Thanks to Philadelphia Cream Cheese for sponsoring this post.
Lemon Blueberry Fluff Bars
Home Ec. messed me all up. Do you remember Home Economics class? Where you learned to wash dishes and bake cookies and parent an egg-with-a-face-drawn-on for a week? The teacher didn’t realize that egg babies are easily replaced after regrettable incidents on the bus. Ahem.
My teacher wasn’t really into cooking (which is a shame, since of course we all took the class primarily to eat cookies), but she did a great job of teaching us safety and sanitation rules — with one exception.
If she had JUST said, “To put out a kitchen fire, smother it with baking soda,” I would’ve remembered that forever. But instead she said, “To put out a kitchen fire, smother it with baking soda and NOT FLOUR. Don’t use flour, but baking soda instead. Flour and baking soda look so similar, right?! Baking soda, flour. Flour, baking soda. But one of them puts out a fire and the other one explodes. Don’t get them mixed up!”
Okay, so I’m paraphrasing, but it was something like that. The immediate result was that the two were all jumbled in my head. The long-term result was that I stood paralyzed in my kitchen last Sunday after accidentally setting my leftover sandwich on fire (only I could manage to set a sandwich on fire) wondering what the heck to do. The fire was inside the oven, thankfully, so I turned the oven off and took a moment to congratulate myself for remembering that much. Then I faced the real issue: flour or baking soda? Baking soda or flour?
Thankfully, we now have another valuable kitchen safety tool: Google. I called out to Mike, “GOOGLE HOW TO PUT OUT KITCHEN FIRES!”
I don’t think you’re supposed to Google in an emergency, but the closed oven bought us time. “Baking soda,” he called out from the living room. (He’s apparently way too cool to run in and make a fuss.) In a few moments the fire (and my pimento cheese sandwich, wahhhh) was doused in baking soda and all was well. Except the ash and baking soda everywhere. And the fact that our apartment smelled like a bonfire for the next few days.
There are three morals to this story:
1. BAKING SODA.
2. BAKING SODA.
3. BAKING SODA.
And dessert, because that’s what comforted me after I legitimately mourned for my pimento cheese sandwich.
I made these fluffy, springy mousse bars specifically to shine on your Easter holiday table. They are cool, tangy, and super creamy! Thanks to Philadelphia Cream Cheese for sponsoring me to create a delicious Easter dessert recipe. This is not an original Philadelphia Cream Cheese recipe — it’s all mine!
One year ago: French Silk Pie Bars
Two years ago: Almond Scones with Raspberry Jam and Clotted Cream
Three years ago: Chocolatey Red Velvet Pull-Apart Bread with Cream Cheese Glaze
Four years ago: Three Safe-to-Eat Cookie Doughs: Chocolate Chip, Sugar, and Cake Batter!
Five years ago: Oatmeal Cake with Broiled Icing
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar, divided
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- zest of one lemon
- yellow food coloring as desired
- 2 (8-ounce) packages Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
- 12 ounces fresh blueberries
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with a foil sling. Process the flour, powdered sugar, and salt together for a few seconds before adding in the chunks of cold butter. Cut the butter into the flour mixture about 6-8 pulses or until it looks like small peas. Press the mixture into the baking dish with the flat bottom of a glass or small dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until very lightly browned. Let cool completely (I stick mine in the fridge to help it along.)
- In a chilled large bowl, whip the heavy cream, 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar, lemon extract, lemon zest (save a little for topping), and a couple drops of food coloring (if desired) together to form stiff peaks. In a separate large bowl, beat the cream cheese and the remaining 1/4 cup powdered sugar (and a couple more drops of food coloring — however many you used in the cream) together until fluffy and light. Whisk about 1/3 of the whipped cream into the cream cheese to lighten it up a little more. Then fold in the rest of the whipped cream very gently until the dip is well combined. Gently stir in the blueberries. Pile the mixture in dollops all around the completely cooled shortbread crust and spread it evenly. Run a thin knife around the outside edges so that after chilling, the bars will come away from the foil evenly. Chill for at least 3 hours before using the foil sling to transfer the bars to a cutting board. Cut and serve chilled.
Holly N @ Spend With Pennies
April 2, 2015 at 12:40 am (10 years ago)Lemon + Blueberry are SO perfect together! These look perfectly amazing!
lynn @ the actor’s diet
April 2, 2015 at 12:54 am (10 years ago)Ha ha ha – when we were in the midst of a kitchen fire situation last year or so I was also googling what to do. And I loved home ec – I learned to sift and measure flour correctly there! And make a hideous vest.
Tammy
April 2, 2015 at 1:31 am (10 years ago)This is so beautiful and creamy…and just heavenly! 😀
Toodles,
Tammy<3
Arman @ thebigmansworld
April 2, 2015 at 3:25 am (10 years ago)haha damn baking soda! these look absolutely divine!
Lucy @ Bake Play Smile
April 2, 2015 at 3:55 am (10 years ago)Haha I used to love Home Ec class! You know what… I think that anything that contains lemons and blueberries is just going to be amazing. Its the best flavour combination!
Amy J.
April 2, 2015 at 6:51 am (10 years ago)You know, they say that when you’re telling a child something, the child hears the main thought and not the other stuff. So if you say, “Don’t jump on the bed!” the child hears “JUMP BED.” “Don’t eat that cake, it’s for your sister’s birthday party” becomes “EAT CAKE.” I lovvvvve lemon and blueberries together and this sounds amazing. 🙂
DessertForTwo
April 2, 2015 at 8:00 am (10 years ago)I’m in shock a home ec teacher didn’t like to cook–that’s kinda part of the gig, ya know? I loved home ec. And I love these fluffy bars! 🙂
Danae @ Recipe Runner
April 2, 2015 at 11:40 am (10 years ago)Haha! Google saves the day again! These bars would totally make me feel better after a pimento cheese sandwich trauma like that!
Julie @ Julie's Eats & Treats
April 2, 2015 at 2:11 pm (10 years ago)Say what?! Flour explodes. Wow. Thanks for the information. Repeating Baking Soda, Baking Soda… Glad I’m also distracted by these amazing bars!
Tanara Colson
April 3, 2015 at 1:52 am (10 years ago)Your meals look delicious. I want to enhance my cooking and this is a good place to start.
Krysten
April 4, 2015 at 10:33 pm (10 years ago)Coconut Cheesecake Breakfast Braid.
Coconut Cream Gooey Butter Cake.
These (*insert arrow pointing to blog post above) amazing looking Lemon Blueberry Fluff bars.
And of course…what i originally came here for — Coconut Cream Pie Bars.
Julie,
What are you doing to me?! Lol. This is the first time I’ve checked out your blog and I’m addicted, and drooling, and trying to figure out how to make is all!
Oh, and just now I made the “mistake” of typing “coconut” into the search bar. I know where I’ll be every time my coconut craving strikes!
Have a happy weekend. 🙂
Liz @ The Lemon Bowl
April 6, 2015 at 8:48 am (10 years ago)I love berries + lemon together!! These look awesome!
Mary
April 6, 2015 at 9:16 am (10 years ago)These bars are gorgeous! I wish I had one here for breakfast today. What a perfect spring dessert!
Jenny Flake
April 6, 2015 at 9:39 am (10 years ago)What a perfectly Spring-y recipe! Love!!
Liz
April 6, 2015 at 5:57 pm (10 years ago)At my house, the fire department comes whenever our smoke detector goes off (always me burning something!). Then my son takes a photo and blasts it all over social media. So I feel your pain—and hope you got another sandwich. Though these fluff bars would help alleviate some of my disappointment. They look amazing!
Rachel Cooks
April 7, 2015 at 7:35 am (10 years ago)I’m glad you didn’t burn down your house! Hooray for baking soda and hooray for these AMAZING bars! Can’t wait to try them!
Miss @ Miss in the Kitchen
April 7, 2015 at 8:45 am (10 years ago)I’ve caught towels and pot holders on fire more than once, I would be sad to lose a pimento cheese sandwich too! These bars are right up my alley, so delicious!
mary
May 6, 2015 at 10:29 pm (10 years ago)yum.
but please always have a fire extinguisher nearby! always a good idea.
Isabel
April 5, 2023 at 6:57 pm (2 years ago)This came out SO good
Julie Ruble
April 6, 2023 at 12:42 am (2 years ago)I’m so glad to hear that, Isabell!