Blueberry bars and California wine country. The two will forever be joined in my mind. I cannot think of one without the other. Then I think of all the other memories from this one particular trip to Napa/Sonoma/San Francisco and it makes me smile. It all started with a raffle ticket. One little raffle ticket, ticket #00001 to be exact. I won two round-trip tickets on Air Tran. Yippee!
It took .00001 seconds to know where I was going. That was a given. I asked my friend Terry if she would want to go. My husband had been there with me recently and he didn't want to go again so soon. Besides, Terry sold me the winning ticket. It was for her daughter's high school band fund raising event.
I took Terry on my whirlwind winery tour. It starts promptly at 10am or earlier when the wineries open. One stop along the way is Oakville Grocery to check out their awesome goods and fresh foods. We looked around bought a few things and headed for the next winery. By the end of the day and many wineries later we were exhausted. We decided to stop again at the Oakville Grocery and pick up a few things for a light dinner. I spotted these blueberry oatmeal crumb bars and got one for dessert. Oh heavens it was the best blueberry bar ever. It was a big one too. I saved half of it for breakfast the next morning.
We had a fabulous time on the trip. Half of the week was in Napa and Sonoma and the other half in San Francisco. We ate, drank, shopped, went site seeing, and so much more. One place we visited was the Conservatory of Flowers. There were the most incredible flowers there. The orchids were out of this world. Out in front of the conservatory was a bed of dahlias of so many colors and sizes. Terry wanted to take a photo to show her sister the size of them. She told me to lean in so my head would be a reference. That photo is the one I use for my avatar and profile picture on all the social media sites.
I have so many great memories of the trip. Wine country, blueberry oatmeal crumb bars, flowers, food, wine, and a special photo. Most important is the treasured time spent with a dear friend. See why it makes me smile?
Do you like blueberries? You should also check out my blueberry donuts, cream cheese tart, and muffins. I certainly enjoy them and will always be looking for more recipes. Who knows which blueberry recipe I'll share next. Stay tuned...
Blueberry Oatmeal Crumb Bars
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 3 cups fresh blueberries
- 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
For the crust and crumb topping:
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup light brown sugar tightly packed
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter diced
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
For the filling:
- In a medium saucepan, add the blueberries and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until blueberries are tender, about 8 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and cornstarch. Add the sugar mixture to the pan and stir to combine. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until thickened. Transfer filling to a medium bowl and set aside to cool slightly.
For the bars:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9- X 13-inch baking pan.
- In a food processor fitted with a knife blade, add the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pulse one or two times to combine. Add the diced butter and vanilla. Pulse until it resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside 1 ½ cups of the crumb mixture in a bowl to be used for the topping.
- Pour the remaining crumb mixture into the baking pan, spread evenly, and pat down. Place filling in small dollops over the crust. Carefully spread the filling evenly over the crust. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture over the filling.
- Bake until golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Slice into 20 bars. Serve at room temperature. Store in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.
Notes
Recipe adapted from one on Baking Bites website.
Oh my god Renee, what an impossibly good trip to make with a friend! And I love blueberries, especially baked. And streusel or crumb topping too. These are gorgeous!
Thanks Paula! It was a fantastic trip and so many good memories made there.
Lucky, lucky you!!! I'm trying to convince the hubby (beer drinker) that we NEED a trip to Napa. Maybe I can bribe him with these amazing blueberry bars 🙂
Oh yes, the blueberry bars would be a great bribe. I'd do just about anything for another trip to Napa and California wine country.
How fun, and even more fun to share with a friend. I can honestly say I've never won anything, so I'm always happy to hear when other people do. These blueberry bars look incredible.
It's the biggest prize I have ever won. I could not believe it. I'm so glad it happened. A great trip resulted from it too.
What a fun trip, and such great memories! Thanks for sharing! I'm a sucker for blueberry anything, so we will be sure to try this when they are in season again!
I can't wait for blueberry season either. I used ones I found at the grocery store. However, the fresh ones from my local farmers market are so much better.
I love vineyard tours; heck, I love wine. I just picked up a carton of blueberries today for oatmeal blueberry cookies. These bars are calling my name. Cookies or bars? Decisions!
Tough choices. Now I would like to see a blueberry cookie recipe and I know if it is yours it will be fabulous.
What a fabulous trip with a good friend! Those are memories that will last a lifetime. I love that photo of you with the flowers but I just assumed it was in your lovely backyard. Now I will smile with you when I see it and think of this post, your fun trip and these delicious blueberry oatmeal bars!
Thanks Stacy! Everyone always asks me about my profile pic/avatar. I wish I had those beautiful dahlias in my yard. They were incredible.
I think I used to have similar bars but with jam not made with fresh blueberries.. Would love to try these!
Thank you Medeja and I think using fresh blueberries is much better than jam.
Napa sounds positively wonderful! I hope I get there one day. I love blueberries and know one of these bars would hit the spot.
Napa is the most wonderful place to visit and so is the surrounding wine country. I hope you do get there one day.
Oh my! These look amazing! I love blueberries! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Tiffany!
Oh, these sound awesome. I especially like a little hint of lemon:)
Thanks Krystyn!
Oh these bars are calling my name! I just so happen to have blueberries frozen from our blueberry patch this last summer. Can't wait to make these. Thanks!
Oh yes! Time to thaw out those blueberries and use them before the new ones come in this summer.
My 10 year old LOVES LOVES LOVES blueberry. I am sure she would enjoys these bars!
They would make a great after school snack for your 10 year old. I hope she enjoys them when you make them for her.
I love blueberries and wine! Have you been to Maine? They make a blueberry wine - actually from blueberries, you need to seek out the right type, dry not sweet but it is actually quite good. I bet it would be tasty with these bars.
I have not been to Maine and I would love to go there one day. I hear it is beautiful.
This looks so delicious!! Sounds like you all had a great time!!
Thanks Katherine!
What a fabulous trip you and Terry had, Renee! That would be a dream vacation for me. I LOVE San Francisco - I've been there three times already and Napa twice, and I can't wait to go back. It'd be amazing to actually stay in Napa and Sonoma, lounge around, be lazy, and do nothing but drink wine all day. No wonder blueberry bars have such a special place in your heart, besides the fact that they're delicious. And thanks for sharing the back story to your avatar photo. It'll make me think of San Fran and blueberry bars from now on.
It really was a fabulous trip. I would rather stay in Napa or Sonoma instead of San Francisco. In fact, the last time I went I didn't even go to the city at all. Too much wine to taste and good food to eat.
These Blueberry Oatmeal Crumb Bars look wonderful. I live in Southern CA and can't believe I haven't visit the CA wine country, just yet. I've gotta make some plans for a vacation soon! 😉
You are so close to wine country you have to visit it soon. It is so beautiful and and there are so many great wineries to visit.
This trip sounds fantastic! I love the recipe too, fruit bars are one of my favorite desserts.
Thanks Jessica!
Sounds like a wonderful trip! And I love blueberries baked into sweet treats. Yum.
I love blueberries in just about anything. I'm wanting to try some savory blueberry recipes too.
It truly was a great trip. I had never been farther west than St. Louis before that. Kind of embarrassing for someone who traveled all over Europe and took her first trip to Trinidad at 18. Going to a new place with someone who had 'been there, done that' made it all that much more enjoyable. St. Helen could easily be home for me. Beautiful California. The ads don't lie. Thanks for this great post Renee. I will do a follow-up on my little blog diary http://www.tbgdesigneverything.com with some photos taken on our trip.
ST. HELENA...Not Helen :/
Darn spell correction doesn't catch everything. (smiling)
Thanks for sharing the photos of our trip on your blog. It was fun to see and share them too.
These look delicious! I see a lot of raspberry crumb bars, but I like that you changed it up with blueberries. Yum.
You could use raspberries if you want to substitute, although personally I prefer blueberries.
I've been dreaming of a trip to California for more than a year. I went to go to LA to celebrity hunt - then go to the wine country!
That sounds like it would be a wonderful trip Joyce, you should go soon.
These bars look so delicious! I bought an extra container of blueberries this weekend, so I'm going to have to try them soon.
Thanks Patsy!