Blueberry Pie Bars
It is crazy how sunshine affects my motivation. There is a reason this south florida raised girl has landed in California! I crave sunshine. It was raining non-stop for the past three months in LA (which is great for the drought, but bad for my motivation). When it rains all I want to do is curl up on the couch with the dog and read a book. But when it is sunny, I feel like I could rule the world. So to the sun is finally out and I am ready to celebrate. Blueberry lemon bars seem like a good thing to celebrate with right?
Couple notes on the recipe.
First off, you could use frozen or fresh blueberries with this recipe. If you use frozen, make sure to use fully defrosted blueberries with any excess liquid removed. Also the only difference you might see fresh vs. frozen is that the blueberries will bleed into the bottom crust a little more.
Also you can make these gluten- free by only using almond flour in the recipe. You could even make then paleo by using coconut sugar in the place of both sugars and only almond flour.
Lastly, consider playing around with the recipe by swapping with other types of fruit - strawberries or raspberries would be great in here, as would peaches or apricots.
Enjoy!
Blueberry Lemon Bars
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup almond flour
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks (6 oz) butter
1 egg
2 tsp. lemon zest
pinch of salt
3 cups blueberries
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 1/2 Tbs. corn starch
Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Spray a 8 x 8 pan with non-stick spray then line with parchment paper, leaving a 1" overhang.
In the bowl of a food processor (or using a hand mixer) pulse to combine both flours, brown sugar, butter, egg, lemon zest, and a pinch of salt. Pulse until the mixture is well combined and sticks together then pressed with your fingers. Set aside.
In a medium bowl combine the blueberries, granulated sugar, lemon juice, corn starch and a pinch of salt.
Assemble the bars by placing half of the flour mixture in the bottom of the prepared pan and pressing into an even layer. Top with the blueberry mixture then crumble the remaining flour mixture evenly over the top of the blueberry lemon bars.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Let cool slightly before cutting.
Makes 8 large bars or 12 smaller bars.