The recipe contest at Burgaw’s annual Blueberry Festival draws winners
Teacher Marybeth Krynicki of Burgaw won first place in the Cobblers, Crisps, Pies & Puddings category in the 2014 recipe contest at the North Carolina Blueberry Festival. It went on to take the Best of the Best medal for the year. The recipe was originally published in the North Carolina Blueberry Festival Best of the Blues II cookbook, which can be found in the Burgaw branch of the New Hanover County Public Library. The same year Krynicki placed in Appetizers and Salads, and Miscellaneous (nonalcoholic beverages, entrées, sauces, jams and jellies, pancakes, etc.). Her recipes, including Blueberry Deviled Eggs, are well represented in the cookbook.
These bars are the perfect in-between of a cobbler and crisp, so there’s no need to parse the difference. They require no eggs, nor leavening agent. The only thing you may not have in your cupboard is the coconut flavoring, which boosts the coconut in the bottom crust. An interesting substitute is almond extract in half the amount.
I normally have high-fat European butter in my refrigerator. But like most home recipes written in the U.S., this recipe works best with American butter, which has a higher water content and is available everywhere. I find unsalted butter is best for baking; it’s easier to add more salt than take it out. After assembling, I couldn’t help myself and sprinkled the top with about a teaspoon of crunchy sea salt. It gives a little bit of a surprising burst of flavor when you come across it.
The original recipe calls for just lemon juice; I took advantage of the leftover peel, which I grated and added a teaspoon of to the blueberry filling.
One of the many good things about this recipe is it can work double duty. When the bars are hot from the oven, spoon out a portion directly from the baking dish into bowls and top with vanilla ice cream. Once they’ve cooled and spent the night in the refrigerator, leftovers can be cut in squares and frozen. They come out like a blueberry ice cream sandwich that you can eat with your hands.
Island Blueberry Bars
Ingredients
Serves 6
For the bottom crust
- 1½ cups white flour
- ¾ cup shredded coconut
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons coconut flavoring (Substitute 1 teaspoon of almond extract in a pinch.)
For the Filling
- 4 cups fresh blueberries
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel, optional
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ cup white sugar
For the topping
- ½ cup flour
- ½ cup oatmeal, instant is fine
- ½ cup coconut flakes
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- Mix all dry ingredients and coconut flavoring for the bottom together. Add the butter until it forms a ball. Press into the bottom of a 9- by 13-inch pan.
- With a big spoon, in a medium bowl, gently and thoroughly mix all ingredients together being careful not to break the berries. Spoon on top of crust.
- Mix all the ingredients together except the butter. Cut butter into mixture until it resembles a crumble. Evenly sprinkle on top of berries.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until top is golden brown.
