Blueberry Bars

Its blueberry season – perfect time to make these delicious sweet bars that can be enjoyed for breakfast, a snack or sweet treat after a meal. We have taken advantage of many fresh ingredients including oat flour, almond meal and almond butter made with the Nutramilk and blueberries that are in season. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

For the crust

• 1 cup oat flour made with the NutraMilk (you can also use a gluten-free flour mix)
• 1 cup almond meal made in the NutraMilk (1 cup of almonds processed 1 minute in the NutraMilk)
• 1/3 cup (85g) nut/seed butter of choice (I used almond butter)
• 1/4 cup (90g) maple syrup (or sub any other similar sweetener)
• Pinch of sea salt
• 1/4 cup (60g) water

For the blueberries:

• 4 ½ cups fresh blueberries
• 6 tbsp. maple syrup (or sub any other similar sweetener)
• 5 tbsp. cornstarch (or sub tapioca starch)

For almond butter layer

• ¼ cup almond butter made with the NutraMilk

For almond butter

• 2 cups (300g) almonds
• 1/8 teaspoon Pink Himalayan salt (optional)

For topping:

• ⅓ cup cold butter cubes (75 gr)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour or sub for gluten-free flour (120 grams)
• 1 pinch salt
• ½ cup castor sugar or powdered sugar (100 grams)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract or ½ tsp. vanilla essence
• ½ tbsp. baking powder

INSTRUCTIONS

• Start by making almond butter:
  • Place almond and salt in the NutraMilk container.
  • Press Butter cycle, set for 12-13 minutes.
  • Press Start.
  • Open the container lid.
  • If necessary, set for an additional 1-2 minutes for a creamier butter.

For the crust:

• Combine everything except water in a large mixing bowl. Mix/knead adding water as needed to form a sticky ball of dough.
• Roll out the dough between two pieces of wax or parchment paper. Use one piece of paper to flip the crust into a pie pan (I spray mine with coconut oil first just to be safe!)

For the blueberries:

• Place the blueberries and maple syrup in a pan with a lid.
• Leave to cook on a low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes until softened.
• Dissolve the corn flour in a tiny splash of water in a small bowl.
• Once the blueberries have cooked, add the corn flour and water mixture and mix well.
• Once the blueberries have thickened (takes about 30 seconds), turn off the heat.

For topping:

• Chop 75 grams of cold butter in cubes. In a mixing bowl take the cubes. You will need ⅓ cup of butter cubes.
• Add castor sugar or powdered sugar. Please do not use granulated sugar as it does not melt while baking and gives a terrible granular texture to the top layer.
• Add vanilla extract.
• Then add whole wheat flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt.
• With a pastry cutter cut the butter in the flour till you get a sandy bread crumb like texture in the flour. You can also use a knife or your fingers to mix the butter with the flour. A stand mixer with a paddle attachment can also be used. If butter begins to melt then keep the mixture in the fridge for some minutes.

Assembling

• Spread a layer of almond butter over the crust over the crust.

• Evenly spread blueberry mixture over the almond butter.
• Sprinkle with crumble topping.
• Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool completely before slicing into bars and serving.

Prepared and photographed by NutraMilk nutritionist, Florencia Tagliavini.