Summer

Blueberry Almond Crumb Bars

August 10, 2017
4.7
6 Ratings
Photo by Posie Harwood
  • Makes 12 large bars
Author Notes

Ripe summer fruit is the perfect companion to sweet, nutty almond paste and almond flour in these bars. I love how good they are both cold and warm, just like a slice of blueberry pie, but much easier to transport or store! —Posie (Harwood) Brien

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Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar, divided
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 cups (360 grams) all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1/2 cup (48 grams) almond flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (226 grams) cold unsalted butter
  • 4 ounces almond paste
  • 1 egg
  • 3 cups blueberries (I used a few raspberries too!)
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9" × 13" baking pan (I like to line mine with parchment as well).
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup of the sugar, baking powder, 2 1/2 cups of the all-purpose flour, almond flour, and salt.
  3. Stir in the egg, then cut in the butter with a fork or pastry cutter until the dough is crumbly and the butter is in small, pea-sized chunks. Press half of the dough into your prepared pan.
  4. In a small bowl, toss together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar with the lemon juice, cornstarch, and berries. Spread the berry mixture on top of the dough in an even layer.
  5. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour and the almond paste to the remaining dough, and crumble it all together. You want the almond paste to be in small chunks.
  6. Spread the remaining dough over the berry layer and press gently down with your fingers.
  7. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the top begins to brown and the berries bubble up with juice. Remove from the oven and let cool fully before serving.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

6 Reviews

Nancy H. August 28, 2020
Made these today with thawed sour cherries instead of blueberries and used a higher ratio of almond flour to all-purpose (150 gm/250 gm) as well as only a cup of sugar in total. Pre-baked the bottom layer for 10 min. and cooked the cornstarch with the drained cherry juice briefly on the stovetop to thicken before adding the fruit. It also didn't seem to need quite so much baking time - quite brown on the bottom at 45 minutes but still..... so delicious! Will definitely make again :))
Millicent August 19, 2017
I made these last night with half blackberries and half strawberries, and they're delicious. The fruit is a bit soft to qualify as easy to transport, which doesn't matter and is probably my not having calibrated the correct amount of thickener for different fruit than the original recipe. The almond flavor and texture is a really nice addition to a summer fruit dessert.
Deb M. August 15, 2017
Hi. Can I substitute gluten free flour for all purpose?
Ann B. August 14, 2017
I made the crust/crumble topping in the Cuisinart. It's out of the oven looks and smells great! We can hardly wait for it to cool.
BerryBaby August 12, 2017
These are in the oven! One suggestion, pls give a measurement of lemon juice. The small lemon that I had gave me about a tablespoon of juice. Lemons vary in size so this would be helpful. I used almond filling SOLO brand, two tablespoons I'll let you know how turn out. Smell amazing!
Posie (. August 15, 2017
It shouldn't make a big difference, even though lemons do vary in size! It's more a taste preference. I'd say about 2 tablespoons of juice though and I'll include this measurement in recipes - thanks for the suggestion!