One of my favourite summer rituals is picking wild blueberries. This year with the spring being so wet and cold and even into June the berry crop has been patchy to say the least. But my one favourite picking spot has been loaded and I have picked it 3 times so far. Hope it has one more picking left in it as you can never have too many wild blueberries and I still haven’t frozen any!!
Blueberry Oatmeal Crumb Bars are deserving of the wild blueberries that I worked so hard to pick. The recipe comes together quickly and all the ingredients you probably have in your pantry. Plus the oven only has to be on for about 45 minutes so if you bake them nice and early in the morning it won’t heat up your house! Then you can even have them for breakfast after all they do contain oatmeal so that makes them legitimate breakfast fare.
Lining the pan with parchment paper makes it easy to lift the bars right out of the pan then you can cut into squares. Blueberries, especially the wild ones, will stain your cutting board so the parchment really does save on the clean up. I kept the cooled bars in the refrigerator but ensure you let them come to room temp before you serve them for the ultimate blueberry flavour. Have lots of napkins on hand, your family is going to love these.
- FOR THE CRUMB:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups large flake oatmeal
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 egg- slightly beaten
- FOR THE BLUEBERRY FILLING:
- 4 cups fresh blueberries- wild if possible
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- Juice of one lemon
- (about 3 tablespoons)
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- Make the Crumb: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Use a fork or pastry cutter to cut in the butter until it is the consistency of wet sand. Remove 1½ cups of the crumb mixture and set aside. Add the egg to the remaining mixture (the dough will be crumbly). Press the egg mixture into the bottom of the pan.
- Make the Filling: In a separate large bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Stir in the blueberries to coat evenly with the sugar mixture. Spread the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust, drizzling any excess juice in the bowl over the filling. With your fingers crumble the mixture you set aside evenly over the blueberry layer.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the top is light golden brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.