These Healthy Wild Blueberry Crumble Bars are packed with nutrients from blueberries, coconut oil and oats. Serve them for breakfast or as a healthier dessert!
By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by Wild Blueberries and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.
Food is love. I start baking when I need a little love in my life. My whole family will be here for Thanksgiving and I have been experimenting with cleaner treats for turkey day.
These bars have been a favorite so far. It combines the intense flavor of Wild Blueberries with the naturally rich maple syrup, and a little citrus from an orange to keep it bright. Bonus for the gluten-free and/or vegan people… this recipe is a good fit for you!
I know some of you are thinking: “Berries in November?! No way does this taste right.” Wrong! Just because it’s fall doesn’t mean you can’t eat berries! Frozen Wild Blueberries are actually some of the most flavorful you can get. They have a more intense flavor than even regular blueberries.
When fruit has to “fight” to grow, it amplifies the flavor. Wild Blueberry plants grow wild and are genetically diverse with thousands of interlocking plants spreading naturally across fields. It’s this diversity that gives Wild Blueberries their deliciously complex flavor.
Side note: This is true with grape vines too. Vines grown in more challenging environments produce wines that are more layered and intense.
Being a little wild myself (sorry about high school, Mom!), I particularly love the heritage of these berries. They aren’t planted; they occur naturally in fields in Maine and Eastern Canada that have been here for 10,000 years. It doesn’t get wilder than that!
If you’re still skeptical of frozen fruit, chew on this: 99% of the Wild Blueberry crop is frozen. They’re individually quick frozen (IQF) at harvest to lock in their nutritional value and taste.
The other bonus of Wild Blueberries is that they have twice the antioxidant capacity of larger cultivated blueberries. You know you need that as cold season approaches! In the longer term, there is research showing potential health benefits to include: gut health, diabetes, cancer and brain health.
One serving (1 cup) of Wild Blueberries also has 8 times the manganese, 72% more fiber (helloooooo digestion), and 32% less sugar than cultivated blueberries.
Are you sold on berries in the fall yet? Learn more about Wild Blueberries and follow:
Site: www.wildblueberries.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wildblueberries
Twitter: @wildblueberries
Instagram: www.instagram.com/wildblueberries
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/wildbberries
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These are also amazing hot out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top. Not that I would know… 😉
Are you a frozen berry fan?
What are you making for Thanksgiving this year?
Hot out of the oven with vanilla ice cream on top… Now I know what my next bake is after Meg’s bars… And I happen to have a bag of frozen blueberries in the freezer – it’s like fate!
It IS fate! I’d love to know what you think if you do try them!
We always have a bag of wild frozen blueberries in the freezer. My kids love to eat them right out of the freezer. It’s the perfect solution to having tasty blueberries year ’round!
GIve me a pint of yogurt (Frozen or otherwise) and one of these (screw it, the whole pan) and GET OUT OF MY WAY
Eating the pan is legit. I mean… hello, antioxidants!
Yummm these look amazing. I’ll have one for breakfast, snack, lunch and dessert!
These look great, Laura!! Hail to the bars! 🙂 I wanted to make something different, and bars hit the spot. I love how different yours are than mine; I will have to try them soon. Baking is starting to get really fun again and the payoff is nice to eat on too! 🙂
Thank you! I love having berries in the winter. I always miss them!
Well I am sold yummy
I was planning on making a triberry crumble today. Great minds think alike.
Great minds indeed! How did your turn out?
Yum – wish I had one of these for an afternoon snack right about now!
Hand those over!
Almost as good as a cookie. 😉
Oh man I lovvveeee the ingredient list here. Healthy, delicious perfection. I can’t believe wild blueberries have that many more antioxidants than regular. Give me this with some ice cream and a square of dark chocolate and my day is SET. Nicely done on this one!!
Thanks! And good call on the chocolate! 😉
i love wild blueberries with smoothies…i could see myself making these soon!!!!! the only difficulty is finding them at regular grocery stores.
Oh no! I found them at Whole Foods… as always. Ha Ha!
I feel like I need this and a big glass of wine right now. Yes? Ugh, longest strangest hardest week ever. Booze and berries please.
WHY AREN’T WE NEIGHBORS?!
Oh yum, this looks like a wonderful dessert. Since I am breastfeeding, I am all about eating oats. 🙂
Oh yeah… I always forget they’re so good for mammas! Hope you’re doing well!!!
Ooh, I’ve already seen 2 or 3 recipes of wild blueberry deliciousness, and I can’t decide which one to try first. I LOVE crumble streusel bars.
I ate blueberries today on top of my oatmeal, and I’d much rather have them in bar form like this.
Can Ave and I come for Thanksgiving too? 🙂
Please do? Someone has to help with with all this wine!
Love the healthy ingredients in these bars!