Blueberry Bake-Off Shanti Hossain
Blueberry Bake-Off
With the richness of a cheesecake, the buttery crunch of a crumble bar and the bright summery flavors of lemon and Terhune blueberries, these bars are a delightful treat! Yeilds 12 bars, but can be doubled for a 9x13 pan.
Ingredients:
¾ cup Flour
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking soda
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces
¾ cup Quick cook oats
¼ cup Fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 2 small lemons)
1 tsp lemon zest
7 oz sweetened condensed milk
1 egg yolk
1 ½ cup fresh blueberries (washed and patted dry)
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8x8 pan (or spray) and line with parchment paper or foil, leaving and overhang on two opposite sides (it should resemble a sling, which you’ll use to lift the bars out of the pan.)
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugars, salt and baking soda. Using a pastry cutter or two forks, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Cut in the oats ( Note: You can use a food processor to perform these steps; simply pulse together the dry ingredients, add the butter and process until crumbly, them pulse in the oats However this get the crumb too smaller than doing it by hand)
3. With your fingers, pat half of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake the crust for 15 minutes, or until very lightly brown.
4. While the crust is baking, make the lemon filling. In a medium sized bowl, whisk lemon juice, zest, sweetened condensed milk, and egg yolks.
5. Once the crust has finished baking, pour the blueberries atop the crust and arrange to form a single, even layer. Pour the lemon filling over the blueberries, and use a spatula to smooth the top evenly.
6. Bake 6-7 minutes, until a shiny skin forms on the lemon mixture. Crumble the remaining half of the dough on top. Bake for about 30 minutes more, until the top is crunchy and brown.
7. Let cool to room temperature in the pan (about an hour), then move to the refrigerator, still in their pan, for at least 2 hours (preferably overnight). When ready to serve, lift bars out of the pan using the parchment/foil overhang. Cut bars into equal sized squares
These bars are best stored in the fridge, but will last a day or two at room temperature.