Finally, the Pinterest fairies have shined some of their magical DIY fairy dust upon me. I found a DIY pin that actually works.
Blueberry oatmeal crumble bars are possibly one of the best things I’ve ever baked from scratch; partly because I don’t bake from scratch often, but mostly because they’re delicious. I actually came across the pin for these scrumptious bars the first time I logged onto Pinterest a few weeks ago. I know, I know; I’m a bit behind. Originally, I didn’t want to try them because I thought the baking part would be a hassle; the recipe called for almost an hour in the oven and ain’t nobody got time for that.
After two fails in a row using less conventional recipes, however, I surrendered to traditional baking in an attempt to make something that my friends and I would actually enjoy eating, and it worked.
The recipe turned out to be much simpler than I first thought. As I wrote the crumble’s ingredients on my grocery list, I realized that I already had most of the ingredients and only needed to purchase a few things. Everything is available at your local grocery store (nothing fancy), and the instructions are very straightforward. I preheated the oven, mixed together the bar base, sprinkled the blueberry mixture on top, added some of the leftover base for the crumble atop the berries, and put it in the oven in under 10 minutes.
Like I mentioned before, the baking time was originally said to be about 55 minutes, but reading through the directions I saw the author mention that she used frozen berries instead of fresh. Either is fine and will result in the same delicious blueberry bars, but when using fresh berries, the cooking time can be reduced by 10 to 15 minutes.
So, I put the bars in for about 40 minutes and took them out when the crumble pieces on top were golden brown. An added bonus of whipping these up? Your kitchen will smell heavenly for the rest of the day.
Everything went pretty smoothly, and the only thing that I was concerned about was the cooking time, since I had to approximate and there’s no real way to tell if the bars have solidified enough to be done. The instructions say that they need about 30 minutes to cool, so after 45 or so I tried a piece of my creation.
It may have been because I took them out too early or just because they were still pretty warm, but the bar shape didn’t hold up very well. Either way, they were still delicious. The sweet from the blueberries compliments the warm oats; it almost reminded me of blueberry pie.
I recommend this recipe to everyone who is looking to make something sweet and simple; the only suggestion I have is to increase the baking time for a few more minutes. Putting the pan in the freezer might help the bars to hold their shape.
The cleanup for this was easy as well; besides the one bowl for mixing and a pan lined with aluminum foil, there’s not much to wash besides a few measuring cups.
All in all, these blueberry oatmeal crumble bars were fantastic and I can’t wait to make them again to share with my friends and family. Finally; something on Pinterest that actually works.
