These came about because we saw dehydrated blueberries for sale at Costco. And we thought, why not. Then it ended up sitting in our cupboard for a few months. I had made cookies with dried blueberries and Rice Krispies cereal, and so I thought, why not make them into bars this time? This time around, I decided to make them a little healthier by using refined coconut oil, but if you really want to have butter in them, you can substitute the same amount that you use for the coconut oil.

blueberry crunch bars

ingredients

1 and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)

2 cups dehydrated blueberries (optional: chop about 1/2 cup of the blueberries and mix into the flour beforehand)

1/2 cup refined coconut oil in solid form

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

2 cups rice cereal (Kellogg’s Rice Krispies)

method

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line a 9″ x 13″ rectangular pan with a sheet of parchment paper that overhangs on the two long sides. Set aside.

Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg together into a medium bowl and stir with a whisk to combine and integrate the flour ingredients. Set aside.

Briefly add 1/2 cup of hot water to the blueberries in a bowl and mix to rehydrate somewhat for about 10 minutes, then drain excess water and dry the berries with a paper towel. Coarsely chop about 1/2 cup of the blueberries and add these chopped blueberries to the flour and mix with your fingers to get them coated with the flour mixture. Set aside.

In another bowl, cream the coconut oil with the sugar with a handheld electric mixer with beater attachments. Add the vanilla extract and the egg and mix again until incorporated.

Fold in the flour mixture first or use the mixer on low just until all flour is moistened. Fold in the rest of the dried blueberries and the Rice Krispies cereal.

Empty the contents of the bowl into the prepared rectangular pan and level the surface by pressing the top with the flat bottom of a measuring cup or glass. You can also use an offset spatula.

Place in oven and bake for about 25 minutes until top is golden brown. Immediately take out of oven and remove from pan by using the parchment paper to lift from both sides of the pan. Let cool for about 20 minutes before slicing into squares or rectangles. Enjoy!