DELISH BLUEBERRY OAT BARS

Delish Blueberry Oat Bars image

Provided by Wendy Rusch

Number Of Ingredients 15

BLUEBERRY FILLING
4 1/2 c blueberries, fresh or frozen
3/4 c sugar
2 Tbsp corn starch
1/3 c water or orange juice
3 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp butter
CRUST AND TOPPING
1 1/2 c old fashioned oatmeal
1 1/2 c old fashioned oatmeal, processed in food processor until pieces of oatmeal are at least halved, but not powder
1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1 1/2 c brown sugar
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 c butter, softened

Steps:

1. In saucepan, whisk cornstarch into sugar, add 1 ½ c blueberries, water and lemon juice, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 6-8 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat, stir in remaining blueberries and 2 T butter. Pour into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap pressing wrap onto surface of berries. Allow to cool, about 1 hour...you may make this up to 1 day before using, store in refrigerator.
2. In a large bowl, stir together oats, flour, brown sugar, salt and baking soda. Cut in butter to form a crumbly mixture. Reserve 2 ½ cups of oatmeal mixture, pat remaining dough evenly into a greased 12x17 pan. Spread blueberry mixture over the base. Crumble reserved oatmeal mixture over the blueberry mixture.
3. Bake at 350 until golden, about 40-45 minutes. Let cool completely on rack before cutting. Store in refrigerator.