Monday, July 9, 2007

FANTASTIC BLUEBERRY CRUMBLE BARS

The talented Zorra at "Koctopf" (Spain) is organizing/has created a blogevent that any American cuisine freak should not miss: the "American Cooking Festival"!

So, if you want to participate (see infos in German), just blog about any US speciality of your choice (hamburgers, BBQs, sandwiches, salads, marinades, chowders, brownies, cheesecakes, cornbreads, sticky buns, etc...) and send you permalink to Gabi at "Crockyblog" (Germany) before the 15th of July 2007 (she is hosting the event)...

For that great and unique event, I decided to pay hommage to a fantastic baked item which is very characteristic of the cuisine made in the USA. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm talking about the fabulous BAR COOKIES (aka bars)!

As with most bars, those "Blueberry Crumble Bars" are particularly versatile, rich, "dirty" and scrumptious. With their three layers (cookie crust/fruit filling/crumble topping), they are to die for and just simply perfect! Their crust is gorgeously flaky/brittle and delicately lemon flavored, the blueberry filling is incredibly delicious with it's tartness and slightly chewy jam-like texture, and their crumble topping wonderfully. Not to forget their pleasant spiciness which is confered by the use of cinnamon and ginger, a very common spice combination in the US...

If you are on a diet, keep away from those deadly bars. But if you are in search of something extremely comforting and gorgeously satisfying, then those incredible bars are definitely for you!

Once again Tish Boyle's awesome cookbook "The Good Cookie" proves to be THE cookie baking reference book that any home baker should possess!...


~ Fantastic Blueberry Crumble Bars ~
Recipe by Tish Boyle and slightly adapted by Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums.

Makes 24 bars.

Ingredients for the crust:
1 1/2 Cups (192g) Plain white flour

2/3 Cup (160g) Light brown sugar
1/2 Tsp Salt

172g (11 Tbs) Unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 Egg (~53g)
The zest of 1 lemon, finely grated

1/2 Tsp Vanilla extract
Ingredients for the blueberry filling:
3/4 Cup (158g) Castor sugar

1 Tbs Cornstarch
1/2 Tsp Ground cinnamon
1/4 Tsp Ground ginger

2 Cups (250g) Blueberries
Ingredients for the crumb topping:

1 Cup (128g) Plain white flour
1/3 Cup (80g) Firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/4 Cup (53g) Castor sugar
1 Tsp Ground cinnamon

1/4 Tsp Salt
94g (6Tbs) Unsalted butter, melted


Method for the crust:
1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the
oven to 180° C (350° F).
2. Grease the bottom and sides of a 13 x 20 (9 by 13-inch) baking pan.
3. Place the flour, brown sugar and salt in a bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to blend.

4. Scatter the butter cubes over the flour mixture and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-sized pieces of butter, about 6 seconds.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg,
lemon zest and vanilla until blended.
6. Add the egg mixture to the food processor and process for a few seconds, just until the dough is blended, but still crumbly.
7. Turn the dough out into the prepared pan.
8. With floured fingertips, press the dough evenly into the bottom of th
e pan.
9. Set aside.

Method for the blueberry filling:
10. In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and ginger.
11. Add the blueberries and toss to coat well.
12. Spread the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust.
Method for the crumb topping:
13. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugars, cinnamon and
salt until blended.
14. Stir in the melted butter until the mixture comes together.
15. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the blueberry filling.
16. Bake the bars for 48 to 50 minutes, until the topping is lightly browned and the filling is bubbling.
17. Cool the bars completely in the pan on a wire rack.
18. Cut into 24 bars.

Remarks:
The crust can also be made by hand, as long as you respect the method.
At point 6, do not allow the dough to form a ball around the blade, otherwise the crust will be tough.
While pressing the dough into the pan, reflour your fingertips as necessary.
If you plan to use frozen blueberries in this recipe, then seek out indiv
idually quick-frozen fruits. It's not necessary to thaw them before using.
For the crumb topping, you may use light brown sugar instead of dark brown sugar.
Those bars can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.


Serving suggestions:
Eat them at any time of the day with a glass of cold milk, a cup of tea or coffee.
They are ideal for picnics and outdoor events.

If you wish to discover other US specialities, then I recommend you to go there and have a look at my recipes....

30 comments:

  1. Ah je suis d'accord pour fantastique, je rajouterai même sublime.

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  2. Il ne faut pas me mettre ca sous le nez, ca m est en general fatal!

    Bises

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  3. géniale cette recette et quel magnifique , fantastique , sublime résultat j'adore les myrtilles et là je crois que je vais craquer

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  4. C'est vrai que ça a l'air vraiment sublime ; )

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  5. je ne peux que saliver devant un tel crumble, merci pour ces détails et remarques

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  6. Je craque, surtout moi qui adore les myrtilles.

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  7. Vraiment dans mes goûts tes bars au bleuts .Justement hier j'ai fait un dessert de bleuets que j ai pas encore publié, quand les bonnes idées se recontrent,lol!
    Tes barres sont à essayer ...

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  8. rien de tel pour retrouver la forme,
    et c'est très joli !

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  9. yum.... we are big blueberry fans... will be trying this out next week...
    luv Abby

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  10. Humm, cela à l'air fameux

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  11. MMMMIIIaaammm ! ça a l'air vraiment trop trop bon

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  12. Beaux et très tentants ces petits carrés! Ils ont l'air délicieux...

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  13. This looks amazing... I love blueberries as well.
    Sab

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  14. The bars look really fantastic!

    Just fyi: Gabi from Crockyblog (http://www.crockpot-rezepte.de/) is the host of this month's event. Every month anther person is hosting the event.

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  15. these look spectacular.I'll be making some very soon...thanks!

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  16. I love crumbles and this is definitely more interesting than plain ol' apple crumble ;-)

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  17. quelle belle recette! tes bars me font de l'oeuil!!!
    merci pour l'info, j'espère que je vais pouvoir participer ;-)

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  18. Sais-tu que j'avais gagné (et n'en suis pas peu fière !) au concours improvisé à la cantine de mon école "manger le plus de tartes aux myrtilles" ?! J'peux te dire que si ça avait été "manger le plus de blueberry bars" j'aurais réalisé un record mondial ;-) Elles sont... waouh !!!

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  19. ça m'a l'air trop trop bon, je garde la recette, il va seulement falloir que je la traduise en français !! pas grave ça me fera réviser mon anglais !

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  20. Superbes ces petites bouchées !

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  21. Rosa, this is really yummy. I have bookmarked the recipe to try it. You used fresh berries right?

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  22. Rosa, your blueberry crumble bars looks delicious. I really like it. yummy! :)
    "American Cooking Festival" is very interesting for me. I am going to read all information about it. Thanks for sharing. :)

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  23. I love blueberries and my boyfriend loves crumble - so let's go for it! It looks so delicious!

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  24. omg rosa, these look fantastic! this is exactly the type of sweet i love! i might have to make this over the weekend. hopefully i can find some fresh blurberries, mmmmm

    ps, i love your pictures :)

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  25. PAPRIKAS: Merci infiniment!

    LISANKA: Pour moi de même ;-P! Bises...

    MOUNET: Wahou, un grand merci pour ton compliment!!!!

    VICTORIA: Merci!!!

    MINOUSCHKA: Merci beaucoup!

    HÉLÈNE: Merci ;-p!!!

    AWOZ: J'adore aussi les bleuets! Oui, c'est marrant, certaines idées se croisent... Je te les conseille!

    MICHETTE: Merci!!!!

    LUV ABBY: Thanks for your visit and kind comment! Please tell me how it was... Cheers!

    EDITH26: Merci!!!

    ANONYMOUS! Merci beaucoup!!!!!

    CHRIS: Merci :-D!

    COOKY MONSTER: Thanks so much, Sab!!!

    ZORRA: Thanks! I will then leave a comment on her blog..

    MYRTILLE: Thanks! Please tell me if you liked them...

    WOKANDSPOON: Yes, crumbles are great, even the ol' apple crumble ;-P!!!

    AUNTIE JO: Merci pour ton compliment! J'espère aussi que tu pourras y participer...

    AUrÉLIE: Merci pour ton gentil commentaire! Wahou, tu as gané? Incroyable..

    MIMINE: Merci! Bonne chance pour la traduction! Si tu as besoin d'aide, alors contacte-moi!

    MARIE-LAURE: Merci :-D!

    CYNTHIA: Thanks! I hope that you'll like it! Mine were frozen blueberries, but fresh ones are fine...

    AYSEYAMAN: Thanks ever so much! You just have to write a post about a US recipe and post it (the permalink) to Gaby (see Zorra's comment above)

    DOLCE: Thanks for your visit and kind comment! I hope you'll like it (do tell me how it was!)...

    ARIA: Thanks for your compliments (I'm happy to know that you like my pictures...) :-D!!! I hope it'll be to your taste! Tell me what you thought of them!

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  26. et dire que j'avais zappé cette tuerie ... quand tu auras 5 min à me consacrer , je veux bien la traduction en français !
    bonne journée

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  27. Je veux bien croire qu'ils soient fantastiques ! La texture a l'air sublimissime...
    Je ferais bien un petit tour en Suisse un de ces jours ;-)

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  28. KHALA: Oui, pas de problème! Je te la traduis au plus vite... Bonne journée!

    MINGOUMANGO: Merci! Je te conseille vivement de visiter la Suisse si tu aimes le chocolat, le fromage et les beaux paysages!...

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  29. They do look fantastic! : )

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