So , when I see some not-so-ordinary food item around , I love to grab some and then figure out a way to use them in some bake or dessert. This is particularly true for fresh fruits and the like. And while I am figuring out what to make with them , they so often go bad on me. Not their fault. I take too long to make up my mind on what to do and then too long to get around to doing it. Not just in baking , in life in general .
Good blueberries aren’t so common in India ( more common now than earlier though) and good blueberries at a good price even less common. So I got my hands on a pack and as usual spent a LOT of time on Pinterest , Google and Foodgawker trying to find a good recipe for them. Surprising how so many of blueberry recipes are muffins ( made them ) , lemon and blueberry cakes in some form or other ( made those too ) and pies. I didn’t feel like a pie , and then came across these blueberry bars that seemed like a great idea !
They were ! Or they wouldn’t have made it onto the blog of course . These blueberry bars have a couple of steps and not as straight forward as say, your brownies and blondies . You need to make a blueberry filling , that takes a few minutes . And a lime / lemon glaze for the top. This is optional but again, it takes only a few minutes to make it and I would strongly suggest you do as it does add a lot to the flavour !
If you are wondering where my glaze is , well I made it more lemony than sweet and its all soaked into the cracks and crevices of the bars!
If you don’t feel like making a whole batch of these , you can scale them down to a smaller batch like I did with these dulce de leche bars .
Blueberry bars
Ingredients
- 112 grams or 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 150 grams or 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
- 190 grams or 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- blueberry filling at room temperature
For the blueberry filling :
- 100 grams or 3/4 cup blueberries fresh or frozen
- 50 grams or 1/4 cup sugar
- 60 ml or 1/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 2 tsp lemon or lime juice
For the lemon/ lime glaze (optional) :
- 50 grams or 1/2 cup icing sugar or powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice
- 10 grams or about 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature or melted
Instructions
To make the blueberry filling :
- In a saucepan , measure out the blueberries , sugar, lime/lemon juice and 2 tablespoons (half ) of the water
- Over medium heat , heat until the sugar is melted and the blueberries are half broken down (mushy ). Taste and add more sugar / lime or lemon juice as needed.
- In a small bowl, mix the corn flour in the 2 remaining two tablespoons of water .
- Turn the heat to low , add the corn flour mixture and continue heating for 3-4 minutes stirring constantly as it thickens further.
- Keep in mind that the filling will thicken further as it cools.
- Take off heat and cool completely before using.
To make the blueberry bars :
- Preheat the oven to 350 F / 180 C. Butter and flour a 8 inch square pan . Line the bottom with parchment paper (optional)
- In a bowl , stir or sift together flour , baking powder and salt. Keep aside.
- In another bowl , beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and creamy.
- Add the eggs , ONE BY ONE , beating well after each egg to incorporate well.
- Add the vanilla and beat well.
- Add the flour mixture and beat until it comes together
- In your prepared pan , spread about half the batter / dough as evenly as possible.
- Spread / spoon the blueberry filling on top .
- Spread the remaining batter / dough on top or just adds in clumps all over
- Bake at 180 C/ 350 F for 42 to 45 minutes until top is lightly browned
- Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes
- If using, make the lemon or lime glaze by mixing together sifted icing sugar , butter and lemon / lime juice until smooth
- Gently remove the bars slab from the pan and place right side up on a cooling rack
- When the bars are still warm , using a spoon pour the lemon/lime glaze over the top. You can also pipe it on in lines.
- Cool completely before slicing and serving !
Notes
These blueberry bars are delicious. More cake-y than chewy with a few crusty areas. The blueberry filling is nice and jammy . And the lime sneaked in via the filling and the glaze just added the necessary citrus notes . These are definitely worth a try if you get your hands on some berries!
These blueberry bars look so yummy! Definitely want to try this recipe and I’m sure the kids will love this.
Thank you so much !
How to replace eggs
Hi Ritu.. you can try 1/2 cup curd. In which case you can use 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/4 tsp baking soda. Or u can make banana blueberry bars by using 1/2 cup mashed bananas instead of the eggs. Let me know if you try it !