Blueberries – What’s Not To Love?

We had the best time with friends who came over for dinner last night.  Somewhere in the midst of conversation over Chad’s fantastic grilled fajitas and homemade guacamole, it came up that one of our guest hated blueberries to which Chad and I both shot each other a glance, then started laughing!  Izzy and I had just finished baking our favorite Blueberry Strudel Bars to serve for dessert!!

Our poor friend graciously tried to backpedal, and we did our best to make him feel terrible for the comment!  LOL!
But, when it came time to dish out dessert to nearly a dozen sweaty, tired kids who’d been playing soccer in the yard, our friend insisted that he did want to try dessert.  I offered repeatedly to pull out chocolate cookies from the pantry, but he resolved to be a martyr and try to stomach our blueberry creation.
Lo and behold, he loved it! (and promised he wasn’t faking!).

This one is a total crowd pleaser!  If you’re in the Greenville area, Aldi has blueberries on sale right now, so go stock up!  We double this recipe to feed our tribe.  I may or may not have served leftovers to the kids for breakfast this morning.  Fruit and oats….basically like a granola bar, right?

Blueberry Strudel Bars

Combine Together:
1 1/2 C. rolled oats
1 1/4 C. flour
2 C. cornflakes
1/2 C. brown sugar

Once you have all your dry ingredients mixed to gather, add the following:
1/2 C. melted butter
1/2 C. vegetable oil

This is your crumble.  Separate 2/3 of this mixture and press it into a 9×13 pan.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes until golden.

While it is baking, mix the following:
2 C. blueberries
2 t. flour
2/3 C. jam (raspberry or black currant is best!)
1 t. lemon peel

Once the crust is removed from the oven, spread the berry mixture over it.  Top with the remaining crumble mixture.
Place back in oven for 20-25 mins.

This is more like a crumble, than a bar.  We scoop it out and serve in bowls.  Best when served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!!