Monday, July 6, 2009

Blueberry Oat Bars (Updated)


My sister strikes again!

She's always asking me for things (eggs and bacon, usually) but this time she struck dessert gold. On a recent trip to Starbucks, my sister tried a Blueberry Oat Bar and fell in love. We still had a bunch of blueberries leftover from the cheesecake disaster and the banana blueberry buttermilk muffins, and homegirl knew exactly what I should do with them.

I started with the Almost Starbucks Blueberry Oat Bar recipe I found here and made minor changes for partial Splenda use.

Start by combining the following in a large bowl:


1 and 3/4 c. Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned)


1 and 1/2 c. AP flour, 1/2 c. brown sugar Splenda (packed)


1/2 c. chopped nuts, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt.

Stir that together and add...


3/4 c. butter (melted) and stir until mixed.


Press crust into 9" x 13" or pan, reserving 3/4 cup for topping. Bake crust for 10 minutes.

While crust is baking, put 2 c. blueberries, 1/2 c. granulated sugar, and 2 tbsp water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Make a little mixture of 1 tbsp water, 2 tbsp cornstarch, and 2 tsp lemon juice. Pour into blueberry mixture and stir and cook for about 30 seconds or until mixture thickens.


Spread blueberries on top of partially cooked crust.


Sprinkle remaining 3/4 c. of crust on top of blueberry layer. Bake for another 18 to 20 minutes until topping looks slightly browned.


And enjoy this treat on my sister.

The fresh blueberries are absolutely fabulous and this bar really showcases them.

Be warned that this "bar" is really more crumbly than anything else. It is wicked good -- but I don't know that it would stand up as a literal bar. Cut it into bars and serve it with a fork.

UPDATE: When completely cool (as in overnight), bars are very barry. Again... patience... not my strong suit. I'm working on it!

8 comments:

How To Eat A Cupcake said...

Where's the recipe from? It looks so tasty! :D I love oat bars like this one!

Amanda said...

HTEAC: Good catch! I'll link the recipe right now. :)

Anonymous said...

mmmm blueberries!

Jecca Andrew said...

coincidentally i'm eating a bar right now. best thing you've ever made me.

Laura said...

ooh you should do it! I love giving people healthy treats then telling them after they loved them that they were actually healthy :)

These bars look absolutely scrummy! I'm thinking of trying a cherry version next week if the cherry prices drop again!

kmari03 said...

mmmmmm....can you figure out the toffee almond bars next? k, thanks.

Amber said...

i am so impressed by this! oat bars seem like one of those things that I wouldn't begin to know how to make, but this looks really doable.

Eva said...

mmmm those look good. and i just happen to have apint of blueberries in the fridge. it's fate i tell you!