Blueberry Oat Crumble Bars | How Sweet It Is

Blueberry Oat Crumble Bars.

March 30, 2011

Last week I bought blueberries. They were pretty.

This week I found them dying in my fridge. Nothing new there. No harm was really done – just a few wrinkles.

I wanted to make some sort of granola bar, but with fresh blueberries. I envisioned the berries “popping” like they so often do in pancakes and muffins. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?

I thought so too.

So into the bowl went whole wheat flour and oats and cinnamon and brown sugar. All healthy. Especially the brown sugar… remember, since it’s brown? I was left with a delicious, cinnamon scented crumbly bar. A very healthy one too, if you just pretend to skim over that photo above pouring a bowl full of butter into the mix. Details.

As you can see, the blueberries popped just like I hoped they would. I was sold on my first bite – it actually tasted like blueberry crumble and blueberry cobbler and blueberry muffins and everything sinfully blueberry flavored. They were so good! I almost ate the entire first row before I photographed them.

While they are delicious warm, they don’t want to stay together at that temperature. If you’d like to eat them as bars, I’d recommend waiting for them to cool completely before cutting. It is totally worth it. The bars get a bit crunchy and taste just like… dare I say it? Blueberry cinnamon streusel. Or heaven. Whichever you prefer to call it.

But if you can’t wait for them to cool, I would highly suggest crumbling the mix right into some yogurt. Or let’s be honest – some ice cream. Because I would definitely choose ice cream over yogurt. Warm, crumbly blueberry bars over cold, creamy vanilla bean ice cream? I need nothing else in life.

Blueberry Crumble Bars

makes about 12 bars

1 1/2 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup butter + 2 tablespoons

1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, oats, cinnamon and salt and mix until combined. Melt the 1/2 cup of butter and add it, along with the vanilla, to the oat mixture. Stir until moistened. This may take a minute or two! Fold in the blueberries – it’s okay if they pop a little bit.

Butter and flour an 8×8 baking pan. Press batter into the pan. Melt remaining butter and drizzle it over the bars. Bake for 20 minutes, the let cool completely – this can take up to 45 minutes! Cut and serve. Can be kept in the fridge or at room temperature in a sealed container.