Blueberry Almond Bars

It's cookie carnival time again ! Kate over at The Clean Plate Club has picked Blackberry Almond Bars for this month! Well first off... I read it wrong and thought it said blueberry, which got me all excited for another blueberry recipe... by the time I realized it actually said blackberry I had already bought the blueberries and was ready to go... SO I'm making blueberry almond bars :)

For those of you who want the full fat version you can grab it from the William-Sonoma website here. So you'll notice I went a bit far from the recipe... considering I took out all the butter (bad idea for a shortbread... yeah more on that later) I also did not use a chinois to strain anything... I mean you get rid of all the good for you fiber... you don't want to get ride of the fiber! It's good for you and tasty! :)

In making the shortbread (which is basically butter and flour) getting rid of the butter is a bad idea... I knew this, but still wanted to see how it would come out. It came out like I expected... very very dense... a nice flavor to it, but kinda chewy and dense. So if you are going to make this, either go full on fat for the shortbread, or maybe make a simple gramcracker crust (or you can buy a premade tran-fat free one in the health food section at the grocery store).

OK, as for the black(i mean blue) berry curd... After I took it off the stove it kinda tasted like sweet eggs... gross! But after adding the yogurt and baking for 30 minutes it came out very tasty! I was very scared this whole thing was going to come out super gross with all my tinkering but in the end I'd make it again just with a different base for the bar :) Ohhh maybe I'll use the base recipe for poose cookies minus the chocolate chips, bake that in bar form and then cover with the blueberry curd and bake it like that... YUM!! Ok yes, that is what I'm going to do next time I make this!

Blueberry Almond Bars

(original from williams-sonoma, adaptation by me)

INGREDIENTS:

For the (shortbread) poose cookie base (my shortbread version was gross therefore I'm not even going to post it... do this instead...) (Go here for original shortbread recipe)

1.5 cups King Arthur whole wheat flour
1 cup Quaker oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbs Splenda brown sugar blend
2 Tbs Splenda sugar blend
1 package (7 ounces) Gerber Prunes with Apples baby food (NOT plums and apples) (contains 2 – 3.5oz containers)
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 large egg plus 2 egg whites
1.5 tsp vanilla extract

For the blackberry (blueberry) curd:

2 pints blueberries

4 eggs

3/4 plus 2 Tbs splenda blend for baking or (1 1/2 cups granulated sugar)

Pinch of salt

1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

8 oz fat free lemon yogurt

Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

DIRECTIONS
Preheat an oven to 350°F. Lightly spray or butter a 9-by-13-by-2-inch cake pan.

In a small bowl whisk together flour, oats, and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large bowl stir together splenda brown sugar and splenda sugar blend, stir in applesauce and prunes with apples containers.

Beat in eggs.

Stir in vanilla. (if you want add a little more, mom always said a little extra vanilla never hurt anyone!)

Gradually stir flour mixture into wet mixture. Adding 1/2 cup at a time and stirring until incorporated.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until browned and mostly cooked through. Will vary with oven used. Transfer the pan to a wire rack. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

Meanwhile, make the blackberry curd: In a food processor or blender, puree the blueberries until smooth. In the top pan of a double boiler or in a nonreactive saucepan, whisk together the eggs and splenda blend ( or granulated sugar) until blended. Then whisk in the blueberries, salt and lemon juice. Set the top pan over but not touching simmering water in the bottom pan, or set the saucepan over medium-low heat. (If using a saucepan, take care not to heat the mixture too quickly.) Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula or spoon, until the mixture is warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes.

Continue cooking, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan, until a finger drawn across the back of the spatula leaves a path, 8 to 10 minutes more. Immediately remove the pan from the heat. Stir in lemon yogurt, whisk to blend, then pour the curd over the shortbread (poose cookie dough), spreading it evenly to the edges.

this is what mine looked like after adding the yogurt

Bake until the curd is set, about 30 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut into individual bars, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Dust the bars with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Chow!

Sorry to the cookie round up for all my changes and mishaps! Hope everyone else had fun!

Update: So after these sat in the refrigerator overnight the "shortbread" got softer and less dense somehow... maybe just from absorbing some of the moisture from the curd... anyway I ended up eating this whole batch on my own and loving it... hahahaha yum!!

In case you were wondering what my butterless shortbread recipe was...

1.5 cups unsweet apple sauce
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup ground toasted almonds
1/4 cup splenda blend for baking
1/2 tsp. salt