Mixed Berry Crumb Bars

A long absence, I know! I really won't be back on a normal schedule until after July 15th. Finishing my residency and moving has all taken over my life temporarily! I promise I will be posting on a regular schedule again soon!

Mixed Berry Crumb Bars, adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
2 cups fresh blueberries

2 cups fresh raspberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.

3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the berries. Sprinkle the berry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares

Blueberry Coffeecake

Blueberry Coffeecake. This is a perfect quick breakfast cake. I think my favorite part is that it only requires two bowls and hand mixing, so quick and easy for a weekend breakfast with leftovers during the week!

I was out of milk yesterday, so I made it with almond milk. Can't tell the difference, and tastes great. Almond milk is really low-cal, so it does take the calorie count down. This cake is the closest I've come to vegan baking, and since it still has eggs and butter you can see that I have not gotten very close. 

For the record, coffeecake does not count towards the Learn-To-Make-A-Pretty-Cake challenge. I have always been able to make a coffeecake, no challenge there.

For the cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup almond milk (you could use regular milk)
1 egg
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups fresh or frozen (thawed and drained) blueberries

For the streusel topping:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9x9 baking dish with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, prepare the streusel topping by mixing all ingredients together with a fork until crumbly and streusel-like.

In a large bowl, stir together all of the coffee cake ingredients except the blueberries. Mix with a spoon for 30 seconds.  Fold in blueberries.

Spread batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle evenly with streusel.

I did not drain the blueberries enough, hence the very blue batter!

Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before serving.

Yum!