Blueberry Crumb Bars

This recipe was adapted from smittenkitchen.com, one of my favorite food/recipe sites. I reduced the sugar just a bit and swapped in some oats for some of the flour. If you have a food processor, that makes preparation super easy. If not, mixing with your hands/fingers will work just as well.

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup of rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks, cold, cut into squares)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/3 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×9 inch pan.

In a food processor, pulse together 1 cup sugar, 2 cups flour, 1 cup of rolled oats, baking powder, salt and lemon zest just enough to mix. Then pulse in butter and egg until incorporated and the dough becomes crumbly. You may have to give it a stir every once in a while to get all ingredients properly mixed in. (This can all be done by hand too, or with a pastry blender.)



Press half of dough into the prepared pan.

In another bowl, stir together the 1/3 cup sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Then, gently fold 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.

Cool completely before cutting into squares. Store in refrigerator, but I think they are best when close to room temp. Serve as is, or with a little ice cream or whipped cream.