Berry/ Cream/ Dorie Greenspan/ enriched dough/ Sweet

Blueberry Buttermilk Pie Bars

These Dorie Greenspan’s bar cookies pack layers of flavor and surprises. Fruity berries flourish on top. The sweet velvety custard and the chewy grainy cornmeal crust settle at the bottom. They are very easy to like. Until you realize it, you could have eaten a few of these in short order.

These cookies have their origin in the South. This is how Dorie describes them:

“Except for one dream-worthy buttermilk pie that I had at Husk in Nashville, which was made by the uber-talented pastry chef Lisa Donovan, I have no connection to this Southern specialty. But I couldn’t get that pie out of my head, and I couldn’t stop thinking it would make a good bar cookie.”

As usual, Dorie puts in all the right details and visual cues to ensure good results in the home kitchen with this recipe. To start, press the cornmeal crust mixture in a square pan and bake until golden brown. As the crust cools, prepare the filling. I was impatient; I chilled the crust in the fridge to speed up the cooling. The filling is a mixture of cornstarch, buttermilk, eggs, sugar, flour and butter. Top the cornmeal crust with the filling and the fresh blueberries, (which I froze briefly). The blueberries burst and bloom as they bake in the oven.

Some quick tips:

  • If I bake these cookies again, I would surely reduce the amount of sugar by at least a third.
  • Mixed berries or seasonal stone fruits are good alternatives to the blueberries. Any frozen berries could do the job well here.
  • I used a medium ground cornmeal and the texture of the cookies were on the rougher side than I’d have liked. I would sift out and extract some of the rougher bran for an easier bite. Come to think of it, any wheat bran can adequately fill in for the earthy, sandy and grainy feel of the cornmeal. That would put wheat bran, which I have on hand all the time from bread-making, to some good use. Another superb alternative to cornmeal is semolina flour, which I believe would make this cookie sturdier with a fantastic mouthfeel.

Some Tuesday-with-Dorie’s bakers are making these cookies this week. Check to see what our experiences have been with this recipe. Better yet, come and bake along with us.

Blueberry Buttermilk Pie Bars

Serves: 16 squares

Ingredients

  • FOR THE CRUST:
  • 3/4 cup (102 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup (67 grams) sugar
  • 1/4 cup (33 grams) cornmeal (not coarse)
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 stick (8 tablespoons; 4 ounces; 113 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
  • FOR THE TOPPING:
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) buttermilk
  • 4 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
  • Pinch of fine sea salt
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons (1 ounce; 30 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 cup (150 grams) fresh blueberries

Instructions

1

TO MAKE THE CRUST: Have an 8-inch square baking pan at hand.

2

Put the flour, sugar, cornmeal, cornstarch and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to blend. Drop in the chunks of butter and work in long pulses — about dozen or so — until you have a moist dough that forms curds. Turn the dough out into the baking pan and use your fingertips to press it evenly into the pan. Put the pan in the refrigerator while you preheat the oven (it needs a short chill before baking).

3

Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees F.

4

Bake the crust for 23 to 25 minutes, until it’s golden brown. Even though the crust will be baked again with the topping, it needs to be thoroughly baked now, so err on the side of more golden rather than less. Transfer the pan to a rack and allow the crust to cool completely.

5

If you’ve turned off the oven, return it to 350 degrees F.

6

TO MAKE THE TOPPING: Spoon the cornstarch into a small bowl and pour over 1/4 cup of the buttermilk. Stir until the cornstarch dissolves; this is a slurry, which will thicken the custard.

7

Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl until foamy. Add the sugar and immediately start whisking vigorously (you must beat sugar and eggs together quickly, or the sugar will “burn” the yolks and cause a film to form). Whisk in the salt and vanilla, then whisk in the slurry. When the slurry is fully incorporated, stir in the remainder of the buttermilk, followed by the melted butter. Scatter the blueberries over the crust and then pour on the topping. The blueberries will shift — they’ve got nothing to hold on to — so try to even them out by poking them with your fingers or a spoon; but give up if it’s not happening.

8

Bake the bars for 42 to 45 minutes, until the topping is puffed all the way to the center, brown around the edges and firm everywhere. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 20 minutes. Carefully run a table knife around the edges of the pan, place a piece of parchment paper over the pan and unmold the bar onto a rack. Remove the pan and invert the bar onto another rack to cool to room temperature; chill if you’d like. Just before serving, slide the bar onto a cutting board and, using a long, thin knife, cut 2-inch squares.

9

STORING: Covered and kept away from foods with strong odors, the bars will keep for a day or two in the refrigerator. However, like “real” pies, these are best the day they are made.

Notes

https://doriegreenspan.com/recipe/dories-cookies-blueberry-buttermilk-pie-bars-a-sneak-peek/

Thermoworks Specials

ThermoWorks Thermapen Mk4 Backlit

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8 Comments

  • Reply
    Cakelaw
    June 6, 2017 at 8:03 am

    Your cookies turned out great. I didn’t have cornmeal so I blitzed cornflakes for the base!

  • Reply
    Sarah B.
    June 6, 2017 at 4:56 pm

    Fascinating idea with stone fruit. I bet peach bars would be great!

  • Reply
    Diane Zwang
    June 6, 2017 at 8:20 pm

    I thought the crust was the best too.

    • Reply
      Shirley @ everopensauce
      June 7, 2017 at 10:52 am

      For some reason, my crust was too soft and grainy. I may bake this with some other flour.

  • Reply
    Teresa
    June 8, 2017 at 4:20 pm

    I like your suggestions for alternative grains for the crust. It’s great to use what you’ve got on hand and I think semolina might be especially nice, too. Yours look so appetizing, it’s (almost) making me regret choosing the chocolate chip cookies this week.

  • Reply
    joycekitchenflavours
    June 9, 2017 at 10:18 am

    Your bars looks great! I did reduce the sugar by half and the sweetness was just right for us. I got to agree, that this is one delicious cookie bar!

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