Healthy Delicious Recipes

 

Best Blueberry Bars Recipe!

Today I share a blueberry bars recipe that I am certain you are going to love!” What is the first think you think of when you hear the words blueberry bars? It always reminds me of that joyful feeling of the first 5 minutes of walking into a college coffee shop.

One of the first things I would notice through the translucent window in a coffee shop as I would search for a dessert to compliment my coffee is a decent blueberry bar. It is a blissful memory. I think about how happy I felt every time I’d walk into a coffee shop at college to treat myself before going to class. Blueberry bars would catch my eye because of the vibrant color cooked blueberries radiate.

Blueberry bars were not always be my first choice of dessert with my coffee because I liked choosing what looked freshest to me. I do remember that sometimes they would actually taste quite cake-y and dull, and the boldness of the blueberry flavor wasn’t always present.

When I started making my own blueberry bars, I knew I had to make lots of tweaks to really make it taste desirable and exciting. Lo and behold, when you are determined to make something magical happen, it really does!

If you like devouring classic desserts that make you want to lick every crumb left on your plate, you are in for an absolute treat with this blueberry bars recipe! Once you use your a homemade blueberry bars recipe like this one, you will probably never buy another blueberry bar at coffee shops!

Helpful Tips for Making These Bars

Some tips to keep in mind when making these blueberry bars is to wait for them to cool completely and refrigerate them for about an hour if you want the bars to hold their shape. If you don’t mind a warm bar, feel free to enjoy them without refrigerating them. They smelled so heavenly that I personally couldn’t wait for them to cool down!

Another tip that I like to incorporate is to use a little molasses with sugar to turn it into brown sugar. This is basically the way brown sugar is made and I like to make my own. If you do not have molasses in your pantry, feel free to substitute brown sugar in this recipe.

Additionally, use cold butter when making the crumbly dough for these bars. The cold butter keeps the crumbly texture and if its too melted, it will resemble more of a biscuit than the crumble texture it is intended to have.

I also like using homemade vanilla extract with this recipe. If you want to do the same, check out my homemade vanilla extract recipe here.

The last tip I want to share with this blueberry bars recipe is that you want to check for a nice golden brown color for your bars when they are ready.

This blueberry bars recipe is very hands so don’t be afraid to get in there (with clean hands) and enjoy the process. Let’s bake some bars!

 

Prep time: 20 minutes	Bake Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 12 slices	Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients Dough 3 cups all purpose flour (or bread flour) 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1 cup sugar + 1 tbsp molasses or 1 cup light brown sugar 1 cup cold butter (cut in small cubes) 2 tsp vanilla extract 1 egg Blueberry filling 4 heaping cups of blueberries (fresh) 1 tbsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch 1/4 cup sugar 1 tsp orange zest 1 tsp lemon zest 1/4 cup juice of freshly squeezed orange (approximately 1 orange) 2 tbsp juice of freshly squeezed lemon (approximately 1 lemon) 1 tbsp melted butter (to grease the pan)

Instructions 1. Preheat oven to 350F. 2. In a large mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cubed cold butter. Using a pastry cutter or your hands, mix the ingredients together until it resembles a crumbly texture. Add vanilla extract and lightly beaten egg, and mix once more. Set aside.3. Grease a 9×13 inch pan with melted butter and set aside. 4. In a large mixing bowl, add fresh blueberries, sugar, arrowroot powder, lemon and orange zest, lemon and orange juice, and mix until well combined. Set aside. 5. Separate the crumbly dough mixture into half and place first half of it into your greased pan and press firmly to evenly cover the pan. 6. Add all of the blueberry filling on top of the pressed dough. 7. Add the second half of your crumbly dough on top of the blueberries and sprinkle it evenly all over the pan. *See video 8. Bake for 40 minutes or until the top of the bars turns light golden brown. Let it cool completely and then slice. If you want a hardened blueberry bar, once it is completely cooled, place it in the refrigerator for 1+ hours and then serve.

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