
- Line the bottom and sides of a 13×9 metal baking pan with parchment paper or foil.
- In a medium bowl, mix together butter, sugar, salt, and egg yolks with a spoon until smooth. Add in the flour and mix until just combined.
- Remove 2 cups of the crust mixture and press into the lined pan. Set the unused portion of the crust aside. Place the pan in the freezer while the oven preheats to 325 degrees F.
- While the oven is preheating and the crust is chilling start on the blackcurrant topping. Combine blackcurrants, sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Then, reduce heat to medium-low and continue simmering for 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool while the crust bakes.
- Once the oven is preheated, remove the crust from the freezer and place in the oven to bake for 20 minutes, or until the sides are lightly browned. Then remove from the oven, and increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Spread the blackcurrant jam on top, and sprinkle the left over crust mixture on top. Place the bars near the top of the oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until the streusel is lightly browned.
Just a girl sharing her cup of "joy" with the world. Welcome to my side of the internet. I hope you are inspired by the positivity and creativity here.
These currant bars look amazing! I love the fruity center and the crispier sweet topping. Yum!
Thanks Shelby! 🙂
These look so delicious! They would go so well with coffee 🙂
Thanks Dina! I agree, I am going to be making another batch tonight, we just can’t get enough!
These look amazing! I have never tried blackcurrants, but I think I would love them.
Thanks Jessica! They are a lovely berry, I hope it gains popularity here soon 🙂
I can’t believe I’ve never tried blackcurrants before! They looks so vibrant and delicious in this! And that streusel topping looks fabulous! I’ll have to try these soon. Do you think that blackberries could be substituted for the blackcurrants? I’d love to use blackcurrants, but I’m not sure that they are available locally. Anyways, this looks like a BEAUTIFUL recipe!
I’d really appreciate it if you would check out my blog, too!
http://kcolescreativecorner.com
Thanks for sharing, Katy! 🙂
Hi Kennedy! Thanks for the comment 🙂 you could definitely use blackberries, or any other berry for the recipe. I think cranberries would be the closest in taste, although black currants have such a unique taste that can’t really be compared. Hope that helps! Let me know if you try the recipe.
-Katy
I never knew blackcurrants were difficult to come by in the USA shame because they are an amazing fruit. So tasty and these bars look lovely. I love the tart flavour blackcurrants bring to sweet baked goods.
Thanks Emma! They are pretty amazing!
This is the dessert of my childhood. My mum used to make these with all sorts of toppings, either fresh or preserved, like jam. Sometimes she added some crushed walnuts to it for extra crunch and taste. Great childhood memories 🙂
Oh that sounds delicious with the addition of walnuts! I have a few uncracked walnuts laying around from last years harvest, will need to create this with walnuts!
We can’t get fresh blackcurrants here in Australia – at least I’ve never seen any. We do get red fairly often though. I would love your shortbread bars!
Red would work perfectly in this recipe as well. I wish I could ship a few to you in Australia!
Just made your recipe with our farmers market haul. Only had half the required blackcurrants, but we also had some gooseberries to use up so we did half and half in the pan.
Such a shame that people are more familiar with blackcurrants (and gooseberries) in the US.
I agree, they both are such unique berries! I haven’t try the gooseberries in this recipe but will next time I find any around here 😉 Thanks for trying the recipe!
Hi Katy! These look AMAZING!!! I nominated you for a Liebster Award in my latest post on my blog. I invite you to check it out. Participation is not mandatory but I just wanted to let you know that what you are doing with your blog is awesome!!
I have a black currant bush I started from a seedling years ago. I have a bumper crop this year and are fully ripe for picking now. I will try your delicious looking recipe for certain. Just gotta get out and pick them now (and pick up some unsalted butter). THANK YOU – the photos you took are SO inspiring!
What is the volume of the finished ‘jam’?
This would be such a great way to use many kinds of jam, including black currant.
Thank you
I do not remember but I would spread a layer until everything is covered!
1 cup was not enough, I will try 1.5 cups next time.
We received some blackcurrent in our crop share box this week. I’ve never had those before so I had to go on the hunt for a recipe and found your recipe on Pinterest. It’s in the oven now and I can’t wait for it to come out! I didn’t have enough currents so I added some raspberries to fill the gap.
Raspberries are a perfect addition! Thanks for trying!
BTW, it was delicious!
Thank you so much!
These were delicious! I was looking for a recipe to use up a lot of freshly picked black currants. I’m now going back to see if I can find enough left on the bushes to freeze so I can make this again later.
Thanks for your review! Freezing is a great idea!
These were delicious! I’m not a baker so I was delighted how well they turned out. The black currants were too liquid so I used a strainer to spoon them over, and then lured the remaining juice over ice cream. 🙂
Thanks for trying! Glad you liked them!