Blueberry Crumb Bars – Bites of pure bliss

To all you blueberry lovers out there …. if you haven’t made these before you need to make them now. I’m not sure words can do these blueberry crumb bars justice because they are quite simply bites of pure bliss. They remind me of the best and my favorite part of a blueberry crumb pie and that is the topping. Oh my … bursting with fresh blueberries in every bite you will love these! I discovered this recipe at smittenkitchen.com – check out the site – it is full of great recipes! An added plus is they are super simple to make – I multi-tasked and made these as I was making dinner!Enjoy!!

These are easiest to cut once chilled, and store even better in the fridge than they do at room temperature.

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.