blueberry | Pasta Princess and More

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.

Source: Smittenkitchen.com

I’ve not had much luck in finding a fantastic recipe for blueberry muffins. It seems that they weren’t sweet enough or too sweet, just not the way a blueberry muffin should be. That all changed when I found this recipe at sweetpeaskitchen.com. She posted a recipe for “Blueberriest Muffins” that were everything I wanted them to be … loaded with blueberries, moist, just the right amount of sweetness, and oh so delicious!

Lemon-Sugar Topping:

1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated zest from 1 lemon

Muffins:

2 cups fresh blueberries, divided
1 1/8 cups plus 1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

For the topping: In a small bowl, stir together sugar and lemon zest; set aside.
For the muffins: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line muffin cups with muffin liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer. Cook, mashing berries with spoon and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs until thick, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using rubber spatula, gently fold egg mixture and remaining 1 cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened (do not overmix.)
Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon 1 teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using a toothpick, gently swirl berry filling into batter. Sprinkle lemon sugar topping evenly over muffins.
Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

Yields: 12 muffins

Recipe Source: Sweetpeaskitchen.com