BLUEBERRY CRUMBLE BARS

BLUEBERRY CRUMBLE BARS Blueberry Filling 3-4 cups Fresh Blueberries 1/2 cups sugar (or try Turbinado Cane Sugar) 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice Pinch salt Crust and Topping 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup finely ground cornmeal 3/4 teaspoons salt 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 3/4 cups Sugar (or try Turbinado Cane Sugar) 1 teaspoon vanilla Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter or grease a 9-inch square pan. Combine blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and salt in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Stir until mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat and continue to simmer, stirring constantly until it thickens slightly. Remove from heat and set aside. Stir together flour, cornmeal, and salt and set aside. Cream softened butter and sugar in the bowl with mixer until it is light and fluffy, then add vanilla and mix. Add dry ingredients on low speed being careful to scrape the sides of bowl several times. Stop mixing when ingredients are fully incorporated but dough is still crumbly. This happens quickly; the mixture will look dry and floury one minute, then little clumps will suddenly appear. Evenly distribute 1 1/2 cups of the crumbly dough over bottom of prepared pan and press lightly to hold in place. Put the remaining dough in the refrigerator. Bake crust for 25 minutes, or until lightly toasty brown. Spread 1-1/2 cups blueberry filling over crust and crumble the remaining dough over the top of filling. An even covering will produce a crust that covers blueberries almost entirely, letting it peak through here and there. Put back in over and bake until top crust is golden brown, about 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time. Remove from oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes then carefully run a knife around the edge of the pan to prevent the bars from sticking. Cool completely and cut into bars.