Blueberry Crisp Bars (Applesauce Crust)

My absolute favorite dessert in the world is any sort of crisp. I’m really open to any flavor, though apple crisp seems to be my go-to! However, sometimes I don’t have enough fruit on had, or enough time to wait for an entire crisp to set… and that’s when these bars come into play. They are quick, easy, and have rather simple ingredients anyone might have on hand. My favorite use for a crisp bar is trying to use up any fruit I have that may be nearing it’s end; all you need is a few cups of any fruit and boom… you’ve got one of the best treats that I can think of!

This recipe in particular combines typical crisp/crumble bar attributes that we all know and love with some lighter takes that manage to make it a little more balanced. Now please know, I am not saying there is anything wrong with a regular crisp/crumble made with all of the butter, sugar, etc.; I just like to play around with ingredients and see if some of my favorite things can be modified in some way! For this particular recipe, I became interested in attempting to make a crust containing applesauce in place/partially in place of the butter… and this is what I came up with!

What You Will Need

Crust:

• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Coconut Sugar
• Unsalted Butter (just 1 tablespoon)
• Applesauce
• Almond Extract

Blueberry Filling:

• Blueberries
• Coconut Sugar (just 1 teaspoon)
• Almond Extract
• Cornstarch

Crisp Topping:

• Oats
• Flour
• Coconut Sugar
• Unsalted Butter (just 1 tablespoon)

Tips on how to make these Blueberry Crisp Bars

Applesauce: The main wet ingredient within the base of this ingredient is unsweetened applesauce. I found it fun to test the limits and see how it would do to create a “crust”. Since applesauce can vary in texture/thickness, if your base seems to be too thick, you can increase the about of applesauce used 2 tablespoons at a time to meet the intended consistency.

Blueberries: I love to make my own sorts of “jellies” and “jams” with whatever fruit I have on hand. I typically add a very little amount of sugar (if any) because I love the natural sweetness that fruits tend to provide on their own. For this recipe however, I did use cornstarch to thicken up the berries in order to aid in maintaining the shape of the bars. Given this, the use of cornstarch is optional, but I find that it does help in this instance!

Substitutions: I always am open to ingredient substitutions/replacements. For this recipe, I think using maple syrup in place of coconut sugar in the blueberry filling could be great. I also think that using vanilla extract instead of almond extract could fun as well.

• Fruit: As I have previously mentioned, using any fruit in place of the blueberries is certainly welcome! One thing to keep in mind is that some fruits are sweeter than others (blueberries being quite sweet) so some people may want to add more sugar to the “jam” depending on the fruit used.

Bake Time: It can be challenging to determine when these bars are done baking. My recommendation is to take them out right around 33 minutes given that the base will keep a lighter color and the blueberries are not incredibly liquidy so it may be hard to determine “doneness” just by appearance. Since none of the ingredients need a particular amount of time in the oven anyway, you really cannot mess it up too much!

Blueberry Crisp Bars (Applesauce Crust)

Recipe by AddisonCourse: Dessert

Servings

9

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

Calories

135

kcal

Total time

1

hour 

10

minutes

Ingredients

• Blueberries:

• 2 1/2 cups blueberries

• 1 teaspoon coconut sugar

• 1 teaspoon corn starch

• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

• Applesauce Crust:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

• 2 tablespoons coconut sugar

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

• Crisp Topping:

• 1/4 cup old fashioned oats

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon coconut sugar

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, chilled and diced

Instructions

• Making the Blueberry Fillind
• Heat a small sauce pot to medium/low heat. Combine the blueberries, cornstarch, coconut sugar, and almond extract in the pot, mix well, then place the mixture on the heat. Stir often until berries arrive at your desired consistency; I prefer them to be fairly whole/intact, so about 5ish minutes.
• Once your berries are done, remove the pot from the heat and let the “jam” cool as you prepare the base and crisp topping.
• Base/Crust
• At this point, preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• In a medium/large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and coconut sugar (2 tbsp) and mix well. Then dice 1 tbsp of butter into small pieces and work the butter into the dry ingredient mixture using your finger tips
• Add the unsweetened applesauce and vanilla extract into the bowl, then mix all contents together until a thick, possible dry (and that’s okay) consistency is formed.
• Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper, then pour the contents from the bowl into the baking pan. Use a spatula, spoon, or your hands to evenly disperse the base along the pan. The base should be intact, and relatively flat at this point!
• Crisp Topping
• In a small bowl, combine the oats, flour, and coconut sugar, and chilled/cubed butter. Use your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients, creating a crumble/crisp that resembles grainy sand.
• Assembly
• Finally, pour the cooled blueberry “jam” overtop of the leveled base. Spread the berry mixture evenly overtop the base, aiming to reach each corner/side. Once the berries are evenly distributed, sprinkle the crisp topping evenly overtop the berries.
  *Place the baking pan in the oven preheated to 350 degrees and bake for 33-35 minutes, until the base appears baked through and the blueberries are bubbly/set! (allow to cool for 15-20 minutes before slicing)