blueberry crumb bars

This morning we awoke to a clear bright blue sky and I decided we needed to celebrate with a little baked goodness in our lives, after a quick raid of the freezer I pulled out a stash of frozen blueberries and decided on blueberry crumb bars.  These blueberry crumb bars are definitely not an everyday snack but they’re a delicious sweet treat and a welcomed surprise to the cake stand and lunch box this morning.

I love these bars, they consist of a thick, molten layer of juicy, caramelised, almost jam like blueberries that are sandwiched in between layers of crumbly, flaky, buttery, vanilla spiked biscuit and are perfect to pop in the lunch box for a sweet treat.  The recipe makes 20 bars, so it’s also a great way to stock the freezer!

I often go to this crumb bar recipe, not only is it absolutely delicious but it’s the kind of recipe that can be whipped up and in the oven in less than ten minutes, making it the perfect candidate for the early morning bake when you realise there isn’t much for the lunch box.   I use my food processor for this recipe but if you prefer to take the old school approach please feel free to rub the flour and butter together using your fingertips, the results will be the same it just may take an extra couple of minutes.

This recipe truly is super simple; in the bowl of a food processor I popped in the flour, sugar, baking powder, cubed butter, milk, vanilla and eggs and pulsed to combine.  The mixture comes together quite quickly and is soft, quite moist yet a little crumbly.  I then placed half of the buttery mixture into a lined baking tray and flattened with my finger tips.  I then sprinkled the still frozen blueberries with a tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of flour and mixed to combine.  The blueberries were then spread across the biscuit base and the second half of the buttery mixture was crumbled over the top.  Off to the oven the bars went for around 40-45 minutes until the blueberries were bubbling, the edges were a little crispy and they were baked and golden.

As these blue beauties bake they fill the house with the most gorgeous aromas of vanilla, blueberry jam and butter, guaranteed to stir any child from their slumber and get ready for school!  Once baked, the bars don’t take long to cool and can be quickly chopped into delicious squares ready for the lunch box along with some fruit of course…

Blueberry Crumb Bars

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

INGREDIENTS

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 cups all-purpose flour

250 gm cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

2 eggs

¼ cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

2 cups frozen blueberries

1 tbs sugar

1 tbs flour

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180°c and line a 32.5 x 23 cm baking pan.

In the bowl of a food processor place sugar, baking powder, flour, butter, eggs, milk, vanilla and pulse until combined.  The dough will be moist yet crumbly.  Place half the dough into prepared tin and flatten using fingertips.  In another bowl, place blueberries, sugar and flour and stir to combine.  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.