Category: Blueberry

Blueberry Crumble Bars

Posted on by Mari Vasseur

Crumb bars with fruit are classic, rustic bars that are easy to make and so delicious. These Blueberry Crumble Bars happen to be the best I’ve ever tasted! With a tender, almost addicting shortbread crust, the filling is perfectly sweet and blanketed with plenty of crisp crumb topping. They’re perfect to pack in a lunch, take on a family picnic or as an addition to a backyard cookout. Everyone who tries these comes back for seconds!

 

Blueberry Crumble Bars

by Mari Vasseur
The best Blueberry Crumble Bars ever! Tender shortbread crust topped with sweet blueberry filling and generous crumb topping
Print Recipe
Course Dessert
Servings 12

Ingredients
  

Crumb Topping

  • 1 cup (128g) all purpose flour
  • â…“ cup (66g) packed brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons (38g) granulated sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cubed

Crust

  • 1 ½ cuts (191g) all purpose flour, sifted
  • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (42g) powdered sugar, sifted plus extra for sprinkling on top
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, room temperature

Blueberry Filling

  • 3 ½ cups(454-510g) blueberries
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • â…” cup (131g) granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Instructions
 

Crumb Topping

  • In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt until well combined. Work the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips, until it looks sandy, with no large pieces of butter remaining. Press the mixture together to form chunks. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Crust

  • Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, overlapping the ends a couple of inches. These will be handles to lift the bars out of the pan.
  • In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, powdered sugar, baking powder and salt until well combined. In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth. Add the flour mixture and beat just until combined.
  • Press the dough evenly into the baking pan. Bake until the surface looks light golden brown, about 15-20 more minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.

Blueberry Filling

  • In a large bowl, toss the blueberries with the lemon juice. Mix in the sugar and cornstarch. Pour the blueberry mixture over the warm crust. Top evenly with the crumb topping. Return the pan to the oven and continue baking until the topping is golden brown and the filling starts to bubble, about 28-33 minutes. Let cool completely before removing the bars from the pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Keyword bars, blueberry crumble

Lemon Blueberry Cloud Cookies

Posted on by Mari Vasseur

Once, some time ago, I made some soft, melt-in-your mouth cookies and posted them on the internet. A viewer got triggered and insisted that cookies must be crunchy. I have to disagree! Cookies can be crunchy, crisp, soft, chewy, sandy or anything your heart desires. These soft, pillowy cookies are light and airy like little clouds. They could almost be called little cakes. The texture is similar to whoopee pies, but not as sticky. They’re delightfully delicious and have been well-loved by my family for two generations. They’re perfect for a spring teatime treat or alongside a glass of lemonade at a picnic.

Lemon Blueberry Cloud Cookies

Soft, pillowy cookies made with ricotta cheese and fresh blueberries, topped with a tangy lemon icing
Print Recipe
Course Dessert
Servings 36 cookies

Ingredients
  

Cookies

  • 2 cups (255g) all purpose flour, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup (240g) ricotta cheese, room temperature
  • Zest of 1 large lemon
  • 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (142g) blueberries plus extra for the tops

Icing

  • 1 ½ cups (181g) powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 dash fine sea salt
  • 2-3 tablespoons (30-45ml) lemon juice

Instructions
 

Cookies

  • Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  • In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt until well combined.
  • In a large bowl, beat the butter, with an electric mixer on medium speed, until smooth Add the ricotta cheese, sugar and lemon zest. Beat until well combined. Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated. On low speed, gradually mix in the flour mixture, just until combined. Fold in the blueberries.
  • Place rounded tablespoon-size portions of dough about 2 inches apart onto the cookie sheets. Top the cookies with additional blueberries. (If your cookie dough is sticky and hard to work with, refrigerate it just until it's easier to work with, about 30 minutes to 1 hour.)
  • Bake until the bottom edges of the cookies are lightly browned, about 11-13 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. Top the cooled cookies with icing. Best eaten the day they're made.

Icing

  • In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, melted butter, salt and 1 tablespoon (15ml) of lemon juice until well combined. Add additional lemon juice as needed to achieve the desired consistency. Whisk until smooth.
Keyword cookies, lemon blueberry

Blueberry Donut Holes with Homemade Blueberry Sugar

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
Blueberry Donut Holes with Homemade Blueberry Sugar

If you landed here from one of my social media accounts, welcome! I’m really glad you’re here. I love to create fun, pretty and sweet treats like these delicious blueberry donut holes! The thing that really makes these special is the homemade blueberry sugar, which adds a burst of blueberry flavor. Freeze dried blueberries are combined with sugar to create a beautiful, flavorful sugar that you can use for many other things. It can also be used in tea, lattes, lemonade, cocktails or sprinkled on cookies or scones. Keep in mind that freeze dried blueberries are not the same as dried blueberries. Dried blueberries still contain some moisture, so they won’t work for this purpose.

The donut hole batter comes together quickly and easily. The most challenging part for me is frying them. I found that using a thermometer and testing one donut hole first, helps you determine the perfect oil temperature. Using a small portion scoop helps you get uniform donut holes. Make sure the outside of the scoop is clean between each donut to help them keep the round shape and avoid pointy tails.

Blueberry Donut Holes with Homemade Blueberry Sugar

Print Recipe
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Servings 24 donut holes

Ingredients
  

Blueberry Sugar

  • ¾ cup (3/4 oz or 21g)) freeze-dried blueberries*
  • ½ cup (3 1/2 oz or 100g) granulated sugar

Blueberry Donut Holes

  • 2 cups (9 oz or 255g) all purpose flour, sifted
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ cup (3 1/2 oz or 100g) granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons (1 oz or 28g)) unsalted butter, melted
  • ½ cup (4 oz or 118ml) whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 ¼ cups chopped fresh blueberries
  • oil for frying
  • ½ cup (3 1/2 oz or 100g) blueberry sugar

Instructions
 

Blueberry Sugar

  • Process freeze dried blueberries and sugar in a food processor or a clean spice grinder until finely ground. Be careful not to over process or you may end up with powdered sugar.

Blueberry Donut Holes

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, beat sugar, eggs, melted butter, milk and vanilla extract until well combined.
  • Add flour mixture and mix just until combined. Do not over mix. A few lumps are okay.
  • Fold in chopped blueberries.
  • In a heavy saucepan, heat 1 1/2 inches of oil to 340ºF.
  • Drop tablespoon size portions of batter into hot oil. I used a #60 portion scoop.** Don't overcrowd the pan.
  • Cook donut holes until golden brown on all sides, about 2-4 minutes, flipping halfway through. If donut holes cook too quickly on the outside, turn heat down.
  • Briefly drain donut holes on paper towels, then toss warm donut holes in blueberry sugar. Serve immediately.

Notes

Success tips: Use a small ice cream scoop sprayed with nonstick spray to drop donut holes into oil. Make sure the outside of scoop is clean between each donut hole to keep the round shape and avoid tails on your donut holes.
*To find freeze dried blueberries, click here.
**To find the portion scoop I used, click here.

Blueberry Skillet Cornbread

Posted on by Mari Vasseur

This is a sweet, fluffy blueberry cornbread that my family loves. It’s heavenly served with honey and butter. I love baking it in a cast iron skillet because of the delicious crust that forms from the steady high heat conducted with cast iron. If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, you can use an 8-inch round cake pan instead. To find the 8-inch cast iron skillet I used, click here.

The texture of this cornbread is more like a quick bread than a cake and my family has always called it cornbread. When I posted this recipe previously, I called it a skillet cornmeal cake because I was trying to shy away from the cornbread police who inevitably show up when I post sweet cornbread recipes. These enforcers of non existent cornbread laws no longer intimidate me because I’ve done my cornbread research. There are different regions who make cornbread in many different ways. Various groups of people in the United States argue over whether or not cornbread should contain sugar. Historically, some people had to add sugar to cornbread because of the lower quality cornmeal they had access to. But the first cornbread was made long before that in ancient Mexico. People then and now use the ingredients available to them to create food that tastes good to them. So by any name, it’s all good.

 

Blueberry Skillet Cornbread

by Mari Vasseur
Sweet cornbread with blueberries baked in a cast iron skillet.
Print Recipe
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 1 ¼ cups (about 177-198g) blueberries, divided
  • 1 ¼ cups (159g) all purpose flour, sifted, plus one teaspoon for the blueberries
  • â…” cup (132g) sugar
  • ¼ cup (35g) cornmeal
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • ¾ cup (170g) sour cream
  • ¼ cup (1 7/8 oz or 55ml) vegetable oil or neutral oil of your choice
  • 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, melted

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Grease an 8-inch cast iron skillet.*
  • Set aside 1/4 cup of blueberries. In a small bowl, toss the remaining 1 cup of blueberries with 1 teaspoon of flour.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder and salt until well blended.
  • In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, oil and melted butter until creamy and well combined. Add the egg mixture to flour mixture and stir just until combined. A few small lumps are okay. Gently mix one cup of blueberries into the batter.
  • Transfer the batter to prepared skillet. Top with the reserved 1/4 cup of blueberries.
  • Bake until top looks golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 35-45 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Notes

*To find the skillet I used, click here.
If you don't have a cast iron skillet, you can use and 8-inch round cake pan.
Keyword blueberry, cornbread