Blueberry Pie Bars

I'm not going to lie to you guys, it's been kind of a weird and bad week.

It shouldn't have been because it was only a four-day week, what with Monday being a holiday. But I actually worked on Monday, I mean, only for 2 hours handing out balloons, but it was sticky gross hot outside.

Then Tuesday I woke up with a sore knee. I thought, slept on it wrong maybe, it'll go away. Go in to see my trainer on Wednesday morning, it's like a knife cutting through my knee every time I bend it while putting weight on it. He tells me it's inflamed and to rest it, including not bending down or picking anything up. Which, if you work with kids, is basically your job description. Not to mention I was sick.

So I got sent home Wednesday at 10:00AM and took a 3-hour nap and spent the rest of the day with ice on my knee. Which made me better, mostly. My knee is still being weird.

I was all worried about baking while moving around on this knee but you know something? Once I started baking everything else just went away. It was so nice. Of course once it went into the oven it all came back again, but it was nice while it lasted.

What does this have to do with Blueberry Pie Bars? Nothing. I just felt like sharing and saying, in a roundabout way, that these are fun to make, and a lot less stressful than last week's desert. Sorry if it's TMI.

PS, These are really delicious.

Your ingredients: Flour, Sugar, Eggs, Butter, Blueberries, Sour Cream, and 2 lemons

So first you're going to do my favorite step, which is make lemon sugar. Zest your lemons into 1 1/2 cups of sugar. Using the back of a spoon, press the zest into the sugar. You get a nifty lemon-scented sugar.

Then, cut your butter into cubes, put it into your mixer with the lemon sugar, 3 cups of flour, and a little salt and mix it together until it's crumbly-looking, like this.

Save 1 1\2 cups of the mixture, press the rest into the bottom of a 9x13. Bake it for 12-15 minutes, until it's golden brown. DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO. Your crust should look more brown than mine. I am notoriously impatient on waiting for crusts to bake, and as it was already 9:30pm, I took this out too soon.

While it's cooling, make your filling. Whisk together your eggs, add 2 cups sugar, 3/4 cup flour, and a pinch of salt. It looks suspiciously like cheesecake. But it's not! I promise I'm taking a break from cheesecake!

Carefully fold in your berries. You can see I used some strawberries because I didn't have enough blueberries and I thought it would taste good (it does).

Pour it onto your crust, make sure the berries are spread evenly. Then crumble your remaining crust mixture on top. Pop it in and bake it for almost an hour, and pull out when the top is golden brown! Pretty easy.

And pretty yummy. Here's hoping that our weeks end better than they started.

Blueberry Pie Bars
From Two Tiny Kitchens
3 3/4 cup AP flour
2 lemons
1 1/2 cups (or 3 sticks) butter
2 pinches of salt
4 large eggs
3 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
6 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 300°. Put 1 1/2 cups of your sugar on a piece of parchment paper. Zest your two lemons onto the sugar. Using the back of a spoon, press the zest into the sugar, releasing the lemon oils and creating a lemon-infused sugar.

In a mixer with the paddle attachment, pour in your lemon sugar, the butter cut into cubes, 3 cups of flour, a pinch of salt. Mix until it's dry and crumbly. Set aside 1 1/2 cups of this mix and press the rest into the bottom of a greased 9x13. Bake it for 12-15 minutes, until it's golden brown.

Let it cool while you make the filling. Whisk together the eggs. Then add 2 cups sugar, the sour cream, 3/4 cup of flour, and the pinch of salt. Carefully fold in your berries. Pour the mix on top of your crust, evenly spreading out the berries. Sprinkle your reserved crust mixture evenly over the top.

Bake for 45-55 minutes, until the top is golden brown.  Enjoy!

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

Do you remember last week when I told you about my love affair with Oreos? Well, the only desert item that I love almost as much is cheesecake.

Delicious, creamy cheesecake.

Very soon I will share with you the recipe for Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes, the most wonderful thing ever invented.

But today I'm here to tell you about these Blueberry Cheesecake Bars. What could be better than putting my favorite fruit (besides watermelon of course) into cheesecake, and cutting it into bite-able bars?

Pretty much nothing.

Your ingredients: flour, sugar, powdered sugar, cream cheese, cornstarch, eggs, vanilla, an orange, and blueberries

First, put your blueberries in a small saucepan with the cornstarch, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and the orange juice you squeezed from your orange. Turn on medium high heat until the mixture starts to bubble, then take it off the heat and set it aside.

For the crust, mix together your butter and 2 cups of flour. Add the powdered sugar and mix until it's crumbly-looking.

Press it into the bottom of a greased or foil-lined 9x13 and bake for 20 minutes.

For the filling, cream together the cream cheese and 1/2 cup of sugar. Add a tablespoon of flour, then the eggs, then the vanilla, then the orange zest. Mix well.

When the crust comes out, pour the cheesecake mixture over the hot crust. Grab the bluberries and spoon them onto the cheesecake mixture. Use a knife or a spoon to swirl them in evenly. Bake for 20 more minutes.

And then you get this! Mmmmm, cheesecake. How I love you.

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

From Baked Bree

For the blueberries:

1 cup blueberries

2 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. cornstarch

1/4 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice

For the crust:

2 cups flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup butter, room temperature and cut into chunks

For the cheesecake filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 tsp. orange zest

1 tbsp. flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350°. Put the blueberries, cornstarch, sugar, and orange juice in a small saucepan on medium heat until the mixture starts to bubble. Take off the heat and set aside.

For the crust, mix together the flour, powdered sugar, and butter until its crumbly. Press into a greased or lined 9x13 and bake for 20 minutes, until it is a little brown around the edges.

For the filling, cream together the cream cheese and sugar. Add the flour, then the eggs, then the vanilla and orange zest. Mix well. Pour mixture over hot crust once it comes out of the oven.

Spoon the blueberries into the cheesecake mixture, use a knife or a spoon to swirl them around evenly. Bake for 20 more minutes, until the filling is set. Keep refrigerated. Enjoy!