I rarely ever have fresh blueberries to use in baking because I love them so much straight out of a bowl.
But I needed something to bring on our recent camping trip and I happened to have a flat of fresh berries staring at me in the fridge.
It was almost painful to do anything to these beauties besides rinse them and eat them, but after I doused them in Amaretto, I started to feel a bit better about it!
You can substitute an equal amount of fresh-squeezed lemon juice if you want to skip the booze, but don't be afraid to try it... It's so good!!
Amaretto-Spiked Blueberry Crumb Bars
adapted from Cookin' Canuk
Ingredients:
5 cups fresh blueberries
3 tablespoons Amaretto
1 cup sugar, divided (1/2 cup + 1/2 cup)
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold butter, diced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Butter a 9x13" baking dish.
In a medium bowl, combine the blueberries, Amaretto, 1/2 cup of the sugar & cornstarch. Stir together and set aside.
In another bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, the brown sugar, flour, baking powder, cardamom, nutmeg and the salt... stirring well to combine.
Using a pastry cutter, or your fingers, cut in the diced butter until coarse crumbs are formed. Stir in the egg until combined and moistened.
Press about 1/2 of the crumb mixture onto the bottom of the baking dish and press down lightly to form a crust. Spread the blueberry mixture over the top.
Take the remaining crumb mixture and sprinkle it over the top of the blueberry mixture. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the top is light golden brown.
