Blueberry Bars

August blueberries are my absolute favourite. I buy an extra pint at the market because I know I am going to devour the better part of one as soon as I get home. And I need the second one to put in oatmeal, pancakes and yummy desserts like these. The last batch I brought home, I picked the biggest one of the bunch and squealed with excitement, “This one’s as big as my thumb!”  It’s the little things, right?

This recipe is so good and SO easy. The sweet, juicy berry filling is sandwiched between the most perfectly buttery, crumbly, ever-so-slightly crunchy crust. And it really does come together in a flash. It’s a cookie version of blueberry pie, minus all the effort of making and rolling out dough. These are great for summer barbecues and potlucks, but I think they would make a wonderful back-to-school snack as well. Now, get yourself to the store and take advantage of all those 2/$4 baskets of delicious-end-of-summer-goodness. And then make these. Just do it.

Blueberry Bars

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

The only change I made to Deb’s recipe was one of necessity. It turned out I was out of lemon, so I swapped it for limes which I had on hand. I actually liked the extra tang they brought, but you can stick to the lemon if you’d like. They will be absolutely delicious either way. As Deb mentions, these are easier to cut and eat once they have chilled completely. And we all agreed that they taste best eaten straight from the fridge - possibly at midnight, in your robe, Nigella Lawson style - or maybe that’s just me?

Ingredients

For the dough:

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest of two limes (or one lemon)

For the filling:

4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Juice of two small limes (or one lemon)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and 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.

3. 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.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.