Creamy Blueberry Lemon Bars

Spring is upon us, although it is still taking a bit of imagination to believe that it really is Spring because of the erratic weather. I think tomorrow we have a forecast of possible snow showers?! It seems like we're running through all four seasons sometimes, since we've had a couple of 80 degree days already, interspersed with downright chilly days.

At a recent department potluck, I decided to find a treat that emanated Spring, and to me one of the fruits that reminds one of the Spring/Summer interface is blueberries. Mmm, I love blueberries, especially in quickbreads and cakes. (You may remember other posts I've had about blueberries: blueberry muffins and blueberry mochi cake, and of course the recent blueberry coffeecake. I have yet to make and post about my favorite blueberry muffin recipe, the one I've been making since early college. That'll have to wait until another time.)


And of course one of the classic pairings with blueberry is lemon. These lemon blueberry bars have great textural and flavor contrasts, with the crisp and crumbly crust/topping, the creamy and slightly tart lemon cream, and the juicy and sweet blueberries running throughout. It's pretty quick to put together, makes enough to feed a crowd since it's made in a 9x13 inch pan, and quite yummy. I didn't really have a problem dispatching of the whole pan of bars at the potluck. Luckily I save the end trimmings for us to nibble on at home.

My only complaint was that I felt there wasn't enough enough creamy goodness, so I almost feel like I'd double the lemon cream part of the recipe next time! If anyone decides to do so, let me know how it comes out. Meanwhile you can see from my cross-section pictures that the ratio of cream to crust is fairly conservative as written. But if you are the type that likes nutty crumb toppings, then this bar, as written, was made for you!


Creamy Lemon Blueberry Bars (adapted from Cookie Madness)

Ingredients:
1 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces or slightly softened
1 & 1/2 cups oats, quick cooking (I used old-fashioned, and that works fine too)

2 large egg yolks
1 can 14-oz sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp lemon zest

2 cups room temp blueberries, washed and dried with towel (if using frozen, thaw and drain)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line a 9x13 inch rectangular baking pan.

In a food processor or stand mixer, combine flour, white and brown sugars, salt, and baking soda and mix. Add butter and pulse or mix until crumbly. Add oats and mix.

Dump about 2/3 of the oat mixture into the prepared pan, spreading the mixture evenly across the pan and patting/compressing into a crust. Bake crust for 12 minutes.

For the filling, whisk together the condensed milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and egg yolks in a bowl and let it stand for at least 5 minutes.

Spread the blueberries evenly over the baked crust, then pour the lemon cream mixture over the blueberries. Spread cream mixture evenly over the crust/blueberries using a spatula. Bake until the lemon mixture starts to set and forms a shiny "skin" on top, about 7-8 minutes. Then sprinkle the remaining 1/3 of the flour/sugar topping mixture over the cream. If using, sprinkle pecans on top as well at this point.

Bake for additional 25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Cool bars in pan until cool enough to transfer without crumbling, about an hour. Once cool, chill for at least 2 hours before cutting. These bars are supposed to get better and better over time. Cut the bars into 24 servings, and enjoy.