Pintember: Gluten-free Blueberry Lemon Squares

This was a very messy dessert! But, boy was it sweet and flavorful!

The pin I got this from, actually had 15 recipes using boxed cake. And it warned that this was a particularly messy dessert.

Source: loveveggiesandyoga.com via Samantha on Pinterest

This is the exact recipe that I started with. I guess I forgot that I changed the recipe quite a bit! I guess this recipe really inspired me to change the dessert around for several reasons. 1) I was going to  party and I wanted to have a non chocolate, gluten free dessert available. 2) I only had plain blueberries on hand. and 3) I love lemon with blueberries!

This is the final recipe that I actually made. However I still need to tweak it so that it won't be quite so messy...

Gluten-free Blueberry Lemon Squares

Makes 16 bars

1 box gluten-free vanilla, white, or yellow cake mix (I used Wegman's vanilla)

1 cup quick cooking oats

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cups blueberries (I used frozen blueberries use what you have, fresh or frozen, or an assortment of berries)

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup slivered almonds

3/4 can (14-ounces) sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350F and prepare a 9-by-9 inch pan by lining it with aluminum foil and then spraying it with cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, oats, butter, egg, vanilla and mix either with a mixer, with a spoon, or with your hands, kneading it together. The batter will be thick, tacky, and may be difficult to combine, but keep stirring or use your fingers and knead it together, adding a splash of water or milk if absolutely necessary in order to combine. Press the dough it into the prepared pan. It will be tacky, sticky, and a bit tricky to work with, but keep pressing, spreading, and finessing it.

Sprinkle the berries, then sprinkle the white chocolate chips, evenly over the top of the dough. Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over the top, using a spatula to gently spread and even it if necessary. Bake for 25 to 29 minutes, or until edges of bars begin to barely brown and pull away slightly from the sides of the pan, taking care not to overbake. Note that the middle will not seem very well set and although it will be bubbling, the middle will be jiggly and juicy upon removing from oven and that is okay, you want to keep these gooey. They will continue to set up more after they have cooled but don’t be alarmed if you cannot get perfect squares as these are made to be soft and gooey. Allow bars to cool well before slicing and serving. Optionally,  top with whipped topping or ice cream before serving. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze for up to three months.

*If you do not like white chocolate, you can omit entirely or use milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips. Use slivered almonds in place of the coconut flakes if you don’t like coconut.

If I could get the toppings to be more solid...this recipe would probably not be so gooey. They were very tasty but I would much prefer to be able to eat them with my hands like a brownie...versus having to use a fork...or even a spoon, depending on how bad it is. Maybe if I put the oats in the topping part?

I would love it if someone gave me suggestions to fix this gooey mess!