I love fresh berries in the summer.  Recently I had a big box of blueberries from Costco that I needed to use up as our family wasn’t eating them fast enough.   I searched my “to make” folder to see if I had anything bookmarked and lo and behold I found this recipe.   It’s from a great blog called Smitten Kitchen which I follow.   Every couple of days, a Smitten Kitchen recipe pops into my email inbox and this was one of them.  I made the bars with my dear friend Anthony when he came over for dinner.

These bars were excellent warm out of the oven – much like a blueberry crumb pie.   I served them with vanilla frozen yogurt, but they’re so good on their own that they don’t need to be served with anything.  They’re also great the next day.    I kept them in the refrigerator – they’re great cold too.

Blueberry Crumb Bars
From Smitten Kitchen

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 and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon 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.  If you mix it too much it will turn into a smooth dough.   If this happens to you, it will be a bit more difficult to put into the pan, but it will still taste delicious.

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.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. (This took an extra 10 to 15 minutes in my oven.)   Cool completely before cutting into squares.  (I cut mine warm and they were fine.)

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