Fresh Blueberry Crumb Bars mmmm....

I bought tons of fresh blueberries from the farmers market, with the intention of baking with them. Having said that, i didn't have any recipes for great things featuring blueberries. UNTIL! i stumbled upon a wonderful blog "For the Love of Cooking" and it featured these gorgeous blueberry bars. Just in time for the downtown fireworks tomorrow! yeah!!!

I am baking them right now and they smell sooooooo good!

So, here we go!!!!!

Blueberry Crumb Bars:Recipe and photos by For the Love of Cooking Recipe from One Perfect Bite

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup + 1/4 cup white sugar, divided

1 tsp baking powder

2 sticks of cold butter

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

Zest and juice of one lemon

4 cups fresh blueberries

4 tsp cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Coat a 9 x 13 glass baking pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, brown sugar, 1/2 cup whitesugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to cut in butter until mixture is in pieces no larger than a pea.

Mix in egg and vanilla.

Dough will be crumbly but will stick together when squeezed.

Pat half of the dough into the pan.

In another small bowl, mix 1/4 cup white sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Add blueberries and gently toss them to coat.

Pour blueberry mixture on top of the dough in pan.

Then crumble remainder of doughevenly over the blueberries.

Bake in the oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the top is slightlybrowned. Cool completely, then cut into squares. Enjoy.

gigi thoughts: OH MY GOOOOODESS! These are by far the most DELICIOUS things on the planet. OMG. I'm pretty sure i'm not going to have any left for te party. OMG. You all must try these, they are PHENOM!!

Healthified raspberry bars

I'm hoping to turn baking into a guilt free adventure for our taste buds. So, i tried this recipe that i saw on the Betty Crocker website: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes.aspx/healthified-raspberry-bars?WT.mc_id=taf_recipe_BC

I tweeeeeked it a bit, and my changes will be in the parenthesis that follow....

You will need:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar ( i only used 1/2 of a cup)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg white (i used a whole egg)
3/4 cup raspberry jam/jelly
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
***i added a 1/2 tsb of baking soda for some body***

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line 8-inch square pan with foil. (I used a 9 inch square pan so that these would be more bar like and less cake like). In large bowl, mix flours, sugar, butter and egg white with electric mixer on low speed until crumbly. (i fudged up and mixed a bit long and lost the crumb like texture, but it didn't make a difference)

(i also added a handful of chopped walnuts to the batter)

2. Reserve 1/2 cup crumb mixture for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture firmly in bottom of pan. Spread fruit spread to within 1/2 inch of edges. Sprinkle reserved 1/2 cup crumb mixture over top; sprinkle with walnuts.

3. Bake about 40 minutes (i went about 37 minutes) or until light golden brown. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

RESULT:

These actually came out a bit dry, even with the extra moisture i added, i think next time a bit more jam will be necessary. hmmmm....i think i may add a glaze. But, hey! they are still good, AND healthy! I think they'd be GREAT for an after school snack for the kiddies. Give'em a try and lemme know your thoughts!

Smooches! gigi!