These bars are my favorite dessert of the summer. I watch the blueberry prices drop and then buy the large clamshell so I can make these sweet, lemony, crumbly bars for a family barbeque. We’ve been making these every year for the past five years and they haven’t been replaced because they are the perfect summer treat balancing the tart blueberry and lemon with the sweet crust. They are warm and gooey like a little hand-pie straight out of the oven, or delicious room temperature for snacking and picnicking. If you’d like to replace your cereal in the morning, try these cold for breakfast.

The beauty of this recipe is its simplicity. It does take a couple of minutes to zest the lemon, but after that it’s smooth sailing. These are very good made with Mama’s Almond Blend Flour for your gluten-free friends just substituting for the all-purpose flour one for one.

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour (substitute Mama’s Almond Blend Flour if you want this gluten-free)
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into about 16 small pieces (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest two lemons, juice of one lemon
4 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and butter a 9X13 pan.

In a large mixing bowl stir together the sugar, baking powder and flour.  Stir in the slat and zest of two lemons. Add the butter and blend with flour using a  pastry cutter or fork until the most of the butter is the size of peas, with some large and smaller pieces. Add the egg and blend in with the pastry cutter or fork.

In a separate bowl stir together the sugar, cornstarch and juice of one lemon. Gently fold in the blueberries.

Pour half of the dough into the 9X13 pan and press down to form a smooth layer. Pour the blueberry mixture over your first layer of dough. Finish by spreading the rest of the dough on top of the blueberries.

Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the tops of the bars are just beginning to brown. Serve warm or cool depending on your will power and preferences.

Recipe adapted from my favorite food blog, Smitten Kitchen.

Blueberry Bars

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

1 hour 10 mins

 

These are very good gluten-free with Mama's Almond Flour blend.

Author: Kristen via Smitten Kitchen

Serves: 16

Ingredients

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 cups all-purpose flour (substitute Mama's Almond Blend Flour if you want this gluten-free)
• 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into about 16 small pieces (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
• 1 egg
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Zest two lemons, juice of one lemon
• 4½ cups fresh blueberries
• ½ cup white sugar
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and butter a 9X13 pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl stir together the sugar, baking powder and flour. Stir in the slat and zest of two lemons. Add the butter and blend with flour using a pastry cutter or fork until the most of the butter is the size of peas, with some large and smaller pieces. Add the egg and blend in with the pastry cutter or fork.
3. In a separate bowl stir together the sugar, cornstarch and juice of one lemon. Gently fold in the blueberries.
4. Pour half of the dough into the 9X13 pan and press down to form a smooth layer. Pour the blueberry mixture over your first layer of dough. Finish by spreading the rest of the dough on top of the blueberries.
5. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the tops of the bars are just beginning to brown. Serve warm or cool depending on your will power and preferences.

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