This Cake-Mix Hack Makes Blueberry Crumble Bars a Breeze to Make

Photo byWhat Molly Made

July is almost over, so I'm trying to squeeze in a few more recipes for National Blueberry Month. These blueberry crumble bars are a great way to use up your extra summer berries and are a cinch to make. Serve them for breakfast or as an afternoon snack. Or warm leftover bars up in the microwave then top them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and you've got a delicious summery dessert.

All you need to do is mix old-fashioned oats and yellow cake mix with melted butter for the base, then add chopped pecans and cinnamon to the leftover mixture for the topping. The blueberry filling is easiest of all: just combine a jar of blueberry preserves with fresh blueberries and lemon juice. There's no constarch, no sugar and no need to boil the blueberries over a hot stove. And clean-up is a breeze.

Blueberry Crumble Bars

Ingredients

1 (15.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix

2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

3/4 cup butter, melted

1 jar (12 ounces) blueberry preserves

1/3 cup fresh blueberries

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 9-inch baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, oats and butter until crumbly. Press 3 cups of the mixture into the pan. Bake 15 minutes then cool on a wire rack for 5 more minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine preserves, blueberries and lemon juice. Spread evenly over the crust.

4. Stir the pecans and cinnamon into remaining crumb mixture. Sprinkle evenly over the top.

5. Bake until lightly browned, about 18-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before cutting into bars.

Notes

I could only find the Smuckers 18-ounce jar of blueberry preserves so I measured out a cup and a half. I also added a few more fresh blueberries to the mix.

In my oven these bars usually take about 25 minutes, probably because I add extra blueberries.

Be sure to the let the bars fully cool before cutting into them. I've made the mistake of eating these bars too soon--they're delicious but they won't hold their shape.