Monday, October 24, 2011

Blueberry Crumb Bars

Did you know, I used to be kind of disdainful of blueberries? I thought they were strange and dubbed them "gross." This is before ever actually trying them, I am loathe to admit. Because sweeping judgments when you are a young person are just a common thing, right?

Of course, later in life, I tried them out and discovered I had been missing out. Blueberries are yummy, duh. If they are ripe, anyway. If not, they can be kinda sour. But do you know what you can do with kinda sour blueberries? Toss them in some sugar and bake them up! Problem. Solved.

I had such a batch of not-so-great blueberries on hand recently, and after trying a handful of them by themselves and promptly making a sour face, I decided they must be baked!


After much searching for a recipe that sounded good, I came across this one for crumb bars. And boy am I glad I did, because oh man, it was gooooood. The blueberries were no longer sour, and the crumbly dough on the top and bottom was the perfect complement. Compliment? Oh, grammar, sometimes you elude me.

In all seriousness, if you like blueberries and crumbly breakfast/desserty stuff, make these! You will not be disappointed.


Blueberry Crumb Bars
Please note, I halved the below recipe because I am but one wee person. This recipe will make enough for a 9x13 pan.


Ingredients
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 3/4 teaspoons white vinegar (or juice of 1 lemon)
  • 4 cups fresh blueberries
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 teaspoons cornstarch
Cooking Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 9x13 pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, the flour, baking powder and salt. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of the dough into the prepared pan.
  3. In another bowl, stir together 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch and vinegar. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.
  4. Bake for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Recipe via Smitten Kitchen

In photos:

Please note, I "forgot" to take photos of the earlier steps. Whoops!


Blueberry mixture on top of half the crumb mixture.



Rest of the crumb mixture goes on top of those blueberries.


Out of the oven, it's got a golden glow!


The blueberries kind of melt together to create a solid middle layer of bluey-purple goodness.

5 comments:

  1. This looks delicious. I was the same way with blueberries growing up! I thought they had a weird texture. But now... So good.

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  2. It was so much better than I expected it to be!

    I'm glad I'm not the only one who shunned blueberries growing up! I don't really even remember why, but I know I thought they were weird.

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  3. Those look divine! I should do some baking today-- cold Ohio fall day.

    Looking forward to Double Trouble tonight and the premiere of Grimm. Are you watching?

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  4. They are really good. But this Pumpkin Coffee Cake I made the other day is EVEN BETTER. I'll probably post about it next week.

    I don't have much interest in Grimm, looks too procedural. And my recap of tonight's Supernatural will be late because I have an event tonight, so I won't be able to watch until the morning!

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  5. wow those look like something id want for breakfast. yum

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