Blueberry Crumb Bars

Fresh, sweet, beautiful blueberries are bursting with summer deliciousness! They’re awesome to eat plain, but they’re also very versatile in baked goods, desserts, and even savory dishes.

These mouth-watering Blueberry Crumble Bars are great with your morning coffee or as an after-school snack for the kids. They feature a buttery shortbread-like layer, lots of fresh blueberries with a little lemon for zippiness, and a crispy crumble topping.

Best of all, they’re super simple to make!

INGREDIENTS

For crumb mixture:
3 cups            all-purpose flour
½ cup             brown sugar
½ cup             granulated sugar
1 tsp.               baking powder
¼ tsp.             salt
1                       large egg
1½ tsp.           vanilla extract
1 cup              unsalted butter (2 sticks, chilled and cut into cubes)       

For filling:
1 Tbsp.            cornstarch
½ cup             granulated sugar
1½ Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
4 cups            fresh blueberries from your Happy Grow Blueberry Plant

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375. Butter a 9” x 13” baking dish.

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, ½ cup each of brown and granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt.

3. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the egg and vanilla until combined. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir together, then add the chilled butter cubes, making sure they’re spread out over the top of the flour mixture and not clumped together.

4. Using a pastry cutter or a fork, “cut” the mixture together until it resembles coarse crumbs.

5. Press one-half of the crumb mixture into the prepared baking dish.

6. In another small mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining ½ cup granulated sugar and the cornstarch, then stir in the lemon juice. (If you want your filling to be even more lemony, you can add the zest of one medium lemon at this stage.)

7. Add the blueberries to the filling mixture and toss gently to coat. Pour the filling mixture over the crumb mixture in the baking pan and spread gently to cover as much as possible.

8. Sprinkle the remaining half of the crumb mixture over the blueberry filling.

9. Bake in preheated oven until the top is golden brown, about 38-42 minutes.

10. Cool for 20-30 minutes, then cut into squares and serve.

Tips:

  • If you’re using frozen-fresh blueberries, be sure to thaw, rinse, drain, and pat the berries dry before adding them to the filling mixture.
  • To make it easier to lift the bars out of the pan, line the baking dish with parchment and then butter the parchment.
  • You can also make a mixed-berry version of these bars. Try blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries together (as long as the total quantity is 4 cups).
  • Stored cooled bars in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Before serving, warm chilled bars in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, if desired.
  • You can also freeze these bars for later use, but note that the crispy crumble topping won’t be as crisp when the bars are thawed again.