Blueberry Pie Bars
Sarah Cool
As much as I love a chocolate-themed baked good, sometimes I crave something a little lighter, and that often means that I look to something that’s creamy and fruity. I just happen to have a generous amount of blueberries in my fridge and felt compelled to use them in a delicious way. These blueberry pie bars are just what I’m craving. Imagine a fusion of a blueberry crumble and blueberry pie and you’ll get a good sense of what to expect from these purply-blue marbled blueberry pie bars. So good!
The crust is an important part of the success of these blueberry pie bars, and the crust isn’t complicated at all. I’ve got flour, sugar, salt, and butter along with a dash of vanilla extract all mixed together until the dough comes together, it will be crumbly but that’s just what I want. Be sure to reserve about a cup or so for the topping. The crust is pressed evenly into my 9×13-inch baking dish and transferred to the oven to bake for a few minutes. Which means I now turn my focus to the filling.
Nothing fancy here, just eggs, flour, sour cream, sugar, and the star of the show, the blueberries. To keep the filling on the lighter side, I’ll beat the eggs until they’re just frothy then mix in the rest of the ingredients. I’ll fold in the blueberries to make sure the batter maintains the texture that I’m looking for. Now I can grab the crust from the oven, pour in the filling, and scatter my reserved 1 cup of the crust from earlier. Back into the oven to finish baking for another 40 minutes or so.
The bars must cool before you slice a square to share. Patience, as they say, is a virtue and watching these bars cool really tests my patience! My favorite part of blueberry pie bars is, of course eating them, but it’s that first piece that I cut from the dish. Just look at that beautiful blueberry marbling! It’s a visual masterpiece, a captivating aroma, and a sensation for the sweet tooth all in one.
If you’ve got some handy kitchen helpers around the house, then get them involved in a baking project that is one part culinary arts and one part science project, and the best part is you get to eat your homework!
Blueberry Pie Bars
1 hour to prepare 12 bars
Ingredients
- For the crust and topping:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- For the filling:
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups fresh blueberries
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter or nonstick spray. Set aside.
- Make the crust: In a large bowl, beat the flour, sugar, salt, chilled butter, and vanilla with an electric mixer until crumbly.
- Set aside 1 cup of the mixture. Press remaining mixture firmly into prepared baking dish. Bake 15 minutes.
- While crust is baking, make the filling: In a large clean bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer until frothy.
- Add sugar, sour cream, flour, and salt, and mix until thoroughly combined. Gently stir in blueberries.
- Spoon filling evenly over baked crust.
- Top with reserved 1 cup of filling and bake until top is golden brown, 45-55 minutes.
- Let cool 1 hour before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Hot Eats and Cool Reads.