blueberry bars - fresh blueberry recipe
Bars and brownies Cakes

Blueberry bars

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 !

blueberry bars - fresh blueberry recipe

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 - fresh blueberry recipe

Blueberry bars

These blueberry bars have a ooey gooey fresh blueberry filling enveloped in sweet buttery dough.

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

The bars remain good for upto 3 days at room temperature and longer in the refrigerator.
This recipe can be doubled to be baked in a 9 x 13 inch pan
For making a small batch , divide all ingredients in half and bake in a loaf pan for 32 to 35 minutes. 
Don’t worry too much about the evening out the batter layers as it is sticky and it doesn’t make a difference after baking.
You can use fresh or frozen blueberries ( I used fresh ) , or you can even use store-bought blueberry pie filling / or any other fruit filling.
Taste the lemon/lime glaze and add more lemon juice if needed. But this will thin it out , so you may need to add more icing sugar as well. A thinner glaze will seep into the bars while a thicker one will stay on as a layer or lines like icing .
My measuring cup is 240 ml. 
blueberry bars - fresh blueberry recipe

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!

blueberry bars - fresh blueberry recipe

4 thoughts on “Blueberry bars”

    1. 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 !

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating