This recipe is really considered a blueberry oatmeal bar but it crumbles and is not a very good bar as bars go. It definitely doesn't diminish the taste though and we have learned it is best to let it sit for a few hours or overnight for a more flavorful & textural experience. It started from a recipe that was good but a touch too dry for our taste so I have tweaked it without adding anything extra to the original. It truly doesn't get any easier than this as far as baking goes. You can have this ready and in the oven in less than 15 min and completely done in an hour or less. So grab your mixing bowl and lets get started!

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup of rolled oats

2/3 cup melted butter

1/3 cup of granulated sugar

1/3 cup of brown sugar (light or dark)

2 cups blueberries

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp cornstarch

1 Tbsp lemon juice (store bought or fresh)

2 teaspoon zest of lemon (store bought or fresh)

Step 1 Preheat oven to 350° Lightly spray or grease 8" square pan with cooking oil. Line bottom and sides of pan with parchment paper. Over hang helps if you don't want to leave it in the pan. 

Step 2 Combine rolled oats, flour, 1/3 cup granulated sugar & 1/3 cup brown sugar and mix until all parts are equally incorporated. Add melted butter & stir well. 

Step 3 Hold back approximately  1/3 of mixture and add remaining 2/3 to parchment lined pan. 

Step 4 Mix blueberries, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, corn starch, lemon juice, & lemon zest. Combine well. 

Step 5. Pour mixture over crust then sprinkle remaining 1/3 oatmeal mixture over blueberry mixture and press gently with your fingers or a spoon to form a packed mixture. 

STEP 6 Bake for 40-42 minutes or until nicely browned. Let cool completely and cut into slices. 

We have this recipe to be perfect after it has completely cooled and has set for at least a few hours. It allows the ingredients to congeal and make for a wonderful & flavorful texture. But if you don't have that much time, you still wont be disappointed.   

This makes an excellent base or topping for vanilla ice cream and compliment each other well. 

Note: I am not an exact portions kinda gal so I can substitute an ingredient here and this recipe is forgiving and will easily accomodate substitutions. For instance, it originally called for white sugar and I felt brown sugar would be perfect for a crumble. Another example is, I don't always have fresh lemons on hand so I do use concentrate and because of that, I don't always have fresh lemon zest and used the bottled spice type. 

Speaking of lemon zest and lemon peel, they are slightly different but for the purposes of this recipe, either will work fine. Zest will include the rind and a bit of the white under layer, whereas the the peel is the the rind without any of the flesh. The zest is considered the most flavorful. 

Happy Cooking!