Blueberry Bars
I live in berry country. For years our city was the raspberry capital of the world, but blueberries are quickly taking over. Every road you drive down has a stand where you can get farm fresh flats of berries. It’s my favourite time of year. Usually I go down to the village near my house and visit one of the grandmothers who runs the fruit stand. My car always smells like warm fruit afterwards.
This year I’m in a CSA (community shared agriculture) through Glen Valley Organic Farm and I’ve been lucky to get tons of organic blueberries. There’s just one problem… how does one person eat 6 pounds of blueberries? I’ve been eating bowlfuls of them, frozen some, and still can’t seem to make a dent. So, I came up with this recipe for blueberry bars. If you can measure and follow directions you can make these.
Makes: 12 squares
Ingredients:
Crumble
2 1/2 cups quick cooking rolled oats
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
1 cup brown sugar (not packed)
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup vegan margarine, melted
Fruit Mix
4 cups of blueberries
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp minit tapioca*
3/4 cup white sugar
*minit tapioca isn’t a typo, that’s what the box says. I buy mine from Kraft, if you can’t find it you need minute/instant/granulated tapioca for it to gel.
First up preheat your oven to 375F and find a glass or ceramic casserole dish that’s around 9x13 inches (yes, I’m Canadian and using inches we are a complicated people when it comes to our methods of measuring).
Next you’re going to deal with the fruit. By mixing the fruit ahead of time it gives it time to macerate which will make the blueberry filling more jammy. In a big bowl or measuring cup add 4 cups of freshly washed blueberries, 3 tbsp of lemon juice (it’s about 1 squeezed juicy lemon), 1 tbsp of minit tapioca, and 3/4 cup white sugar. Give everything a big stir and set on the side.
Grab another big bowl (like, really big) and measure in 2 1/2 cups quick cooking rolled oats (not instant oatmeal!), 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, 1 cup brown sugar (not packed), and 1/4 tsp of salt.
Measure out 1 cup of vegan margarine (I like Becel). If you’re not sure how to get an accurate measurement and don’t want to pack it into a measuring cup use the wet measure method. Fill a 2 cup liquid measuring cup with 1 cup of water (stick with me, there’s a tiny amount of science). Spoon in your margarine and make sure it’s totally submerged. Keep spooning in margarine until the water line hits 2 cups. Congrats, you now have 1 cup of margarine. Big shout out to my Mom who taught me how to measure this way when I used to watch her make peanut butter cookies as a child.
Drain the water and microwave the margarine until it melts. Add the melted margarine to the bowl of oat mix. Get a strong spatula and mix it all up until everything is wet and clumpy.
Get out your casserole dish, don’t bother greasing it or adding parchment paper, just dump half of the oat mix in and start pressing it down. If you’re like me and easily frustrated when things aren’t even take a sheet of wax paper and lay it on top and press down with your hands until it’s even.
Take your now juicy blueberries and dump them on top of the crumbly base. Yes, including all that juice. Yes, it’s okay if it looks like there is lots of liquid. Trust the process.
Top with the other half of the oat mixture.
Bake in the oven at 375F for 45 minutes or until the top gets brown and the blueberries start bubbling through.
LET. IT. COOL. before you try to eat it. At least 20 minutes or you’ll burn your mouth on molten berries.
This isn’t sponsored at all but in case you’re trying to find the products I’m using at the grocery store here is what the packaging looks like. I know both Minit Tapioca and Whole Wheat Pastry flour can be tough to hunt down, but I get mine at regular big box stores. It’s just usually hidden at the bottom or top shelf or behind a post somewhere.
