Blueberry Crumble Bars: Perfect for "Ice Days"

It's an "Ice Day"!! What?

I've heard of "Fog Delays" and "Snow Days"...but "Ice Days"?? I'm not sure why I'm surprised, considering I live in Indiana - a perfect state for people who love inconsistent and to-the-extreme weather conditions. As I write this I can see the freezing rain hit the windows and hear the trees (covered by a layer of ice) creak as they get tossed in the 40 mph freezing wind. I love Indiana...

Just lovely!

Since it's an "Ice Day" and I didn't have to go into work, I decided to do what any person would do in this situation - bake! I had to move quickly this morning as I wasn't sure how long we would have power at my house. The chosen recipe was Blueberry Crumble Bars! MMM the name just sounds delicious.

I have been stalking www.foodgawker.com lately and came across this recipe. I'm not sure why I was drawn to this one, considering there are multitudes of chocolate dessert recipes on the site and I am a sucker for chocolate. I decided to take a risk (went for it) and it turned out to be worth it - these bars are so light, crisp and refreshing - perfect for an "Ice Day" :-) 

Here's the recipe:

1 cup white sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter 

1 large egg

1/4 tsp. salt

Zest and juice of one lemon

4 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar

4 tsp. cornstarch

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

Spray the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13 inch glass baking pan. Optional: For easy removal after done baking, put a piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan - it's fine if it hangs over the sides of the pan - and spray the parchment.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (fitted with paddle attachment) combine the 1 cup of sugar, flour and baking powder on low speed. Add the salt and lemon zest. Mix until combined. Add the butter (I cut mine into small cubes) and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture.

Add the egg and mix on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small peas. Pat half of the dough into the prepared pan.

In a separate bowl, combine the lemon zest, 1/2 cup sugar and cornstarch. Gently mix in the blueberries. Pour this mixture evenly onto the crust. Crumble the remaining dough over the berry layer

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes (I left mine in for 50) or until the top is slightly brown. Let cool completely and transfer to the fridge to chill before cutting into squares. Store in a container in the fridge.

I hope you love these as much as I did!