Author: Pamela, Adapted from Smitten Kitchen who adapted it from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
Serves: 13 x 9 pan to be cut as you like
Ingredients
1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour
⅔ cup muscovado or packed light brown sugar
1 ¼ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
¾ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
¾ teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
½ cup chopped pecans for topping only (optional)
Berry Filling:
1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 Tablespoons flour (whichever you used in the crust/topping)
1 pound fresh or frozen blueberries, raspberries and/or blackberries, about 3 cups
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Line the bottom with unbleached parchment paper (to help remove the bars.)
Put the flour, sugar, oats, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon in a food processor. Pulse until combined. Add butter and pulse until crumbs form and the mixture is no longer powdery and dry. Alternatively, place everything in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on low speed until everything is moistened. Grab a handful of the mixture and squeeze it. It should hold together. Take 1 ½ cups of the mixture, place in a medium bowl and add chopped pecans.
Pour the rest of the mixture into the prepared pan and use your hands or the back of a metal spatula to press the crust into an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Bake until golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool.
In a medium bowl, whisk lemon zest, cinnamon and flour together. Add the berries, lemon juice and butter and use your hands to toss gently until the berries are evenly coated.
Spread filling evenly on top of the cooled crust. Sprinkle the reserved crumble mixture on top of the filling. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the filling starts to bubble around the edges a little. You may need to rotate the pan halfway so that it cooks evenly.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before cutting into bars. Keep refrigerated for up to two days in an airtight container.
Notes
*To make these gluten-free, substitute gluten-free oat flour or your favorite gluten-free baking mix, as well as gluten-free rolled oats. Berries are usually not very sweet and these bars are also not overly sweet. If you think your berries are more tart, you can add a couple tablespoons of maple syrup or brown sugar to the fruit mixture.
Recipe by Pamela Salzman at https://pamelasalzman.com/red-not-white-and-blueberry-oat-bars/