Description
Healthy Blueberry Pie Bars with an irresistible shortbread crust! Made with walnuts, oats, and no refined sugar, everyone will love this treat.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the crust:
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (or all purpose or GF flour)
- 3/4 cup walnuts
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 6 tbsp salted butter, cubed
For the filling:
- 2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (frozen works, too)
- 2 tbsp whole wheat flour
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar
- zest and juice of 1/2 lemon (1 tbsp juice)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8 inch baking dish with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together oats, flour, walnuts, sugar, baking powder and salt until walnuts and oats are broken down. Add butter plus 1 tbsp of water and pulse until mixture forms a crumbly dough that sticks together when you press it with your fingers.
- Press 2/3 of the dough into prepared baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Make filling by mixing blueberries, flour, sugar, lemon juice and zest, and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl. Spoon filling evenly onto the pre-baked crust layer and use the back of the spoon to gently press mixture onto the crust (this helps them stick together).
- Sprinkle remaining dough on top of the berries and gently press down mixture again. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the bars are just golden.
- Let bars cool completely (and ideally refrigerate for a couple hours, until chilled) before cutting into bars. I let mine refrigerate overnight before slicing. They will get more solid as they chill and I prefer them this way, but if you want to dive in right away while warm, they’ll be more crisp-like!
Notes
TO MAKE DAIRY FREE: Use a non-dairy butter stick substitute like Earth Balance.
TO MAKE GLUTEN FREE: Use 1-to-1 all-purpose gluten free flour and certified gluten free oats.
TO STORE: Store cooled bars in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to six days.