Blueberry Lemon Crumb Bars

These bars are always a hit in our house. We have done every sort of variation and these lemon blueberry ones were one of the tastiest combos. The acidity of the lemon plays nicely with the sweet berry, and the almond extract brings a nutty undertone. You can easily double this and freeze half which is what we do, and you can easily sub in any fruit. Check out our Mixed Fruit Crumb Bars for ideas! We also do a Raspberry Lime one that is worth a try!

Blueberry Lemon Crumb Bars
Makes one 8 inch cake pan or one 8 inch square Pyrex
 
½ cup brown sugar
1 ½ cups flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup cold butter, cut into pieces
Zest of a lemon
1 egg
2 ½ cups blueberries
½ cup sugar
2 tsp. cornstarch
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp. almond extract
 
Preheat oven to 375
 
Grease an 8’ inch cake or Pyrex baking dish.
 
In a medium bowl mix flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. Then add in the cold butter and egg, cutting it in with a pastry cutter or fork.  You can also use your fingers to break up any larger pieces of butter. Once the mixture resembles crumbs, press half into the pan.
 
In another bowl, add sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch and almond extract and mix. Carefully stir in fruit.
 
Spread fruit with juices evenly on top of dough and sprinkle with remaining dough. You want some fruit peeking out.
 
Bake 40-45 minutes until fruit is bubbling and topping is golden brown. Cool before slicing.