Blueberry Lemon Streusel Bars

   Do you love blueberries? Do you love lemon? Do you love bars? If so, you'll love these things. Heck, even if you don't particularly like blueberries/lemon/bars you'll still probably like these. They are THAT good. I can take zero credit for this recipe, it comes from the lovely Erica at  Fashion Meets Food, and you can find the original recipe here. 

    Trader Joe's had a huge carton of blueberries that looked too good to pass up- and when I got home with them I instantly started searching for recipes to use them in. I had every single other ingredient already at home so I started baking right away!

For Erica's recipe you'll need:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (NOT instant oats!)

1 1/3 cups packed light brown sugar (plus a little extra for sprinkling on top)

1 tsp. baking powder 

1 tsp. salt

1 large egg, separated

14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

zest of one lemon

 2 1/2 cups room-temperature blueberries

9 x 13 baking dish coated with either shortening or non-stick spray

Step 1: Coat your baking dish with shortening and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 
Step 2:  Mix together your flour, oats, salt, baking powder, and sugar:

 Step 3: Cut your butter into small cubes and mix it in with your mixture- make sure it's mixed up well!

 Step 4: Set 2 cups of the mixture aside to be used as a topping and then add your egg white to the remaining mixture. Once mixed press down firmly into the baking dish and bake for 10-12 minutes.

 Step 5: While that bakes, mix the lemon juice, lemon zest, egg yolk and condensed milk in a bowl and let stiffen (takes about 5 minutes)

 Step 6: Sprinkle blueberries over the crust as soon as you pull it out of the oven

 Step 7: Evenly distribute lemony layer on top of the blueberries and gently even out with a spatula

 Step 8: Bake in oven for 8 minutes

 Step 9: Evenly distribute the 2 cups of oat mixture you had set aside previously, pinching it between your fingers to give it a chunky texture.

 Step 10: Bake for 25-30 minutes or until it's golden brown and you can see the blueberries bubbling. As soon as it comes out sprinkle it with a little extra brown sugar!

 Erica advised to let them cool fully  before cutting but there was no way I was going to stop Michael from cutting at least one bar out instantly!

 The finished product :

 They were ridiculously delicious- especially when warm and ooey gooey. I fully understand why Erica said to be patient and let them cool- those blueberries explode and feel like molten lava on your tongue.

Totally worth it.

I highly recommend these bars-super comforting and a great mix of sweet and tart!