Blueberry Raspberry Crumble Bars

.  Hey, oh!

Long time no post, huh?  Okay, only a few days.  But I do feel like LSM has been a bit neglected as of late.  This whole new job thing has got me going a million miles an hour and leaves me completely crashed at night.  So no time for posting.  I'm sure you'll forgive me though.

Not too much [but at the same time, a lot going on!] over our way.  Let's see, for this weekend I'm planning on fitting in a lengthy run on Saturday morning [we'll see how that goes though because for some reason my knee has been bothering me], helping with a special work event later that morning [more to come on that], and then finishing Saturday painting our deck with Robbie and his papa.  No real plans for Sunday except that dear ol' Robbie is leaving town again for work.  Boo to that.

We're kind of boring, huh?  I know, I'm trying to work on that.  Robbie and I have some fun travel plans coming up soon though, so that'll shake things up a bit!

But for this weekend, I have a special end-of-summer treat to share with you all [gah, I can't believe summer is ending already...!].  These Blueberry Raspberry Crumble Bars [which I was tempted to call BlueRaz Bars, but refrained] are a classically simple bar to make yet result in an over-the-top, humongous goodie.  No joke.  These bars are thick mamas.  If that even makes sense.  And so, so scrumptious.

Where to begin?  Well what makes them so easy is that the the base and crumble are one in the same.  Meaning that you make one mixture that is used for the base and the topping.  Easy peasy.  The filling is somewhat gooey, studded with chunks of sweet and tart blueberries and raspberries, and pairs perfectly with the crunchy, buttery outsides.  Cue salivating mouth...now. 

My thoughts are that you can grab some local fruits from the farmers market this weekend and make this recipe in a snap to share [or not] with your loved ones.  Now get bakin'!  .

Adapted from A Passion for Baking

Ingredients:

Crust and Topping:

1-1/2 c. all purpose flour

1-1/2 c. old fashioned oats

1 c. firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 c. unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Filling:

2 c. fresh blueberries

1 c. fresh raspberries

3/4 c. sugar

2 tbsp. cornstarch

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Directions:

1. Generously coat 11x7-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.  Set aside.
2. For crust and topping, place flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon into a food processor.  Pulse to blend (about 20 seconds).  Add butter and pulse until you have a crumbly mass (not dry by sticking together).
3. For filling, toss blueberries and raspberries in a small bowl with sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice.
4. Spread half of crumble mixture into prepared pan and pat down gently.  Spread fruit filling evenly over crust.  Top as evenly as possible with remaining crumble mixture and press slightly.  Chill 30 minutes.
5. Heat oven to 350°F.  After chilled, bake bars 40 to 45 minutes until fruit starts to bubble.  Reduce oven to 325°F and bake additional 15 to 20 minutes or until fruit that is bubbling is deeper in color and edges of squares are browned.  Cool completely in pan before cutting or refrigerate 2 to 3 hours before cutting.

Yield: 15 bars