Blueberry Lattice Bars

by Lisey on May 17, 2012

Kristen here this time!

Lisey chose this recipe from a pile of papers in my cabinet, and since I had some blueberries that needed to be used, I thought this would be a great idea.

However, we had several problems while making these, and then after all that, it turned out that we weren’t even really terribly enthused about the way they tasted.

We initially thought that we wouldn’t post the recipe at all.  But we had my mom and my dad taste test one, and they said the bars were just fine and that they tasted like blueberry pie.

Which, I suppose, was the problem for us.  None of us are big fruit pie fans around here, and that’s especially true of me!

So, if you like blueberry pie, you’ll probably think these bars are yummy.  If you don’t like pie, then we suggest skipping this recipe.

The dough is pretty simple…cream butter and sugar together, then add an egg and vanilla, and finally add the flour and salt.

The dough needs to be chilled for two hours, so do account for that.

While the dough is chilling, make the blueberry filling.  We made ours right before assembling the bars, and that was a mistake, because the hot blueberry filling made the lattice top super tricky.

To make the filling, combine blueberries (we used frozen), sugar, and cornstarch, bring to a boil, and cook for two minutes, or until it’s thickened.

The recipe said to roll 2/3 of the dough into a rectangle and then transfer it into a 9×13 pan, but we found it easier just to press the dough into the pan.  I have a handy-dandy mini rolling pin that made the job easy.

The crust should go up the sides of the pan a bit.

Pour the blueberry filling over the crust.

Roll the remaining dough to 1/4 inch thick, cut into strips, and make a lattice top crust.

This is where things went horribly wrong for us…the dough was hard to work with to begin with, and once it hit the hot blueberry filling, there was no lifting and weaving it.

So, we just did the best we could and put the bars into the oven.

We set a timer, but unfortunately, Someone Who Shall Not Be Named was making tea in the kitchen and turned off our timer without telling us.  That meant our bars got a bit more cooked than we wanted them to be.

They weren’t exactly burnt, though…maybe just a bit browner on the edges than we’d prefer.

So, there you go!  A recipe for pie-lovers.  And a bit of real-ness from our kitchen.

Blueberry Lattice Bars-makes one 9×13 inch pan

A printable version (with a photo or no-photo option!) is available on Taste of Home.

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
FILLING:
3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Combine the butter and sugar in a bowl. Add the egg and vanilla; mix well.  Combine flour and salt; add to butter mixture.   Refrigerate dough for two hours.

Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and blueberries, and bring to a boil, stirring.  Stir for two minutes, or until thickened.

Press two thirds of the dough into a 9×13 inch pan. Pour the filling on top.

Roll the rest of the dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into 1/2 inch wide strips. Make a lattice over the filling.

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 375 degrees.  Cut into bars.

Makes about 2 dozen.

{ 11 comments }

Quick Oatmeal Whole Wheat Loaf

by Lisey on May 2, 2012

Kristen’s note:  This is an easy, no-yeast, no-knead, no-rise loaf of bread that I wanted Lisey to learn how to make.  Because as I told her, she can’t just live on cupcakes and cookies when she leaves home!

This bread uses baking powder to rise, the same way muffins do, which means that the texture isn’t quite like regular sandwich bread, and it doesn’t keep nearly as well as yeast bread does.  So, bake it the day you want to use it, and freeze leftovers if you’re not going to use them promptly.

Here’s how to make a loaf:

First, combine the liquid ingredients and mix them up.  You can do this in a measuring cup.

Next, mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir gently.  Spread the batter into a greased cake pan.

Kristen’s note: the recipe calls for an 8-inch cake pan, but mine is 9 inches. Use either, but a 9-inch pan will make a shorter loaf that won’t need to be baked as long.

Then sprinkle with 1-2 tablespoons of oatmeal.

Bake for 40-45 minutes (8 inch pan) or 35-40 minutes (9 inch pan).

Take the bread out of the pan and let it cool on a wire rack.

Oatmeal Whole Wheat Loaf

Oatmeal Quick Loaf-printable version

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
3 tablespoons oil
1 egg
1 to 2 tbsp. quick cooking oats

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Grease the bottom of an 8 inch cake pan. Mix the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup oats, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a big bowl.

Mix together the oil, egg, and milk in a small bowl. Add to the dry ingredients and mix gently.

Spread the dough in the greased pan and sprinkle the top with the 1-2 tablespoons quick-cooking oats.

Bake for 42-45 minutes (35-40 if using a 9-inch cake pan).

(yield: makes 1 16-slice loaf.)

{ 12 comments }

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