I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen, who adapted it from All Recipes, and I did a little tinkering of my own. I tried it two ways: with classic white sugar and white flour and a “healthified” version with natural cane sugar and whole wheat. (The latter still contains a full stick of butter so it still doesn’t exactly fall within the health food realm.) I split the pan right down the middle, half whole wheat and the other half not.

It was an experiment of sorts. As you can see, the whole wheat crust was a deeper golden brown, hinting at its whole grain goodness. The test was to see how different they tasted. I made the mistake of telling my guests the difference, and predictably, they avoided the whole wheat bars. I munched on both (with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream on the side, yum!) and didn’t think either stood out as better than the other. But sometimes I worry that I’m slightly jaded, being accustomed to the taste of whole wheat. My husband though, who is brutally honest in his culinary opinions, happily gobbled up the leftovers with no discrimination. According to him- brown or white- the taste was the same. So there you have it… either way you make ’em, you’ll have blueberry bliss!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup white sugar (or evaporated cane sugar)
1 tsp. baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
1 cup cold butter (2 sticks)
1 egg
1/4 tsp. salt
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar (or evaporated cane sugar)
4 tsp. cornstarch

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.

2. In a large bowl, stir together sugar, baking powder, and flour. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan.

3. In a separate bowl stir together sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Top with the remaining dough crumbles.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 30-45 minutes, until the top is slightly browned. Cool before cutting into squares.

Makes 1 9×13 pan.

(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)