Blueberry Crumb Bars – Fresh blueberries with a hint of lemon zest on top of a buttery crust and sprinkled with golden crumbs.
As you probably know by now, most of my baked goods are made specifically for my co-workers. I love baking (duh.) but there’s no way I could keep all of these goodies at my house. So I take them to work. Since my co-workers are the one’s that eat the majority of the things I make, I like to make things they’ll actually enjoy.
That brings me to this week’s recipe…blueberry crumb bars. My one co-worker (the same one who challenged me to the bake off in the last post, actually) loves anything with blueberry in it. And since I felt bad for beating him so bad in the bake off, I figured I’d make something he’d especially enjoy, as would the rest of the team.
These were pretty yummy. I have to admit…I’m not a huge fan of fruity desserts. But these were so moist and chewy and gooey and….amazing. And the buttery crumb crust and topping didn’t hurt, either. They’re definitely a mess to take out of the pan so make sure you (1) line the pan with parchment paper and (2) you let the bars cool COMPLETELY so they don’t fall apart when you try to take them out of the pan. I didn’t have patience to wait for these to cool so I just let them sit over night. Or if you’re in a rush, put them in the freezer for an hour or so.
Enjoy!
Recipe (courtesy of smitten kitchen):
Blueberry Crumb Bars
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups sugar divided
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 sticks butter unsalted, cold
- 1 egg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 lemon zested and juiced
- 4 cups fresh blueberries
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan and line with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.
- In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.
- Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. (This took an extra 10 to 15 minutes in my oven.) Cool completely before cutting into squares.
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The only issue I see happening with frozen berries is that they'll make the bars soggy. I think that as long as you drain them well and pat them down a bit before using them, they will work just as well. Good luck! 🙂
Wow, loving the look of all that crumb & amazing blueberries! They're my favorite berry!
xo
http://allykayler.blogspot.com/
Fresh blueberries are so expensive here. Would this work with frozen berries?
Thank you all so much for all the comments! I love hearing the feedback. I'll be posting something else this week so keep a look out!
These look just like a type of bar a childhood friend's Sicilian grandmother used to make 40 years ago. Beautiful & brought back memories. Definitely will be making these soon!
Awesome recipe! Must try!
Absolutely gorgeous. Congrats on top 9!
Major congrats on your foodbuzz top 9, today!
This looks really good! Thank you for sharing!
These look really great!
these look sooooooo good! thanks for the recipe 🙂