These healthy pear and blueberry crumble bars are GF, DF and RSF.
About This Recipe
Sometimes life can give you lemons. Sometimes life can give you pears. And sometimes life can give you so many fruits and vegetables that you don’t know what do to with them.
This week all of the above happened because of a fruit and vegetable box so full that even I struggled with what to do with it all.
Let me clarify that I’m part of a group that takes turns shopping for fresh produce, meaning that I get a huge box of fruit and veg delivered every week.
On Saturdays, a magical parcel of seasonal produce appears at my door, often so large it’s overwhelming (even for a health nut like me).
Using every single thing in these boxes has become a kitchen imperative for me and any waste will make me very disappointed.
Unfortunately – because the boxes are picked by other people – you don’t always get what you want.
“Boo hoo, poor you,” I hear you sneering sarcastically.
This week, it was the week of the lemons and pears (we’re talking about 20 pears just for me!).
I had to do something with these.
Enter my Pear and Blueberry Crumble Bars with jammy blueberry and pear filling and caramel crispy oats, topped with an exquisite touch of lemon zest.
The good news: it’s Wednesday and half of my fruit and veg box has been eaten.
The bad news: there’s no more blueberry slice left.
So when life gives you lemons screw the lemonade, it’s way too simple!
Do something creative in the kitchen and add pears, blueberries and oats to turn it into a magical creation.
The moral of the story: Spend more time getting creative with what you’ve got.
Oh yeah, and don’t waste your food.
Pear and Blueberry Crumble Bars
These Pear and Blueberry Crumble Bars are a magical mix of sweet stewed fruits and crispy, zesty oats.
I’ve made these one step simpler as the base and the crumble topping are the same mixture.
These Crumble Bars are all about using seasonal fruits so feel free to sub out the pears or blueberries for whatever you have an abundance of, or use frozen versions like I did with the blueberries.
Note that these are crumble bars which means that they will crumble!
If for some reason you don’t like getting covered with delicious blueberry mess, I suggest attacking with a plate and fork.
How To Make This Recipe
Pear and Blueberry Crumble Bars
Fruit Filling Ingredients
- 700g fresh pears, cored and diced into 2cm cubes
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
- 2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- 1 Tbsp. cornstarch mixed with 1/2 cup hot water
Crumble Ingredients
- 1/2 cup brown rice or buckwheat flour
- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 tsp salt
- Zest of one lemon
- 3 Tbsp. tahini
- 1 Tbsp. maple syrup
Takes ,Makes 10 squares.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C (350° F) and grease a small square or rectangular tin
- Add diced pear, lemon juice, cinnamon and 1 tbsp maple syrup to a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for around 5 minutes until the pear is just soft
- Add half of the cornstarch + water mixture to the pears and stir well for 2-3 minutes until thickened. Remove from the saucepan and set aside
- In the same pan, add blueberries and the remainder of the cornstarch mixture. Stir for a few minutes until jammy and thickened. Set aside while you make the crumble
- In a large bowl add all crumble ingredients and use your hands rub together into crumbs. If the mixture is too dry, add 1 tbsp of the cooked pears
- Press 2/3 of the crumble mixture into the base of the greased tin. Follow with a layer of the cooked pears, blueberry mixture. Finally crumble over the remaining crumble mixture and press down slightly
- Place in the oven for 20 minutes until golden on top, then allow to cool completely before slicing
- Slice into squares and enjoy! They are delicious with a little extra lemon zest grated on top. Will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days
2 Comments
How would I go about printing off this recipe ?? I would love to make it.
Reply to posthumus selina
Hi Selina,
Thanks for your interest in this recipe! Unfortunately we don’t have a print button on our website at the moment so the only way to print it would be to print the whole blog post (which I realise may not be ideal!). I often work of recipes on my phone/computer to avoid printing them out so you could give that a go as well.
Please let me know how you get on. I’m sure you are going to love this crumble recipe – it’s one of my favourites!
Tamika.
Reply to Tamika Woods
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