We went blue and blackberry picking today with friends at a little jewel of a farm just outside of Booneville, AR. The morning was still cool and the kids were excited to fill up their buckets! We haven’t been picking in about 5 years, but Michael still remembered the last time when he was little and was eager to get to work. We picked for about 2 hours and had a ball. My friend Liz has five children under 11 years old, so she had plenty of help. Her girls were berry scouts who sought out the "jackpot” bushes for us that were loaded with fresh, plump fruit! We had a ball and got a good visit in at the same time. The boys went fishing at a small pond us girls picked blackberries and talked about what we were going to make with the fruits of our labor! Here’s what I decided on…Blueberry Crumb Bars.
Blueberry Crumb Bars
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 inch pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.
3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. (This took an extra 10 to 15 minutes in my oven.) Cool completely before cutting into squares.
Enjoy! So happy to have lots more berries in my freezer and frig to make smoothies, pancakes, muffins…
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