Blueberry Breakfast Bars
ingredients:
Blueberry filling:
- 3 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and destemmed
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar
- 3 tbsp A.P. flour
- 2 tbsp lemon juice (freshly squeezed, 1 medium lemon)
- 1 tbsp lemon zest (also 1 medium lemon)
- 1 tsp water
Crust/crumble:
- 1 ½ cup old fashioned rolled oats
- ¾ cup raw sliced almonds
- ¼ cup raw sesame seeds
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 4 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 4 tbsp vegetable shortening
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 3 tbsp ice water
Preheat your oven to 350 °F.
To prepare the blueberry filling:
- Combine blueberries, sugar, flour, lemon juice and zest, and water in a medium sauce pan.
- Stir over medium heat until the berries begin to pop and the mixture thickens.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
To prepare the crust/crumble:
- Spread the oats, almonds, and sesame seeds across a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Place in the 350 °F oven and toast the mixture for 15 minutes, tossing occasionally.
- Meanwhile, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Mix well.
- Cut the butter and shortening into the flour mixture until the fat is evenly distributed. (I used a heavy fork.)
- Add the toasted oats, almonds, and sesame seeds to the bowl and continue the cutting action — you should succeed in crushing most of the almond slivers — until well mixed. (Note: you may want to let the oat mixture cool completely before adding it, but I added it after resting just a few minutes without issue.)
- Add the beaten egg and water to the bowl and stir/cut to integrate it. The mixture should be damp and stick together when pressed.
To bake the breakfast bars:
- Line an 8x8 baking dish/pan with parchment.
- Dump about ¾ of the crust/crumble mixture into the pan and press (just reuse that cutting fork) into the bottom at a uniform thickness.
- Pour the blueberry filling on top of the crush and gently spread it to cover the crust completely.
- With your fingertips drop the remaining crust/crumble across the top of the filling.
- Bake at 350 °F for 30 minutes, or until the crumble topping is golden-brown.
- Do not remove from the baking dish/pan — cool on the counter for 45 minutes before tranferring to the refrigerator to cool another hour or two.
For service:
- Lift the parchment out of the baking dish/pan and place on solid surface. Fold down the edges of the parchment.
- Cut into 12 to 16 bars.
- Refrigerate any uneaten bars.