Tuesday Treats brought you by blueberries and lemons

Good morning hungry eaters!

This week's Tuesday Treats is something different than the usual cookies or other bar cookies I have made in the past. There is no chocolate in this week's edition, a shocker for me yes I know. I wanted something light tasting and a something fruity so I made lemon blueberry bars. Doesn't that sound so delicious to you? On to the recipe and photos!

First gather your ingredients: 1 3/4 cups flour, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, 12 tablespoons of butter (preferably room temperature) 1 1/2cup oats (quick cooking), 2 egg yolks, 1 can (14 oz.) of sweetened condensed milk, 1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice, 2 teaspoons of lemon zest ( or more if you really want a lemony flavor), 2 cups room temperature fresh blueberries, 1/2 cup of chopped pecans (I used 1 cup for extra crunch).

Ingredients!

Next, preheat your oven toe 350 degrees and use a 13"X9" baking dish and grease the bottom and sides of the pan. Believe me you will want to use this size dish. Use your food processor a regular mixer to mix your dry ingredients. My food processor wasn't large enough to hold the flour, both sugars, oats and butter, so keep that in mind before you throw the dry ingredients plus the butter into your food processor. My mixer worked just fine anyways.

In your mixer put the 1 3/4 cup flour, both sugars and baking soda and turn on the mixer for a quick, thorough mix.

Flour, sugars and baking soda

Mixing, mixing

Then add the stick and half of butter and mix until the ingredients are coarse and crumbly. The mixture won't blend smoothly, so don't be afraid when it doesn't. Then add the oats and mix again until thorough. 

Add the butter

Add the oatmeal

Then mix

Spread 2/3 of the this oat mixture into your baking dish and pat it down and then bake it for 12 minutes. Set the remaining 1/3 aside for later.

Whisk together the condensed milk, the 1/2 cup of freshly squeezed or bottled lemon juice ( think freshly squeezed is always better) and the 2 teaspoons of lemon zest (definitely don't skip out on this step). Mix these three ingredients together then throw in the 2 egg yolks. Make yourself an egg white omelet if you desire :-)

Making freshly squeezed lemon juice

You will NOT want to miss out on the zesting your lemon for this recipe

Spread evenly the 2 cups of blueberries onto the baked oats mixture and on top of the blueberries pour the condensed milk mixture and use a spatula to spread this liquid mixture. 

Yummy blueberries!

Blueberries are delicious

Condensed milk over blueberries

Pop it back in the over for 7 or 8 minutes until the condensed milk mixture has a thin and shiny gleen on it. 

See the shiny gleen!

 Take it out and sprinkle the remaining 1/3 oats mixture on top and top that off with the chopped pecans. 

Add remaining 1/2 crumble oats mixture

Then top with chopped pecans and bake!

 Bake for another 25 minutes and then let cool for an hour, then let your bars cool in the refrigerator at least for 2 hours. The longer the bars sit in your refrigerator, the better they will be just ask my Sean for his official taste tester opinion.When ready slice the bars, eat and enjoy!

Finished product!