Blueberry Custard. Does that sound good or what?
These Blueberry-Buttermilk Custard Bars are all that and more. There’s the slightly sour bite of the blueberries, the sandy crunch of the shortbread crust, and the glorious eggy custard.
This recipe is from Dorie Greenspan’s epic cookie extravaganza cookbook Dorie’s Cookies. It is just the cookbook you need this time of year when cookie baking shifts into high gear for the holidays. The cookbook is available at your local bookstore or on Amazon here. At the moment, the cookbook has 772 reviews on Amazon, 81% of which are 5 star. It would make a great stocking stuffer or a personal indulgence.
Blueberry-Buttermilk Pie Bars
December 11, 2022
Ingredients
- For the Crust
- 3/4 C. all-purpose flour
- 1/3 C. sugar
- 1/4 C. cornmeal (fine ground)
- 2 T. cornstarch
- 1/4 t. fine sea salt
- 1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter (cold and cut into 8 pieces)
- For the Topping
- 1 1/2 T. cornstarch
- 1 1/2 C. buttermilk
- 4 large eggs (at room temperature)
- 1/2 C. sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 2 t. pure vanilla extract
- 2 T. unsalted butter (melted and cooled)
- 1 C. fresh blueberries
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Step 2 Combine flour, sugar, cornmeal, cornstarch and salt in a food processor. Blitz for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter chunks and process until the mixture begins to come together and forms curds. Press this crust mixture into an 8 inch by 8 inch baking pan and chill in the refrigerator. After the crust is chilled, bake for about 25 minutes. You want the crust to be a golden brown. Remove from the oven and let the crust cool completely.
- Step 3 To make the filling, combine the cornstarch with 1/4 C. of the buttermilk and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Step 4 Put the eggs in a bowl and whisk until the eggs are frothy. Quickly, whisk in the sugar. Dorie Greenspan says to take particular care with this step. Mixing the sugar in too slowly will cause the eggs to “burn” and form a film, she says. You don’t want this to happen.
- Step 5 Whisk in the salt and the vanilla.
- Step 6 Whisk in the cornstarch/buttermilk mixture.
- Step 7 Stir in the remaining 1 1/4 C. buttermilk. Then mix in the melted butter. Set aside.
- Step 8 Scatter the blueberries on top of the cooled and baked crust.
- Step 9 Pour this custard mixture over the blueberries. The blueberries will be floating a bit in the custard. Use your fingers to spread them around and push them down into the custard as much as you can.
- Step 10 Bake for around 45 minutes in your preheated 350 degree F. oven. Bake on the middle rack. When done, the custard on your Blueberry-Buttermilk Pie Bars will have puffed all over and will feel firm to the touch. You also will have a bit of browning around the edges of the pan.
- Step 11 Remove baked bars from the oven and cool on a rack for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, run a sharp knife around the edges of the bars and invert the bars (uncut) onto another pan or dish. Invert again onto a serving plate so that the berry layer will be on top. Cool to room temperature and cut in 2-inch squares.
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