Sometimes I feel a really intense need to choose a dessert that will please and impress. I’m no pastry chef, so I completely agonize over whether I should bake a cake (but I’m not so great at cakes), or a pie (but I’m crust-challenged), or cookies (but they’re not usually quite fancy enough for serving), or my old standby: brownies (always a hit, but how many different kinds of brownies can you make, really?). So I browse through my binders,
and then I head to my cookbook shelf…
…and I continue to fret… until I’ve at least narrowed the choices down to a specific ‘type’ of recipe: Bars. Fruit Bars. For a family beach barbecue where we were entertained my husband’s many East Coast relatives, I decided on Blueberry Bars. I wanted the relatives to love them. I felt the need to impress. And I had a lot of blueberries. Originally from Fine Cooking Magazine, I made: Lemony Blueberry Streusel Bars.
There were a few time-consuming steps involved in the making of this carefully chosen dessert.
The crust must be baked, and then the filling baked too. When the crumble is added, it’s given a final bake. You must be patient after that because it will need to cool completely before you attempt to slice it up. Even better, if you can afford the time to let it chill in the refrigerator for any length of time, you’ll find that you’ll get cleaner cuts.
The result is a sweet-tart blueberry bar. The lemon filling is a wonderful creamy layer, and the crust and crumble are delicious too.
I was pretty lucky… these were a hit out of the park. All of the agony, I guess, paid off. The relatives loved them, with the exception of a couple of blueberry naysayers who refused to try them (there are always a few in every crowd). I gave a couple of samplers to our favorite beach house neighbors too, and they promptly asked for the recipe and made a batch for themselves. These are a definite must-try if you have a bunch of plump, fresh blueberries this summer.
This recipe can be found HERE.
40 Comments
I can see why they loved them! Lemon & Blueberry are a perfect combination! They look so completely YUMMY!
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The bars look delicious, but I also love the way you organized your recipes into those binders with different categories of sweets.
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lol..I had to laugh. I do the white binder thing as well!
Your bars look wonderful
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Your timing couldn’t be more perfect. It’s like I called you up and said I was looking for an amazing blueberry bar to take to friends tomorrow and you saved the day. I have all the ingredients in the fridge and I’m ready to go.
Thank you! I’ll let ya know how they turn out.
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It would be so hard to wait to cut into these bars!
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Lemon & Blueberry bars oh these are just amazing! They certainly have impressed me!
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I love lemon & blueberry together!
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Ooh yum, these look so good! I love your binders!! And the vintage-ish bookshelf, so filled with cookbooks! I wish to have such a collection sometime!!
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Oooh! These bars look heavenly! I think blueberry and lemon is my favorite dessert combination. Not only delicious, but so pretty to look at!
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Great recipe for summer! A true crowd pleaser!
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That looks amazingly tasty.
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Oh my gosh! These look amazing. Can’t wait to try them!!!
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Oh, I’m having this huge love/hate relationship thing with these bars. Love the taste…I’m imagining them right now…but hate that I know I’d eat what, the whole batch? I think that I need to figure out a gluten-free version, because these things are calling my name.
Also, your binder organization of recipes has just caused a light to go off in my head. I have so many clippings that need to be organized, and I couldn’t think of how to categorize them. This is a good inspiration!
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These look tasty. What a great flavor combo!
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FUnny-You do the same thing I do with recipes-however yours appear to be more organized. I better get on it.
Going to try the bars they look fab!
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These look amazing!!! I love blueberries
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I love how organized you are with your binders. I have piles that I move around and shuffle into new piles every so often. Your bars look wonderful!
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They look fabulous! I’m so impressed with how organized you are with your binders! My stuff all is all over the place.
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LOVE those binders!!! I have a big one with plastic pockets for appetizers, soups, chicken, bread, dessert, etc. Somehow the dessert pockets are multiplying!!!
May need to use your method!
These bars look delicious!
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That looks so refreshing and yummy! I love blueberries! And that book shelf- my style and gorgeous!
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Gotta love lemon + blueberries. I reckon that I would be very happy to put the time in to make some of these
Love the shot of your binders too – I wish I could say that I was as organised about my recipes!
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I love these bar. I’m always looking for a new recipe for blueberries and I think you’ve give me a great one. Thanks.
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That looks perfect for a cookout this weekend. Glad I found it. Thanks for sharing.
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How could anyone be a blueberry naysayer?!?! I could not be friends with any of those
These look amazinggg!!
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these look great! and i love your binders! and your bookshelf makes me feel a little better about my cookbook shelf (hubs thinks i have too many–not possible!)
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It’s a sickness isn’t it? All the binders( I have a couple) and the bookcase (mine, overflowing)filled with cookbooks. Not too mention all the baking magazines.
I’m sorry that you had some folks not give them a try. They looked really good. I try to practice (& teach my children) the “one bite to be polite rule.” More for everyone else, right?!
~ingrid
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Holy yum! I am jealous of your organized binders! I just have stacks of torn out recipes
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LOL I did the binder thing as well, but finally gave them up and just saved all my recipes in my computer. I have a very extensive collection! Only thing is, I don’t get to cook them all, just collect them!! Crazy.
:)
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ANYTHING that you make would impress/please me!! Love your treats.
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I’ve posted this recipe before and I love them…just love them.
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Nicely organised with the binders! You made the streusel bars look so easy, and delicious!
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Those. Look. So. Good.
YUM
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These look soo good. How I wish we got blueberries here!
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oooooh aaaaah, irresistible!
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Starred for an occasion where I need to impress!
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It’s funny, I have been agonizing for the last two days on what to make tomorrow and I still haven’t decided! LOL These look great, glad they worked out
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I have to try this, it looks wonderful!!! You could probably do this with cherries too! You are much more organized with your binders than I am!!!LOL!!
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These blueberry bars look so good! The blueberry and lemon combo is a really nice one.
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This looks absolutely delicious – a perfect combination of summer flavors.
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what a nice change from my standard blueberry bars. thanks for this!
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