This dessert screams summer. Have you ever had corn and blueberries together? If not, I highly recommend you try these bars! They are super simple to make and are also really unique. These vegan blueberry corn cookie bars are a spin on a corn cookie, but are closer to a shortbread in texture. Very addicting and borderline a savory treat. I love them warmed up slightly and then topped with a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream. They are a perfect unique summer dessert for a crowd.
Corn Powder
For this key ingredient, you will have to do a little searching. Corn powder is just freeze dried corn, ground up. See a picture of the freeze dried corn before it’s ground up into a powder below! It gives these vegan blueberry corn cookie bars its signature flavor. You cannot replace this with cornmeal! The two flavors aren’t really the same. If you used cornmeal these will end up tasting like something closer to cornbread. The other reason not to use all cornmeal, is that the texture will also not be the same. I buy my freeze dried corn here. Although you can sometimes find it in grocery stores. When I go to use it, I just grind up the whole package of corn in a food processor until it is a fine powder. Then I place the corn powder back into the original bag for later use. From the bag linked, you will get about 2-3 batches of vegan blueberry corn cookie bars from just one bag!
Blueberries
It is almost blueberry season, every year I go picking them at my local farm from July – September. Fresh local blueberries in this recipe would be amazing! I however do not have those currently, so I used frozen when developing these. Frozen blueberries are very tasty and will result in an amazing homemade jam. You can use store-bought blueberry jam if you would like, but I personally love the taste of the homemade stuff. Slightly tart, but sweet! This pairs so well with the corn cookie base!
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Vegan Blueberry Corn Cookie Bars
- V
- VG
- DF
Nutrition per portion
Ingredients
- Blueberry Jam
- 1 ½ cups (8 oz) Fresh or Frozen Blueberries
- Juice of Half a Lemon
- ¼ cup (50g) Sugar
- ½ tbsp (6g) Cornstarch
- Pinch of Salt
- Corn Cookie
- 1 cup (226g) Room Temperature Unsalted Vegan Butter
- ½ cup (110g) Brown Sugar
- 1 ¾ cup + 3 tbsp (267g) All Purpose Flour
- ½ cup (53g) Corn Powder*
- 2 tbsp (15g) Cornmeal
- ¾ tsp (4g) Salt
Method
Make the Jam- In a small saucepan, add the blueberries, juice of half a lemon, sugar, cornstarch, and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine.
- Place over medium heat and lightly mash some of the blueberries. Heat until thickened (about 10 minutes), stirring occasionally.
- Place in a heat proof container and let cool slightly. Or store in the fridge if not using immediately.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray an 8"x8" pan with spray oil and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, add the flour, corn powder, cornmeal, and salt. Whisk to combine.
- In a large bowl, add the room temperature butter and brown sugar. Using a hand mixer, mix on medium-high speed until the butter and sugar are light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add in half of the flour mixture, and mix on low speed to combine.
- Add in the remaining flour mixture, and mix on low speed until incorporated. The cookie dough will be crumbly.
- Add about ¾ of the cookie dough into the bottom of the prepared pan, and press into an even layer. Pour the blueberry jam on your cookie layer and spread evenly.
- Take the remaining cookie dough and sprinkle on the top in an even layer.
- Place in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove and let fully cool (about 1 hour) before slicing!
