The Tease of Summer
I am so excited, because I feel like summertime is just around the corner. I love not having a school schedule with the accompanying homework but instead I can enjoy the more relaxed pace that comes with the season.
I also love the fruits of summer. The blueberries are not yet at their peak, but I saw a batch this past week that begged to be baked. How could I refuse?
To make this even more tempting, the mangoes were perfect…not too soft and not too hard. As I stood in the produce aisle, I envisioned this beautiful color combination, even though I had yet to decide what form the dessert was going to take.
Ultimately, I thought it would be fun to throw everything into the mixer (not ALL at once) and see what happened. Good thing for me that the combination turned into a lovely, refreshing bar.
I did what I usually do, which was to send out a Facebook message asking for tasters. Have I mentioned how great my friends are? They stepped up to the plate and, because their feedback was so positive, everyone can now bake his or her own Blueberry Mango Bars.
With each day getting warmer and warmer, I know summer fruits will all be wonderful very soon. Until then, enjoy this tease of the season.
| Blueberry Mango Bars | Print |
- 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ teaspoons orange zest
- ¾ cup medium size cut pieces of mango
- ¾ cup blueberries, washed and dried
- For the bars:
- Preheat oven to 350°. Line 8” x 8” aluminum baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Place butter and sugar into large mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping bowl down as needed. Add eggs, one at a time.
- Mix in flour and baking powder, followed by vanilla extract and orange zest.
- Remove from mixer and fold in mango. Gently fold in blueberries. The batter will be thick.
- Transfer to prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes, rotating pan front to back halfway through.
- Remove from oven and cool.
- Lift parchment paper out of pan. Peel sides down and slice into 16 bars.
- Betsy's tidbit:
- Blueberry Mango Bars are best eaten warm or at room temperature.
