Blueberry Pie Bars

I made blueberry pie bars for the First Baptist spring bake sale. Shortbread base, blueberry-pie filling, oat-streusel topping. Reimbursement $40.

The recipe is below.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour (plus cooling) | Servings: 16 bars

Preheat and prepare. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides for easy lifting.
Make the crust and crumble. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, 1/2 cup of the sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the cold butter cubes and the egg yolk. Use your fingers or a pastry cutter to work the mixture until it resembles coarse, crumbly sand with some pea-sized butter pieces remaining.
Press the base layer. Reserve 1 cup of the crumble mixture for the topping. Press the remaining mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan to form the crust.
Make the blueberry filling. In a medium bowl, combine the blueberries, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract. Stir gently until the berries are evenly coated.
Assemble the bars. Spread the blueberry filling evenly over the pressed crust. Scatter the reserved crumble mixture over the top, distributing it loosely — don’t press it down.
Bake. Bake for 40–45 minutes, until the top is lightly golden and the blueberry filling is bubbling at the edges. If using frozen blueberries, add 5 minutes to the bake time.
Cool completely. Let the bars cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 1 hour before lifting out and slicing. For cleaner cuts, refrigerate for 30 minutes before slicing into 16 squares.

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