Blueberry Crumb Bars Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup shortening
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 pinch ground cinnamon (optional)
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons cornstarch

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and cinnamon, if desired. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the shortening and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

In another bowl, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.
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REVIEWS: (431)

Really yummy! I used butter instead of shortening, and used frozen berries. I cut the recipe in half too, and used part whole-wheat pastry flour. I did the "dough" in my food processor, and it never really came together, it was just a powdery mixture. I thought it wouldn't work, but went ahead with it anyways and it all came together during baking. These turned out really well. For those of you that said the dough part didn't have any real flavor, it's probably due to the shortening. Shortening has no real flavor (plus it's yucky and bad for you). Try butter, it's so much better!

I can't begin to say how great this recipe is! My sister told me it was good, so I decided to give it a try. Boy, was she right! It is crumbly, but I just added a little liquid (water mixed with lemon juice and vanilla for extra flavor) to the half of crumbs used for the base, and pre-cooked it for about 5 minutes. The base was not nearly as crumbly as the top this way. FYI, I used frozen berries for this, without defrosting first, and it baked up perfectly in the same amount of time. ETA that I have only ever used butter with this recipe- I do not cook with shortening. I also use at least half whole wheat flour. Healthier and tastier!

Made these bars several times, most recently for a bridal shower and they were a big hit. I made a few changes in the recipe. I used real butter instead of the shortening and it made a HUGE difference in the taste. Delicious! Since fresh blueberries are not in season now, I used frozen Maine blueberries (very big bag for under $5.00) that were purchased in the freezer section at Costco.) I didn't thaw them, just used them directly from the bag and the bars came out fantastic. I made these bars several times and found that you have to bake them a bit longer to get them lightly browned on top..I baked them for 55 minutes. Also, when topping with the remaining crumbs, make sure you squeeze the crumb mixture in your hands to form the crumbs before sprinkling on the top.

I followed the advice of other reviewers and used butter instead of shortening. I also used frozen berries, straight from the freezer and the result was good although if you do this, you'll need to add to the cooking time by about 15 minutes. It's also a good idea to add an extra tsp. of corn starch and be sure to let them set up for an hour or two before cutting for a clean cut. These would be really good served on a plate with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Thanks!

Delicious!! I used a mixture of frozen berries: Blueberries, Raspberries, and Blackberries. I also substituted butter for the shortning and added a small amount of almond extract to the crust. It turned out amazing!!!

Great recipe! Since there are only the two of us, I cut the recipe in half and baked it in an 8x8" pan. Turned out perfect. I also grated a little orange rind in with the frozen blueberries that I used. Actually, my hubby loved this so much I should have made the bigger size!! Thanks.

WOW!! These are delicious! Better then any blueberry muffin recipe I have tried. I took others advice and used 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. I also used butter instead of shortening and a full tsp of cinnamon. I let them cool until almost cooled and then put them in the fridge before I cut them. I thought the flour mixture was a little too floury but they still turned out perfect! I will definately make these again. Maybe with cherries or apples and walnuts. Thank you for this recipe!

With a plethera of store fresh blueberries, and company coming, I was going to bake a pie-but really felt too lazy so I tried these and WOW they are really very good!! I agree they are kind of like a crumb pie (especially having tasted it while it was still warm 'cause hubby and I couldn't bear to wait til dinner time)! Anyway, I beat the egg a little before adding it to the dough then worked the cut up two sticks of margarine (I think real butter would make these OUTSTANDINGLY rich and yummy), and egg in with my clean fingers until it was fairly crumbly-works better for me. I also added one more Tb. of cornstarch just because it has been my experience that most berry recipes never set up as much as I like. Be sure to lightly oil your pan. I also baked them at a slightly lower tempurature (my oven is weird), and added just a dash of cinnamon as well as a tiny dash of nutmeg to the crumb mixture. We're going to serve big squares of this with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side kind of like pie or cobbler because as others have said they are kind of crumbly. Thanks for a wonderfully good and simple recipe!

I gave this a 3 because I think it has potential to be a great dessert recipe! HOWEVER, it needs WAY more sugar! Blueberries are FAR too tart a fruit to serve this way.

These are delicious! They are best a little warm with vanilla ice cream melted on top. The crust and crumble topping are great and stay crunchy days later. I used fresh blueberries the first & third time I made these and black raspberries the second. The blueberries is still my favorite. I followed the recipe exactly but I used butter flavored shortening sticks (makes them stay crunchier longer!). This is my new favorite summertime dessert. I still want to experiment with more fresh fruit, I'm thinking of tart cherries. Mmmm!

This is a good recipe that is tasty and VERY easy to make.I've made this twice now and both times the bars came out perfect. As others have stated, I substituted butter for the shortening, used 1/2 C white sugar, 1/2 C brown sugar, added 1tsp of vanilla, and 1tsp of cinnamon to the crumble.The result is a very flavourful crust Oh and this time I used 2 C blue berries and 3 C frozen sliced strawberries and the result is just as perfect, so don't be afraid to experiment a little.If you do add the strawberries just add 1/4 C more sugar to the fruits to balance out the extra tartness of the strawberries . Overall this is definitely a keeper!

This recipe was AMAZING. It tastes just like my mothers blueberry buckle, but with more blueberry goodness. I followed other reviewers' suggestions and: (a) replaced 1c white sugar in crust with 1/2 c light brown sugar + 1/2 c white sugar. (b) added 1 tsp cinnamon to crust (instead of a pinch). (c) added the optional salt (d) added 1 tsp vanilla to the egg (e) added 1 tsp lemon juice to the sugar, cornstarch, and blueberry mixture (f) added one extra tsp cornstarch Definitely worth a try! I'm about to head out to buy more blueberries to make more!

Great use of summer berries. I used 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup of white sugar for the crust. I also used butter flavor crisco. I added the salt and 2 tablespoons of cinnamon. For the berries, I used 4 teaspoons of cornstarch. I made a glaze of powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, and milk. Yummy bars and not too sweet. Will def make again. Thanks for sharing!