Easy Lemon Blueberry Bars

These lemon blueberry bars are bursting with so much bright berry flavor. They have an easy to make buttery biscuit base which is infused with lemon zest and an easy one bowl blueberry pie filling that bakes up nice and jamy. These are an easy slice and serve bake!

Hey team, Nick here. I’m not a fruit person at all. Not even in baked desserts. But I’ll absolutely make an exception for these lemon blueberry bars. I mean the blueberry flavor alone is so delicious.

I know a lot of you aren’t a fan of overly sweet desserts which makes this one perfect because it’s not too sweet. To me, the overwhelming flavor you’re hit with is the buttery biscuit base and those blueberries which bake up sticky and jamy which I love.

It’s the same texture you get in my no-bake Blueberry and lime cheesecake. Oh and you can totally substitute the lemon in these with lime. It’s so delicious!

You can use fresh or frozen blueberries. I use frozen because they’re cheaper than fresh, available year-round and I’m not a millionaire. This ones an easy bake so let’s get started!

Making the buttery biscuit crumble

To me, these are essentially a shortbread bar with baked blueberries on top. Except this one has egg yolk in it which give it a bit of a chew. Still buttery and crumbly though. 

Making this by hand – l show you how to make this using a food processor but I’ve left instruction in the notes section of the recipe card on how to make it by hand. If you have time to do it by hand, I reckon you get a better result!

• Add the sugar and lemon zest into the bowl of your food processor and pulse to combine. It’s going to release the oils from the zest into the sugar and make the crumble even more aromatic!
• Then add the flour and salt and pulse to combine.

• Next, add the cold butter. You want to make sure its cut into small cubes. Large chunks will make the mixer rock about. Keep mixing until the butter reaches pea sized pieces. It’ll look quite crumbly.
• Add the egg yolks and start mixing, then add the cold water while the mixer is on high until large clumps start forming.

• The mixture will come together when you squeeze it in your hands. That’s when you know its time to stop mixing.

Blueberry mixture

• It’s literally as easy as adding all the ingredients into a bowl and mixing. At first the mixture will look powdery but as the blueberries thaw a little it will help everything mix properly. Let these sit and thaw while you form the base of your slice.

Layering it all together

• Add about 3/4 of the mixture in the baking tin. Use a spoon to press down firmly and as evenly as you can.
• Give the blueberry mixture another mix and pour over the crust and spread evenly.

• Clump some of the crumble mixture and then crumble back over the blueberries as evenly as you can. Bake them for 55-60 minutes.

How to get perfect slices!

It’s all about chill time. When the bars have finished baking, let them cool at room temperature, then chill in the fridge for a couple hours. I like to do it overnight to get them really chilled. It’ll make slicing up much easier.

• I like measuring the cuts out before I slice. I like them looking perfect but you can just go ahead and slice these up with a large sharp knife. Up to you!
• Dust them with icing sugar before serving!

Lemon Blueberry Bars

These Lemon Blueberry Bars have a buttery crumble base, jammy blueberry filling and bright citrus flavor that come together with no fuss.

Serves 9

4.7 from 15 votes

Author: Nick Makrides

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 1 hour hr

Cooling: 2 hours hrs

Total: 3 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Calories: 521kcal

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Ingredients

Shortcrust Base

• ▢ 450 g all-purpose flour, plain flour
• ▢ 1 lemon zested
• ▢ 180 g caster sugar, superfine sugar
• ▢ 1/2 tsp fine salt
• ▢ 250 g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed (see notes)
• ▢ 2 egg yolks
• ▢ 20 g cold water

Blueberry Filling

• ▢ 450 g frozen blueberries
• ▢ 1/2 lemon, juiced
• ▢ 40 g caster sugar
• ▢ 24 g corn starch, corn flour
• ▢ Powdered sugar to dust

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Instructions

Shortcrust Base

• Prepare baking tin – Preheat your oven to 180C / 350F (fan off), 160C / 320F (fan on). Spray the bottom and sides of a square 22cm / 9-inch baking tin and line the bottom and sides with baking paper leaving overhand on two sides. Set aside.
• Mix lemon zest and sugar – To the bowl of a food processor (see notes for handmade method) add the sugar and lemon zest and pulse to combine. The oil in the lemon zest will rub into the sugar making the dough aromatic.
• Add dry ingredients – Add the flour and salt and pulse to mix. Then add the cold butter cubes and pulse until the butter reaches the size of peas. The mixture will be nice and crumbly.
• Add egg yolks and iced water – Add the egg yolks and pulse before slowly pouring in the cold iced water while the mixer is running on high. The mixture will begin to clump into large pieces. Stop the mixture. If it comes together when squeezed in your hand, it’s done.

Blueberry filling

• Mixing everything together – Add the frozen blueberries, lemon juice, sugar and corn starch to a large mixing bowl and use a spoon to mix until the blueberries are coated with everything.
• Assembly – Add 3-4 of the crumble into the bottom of the baking tin and use your hands to press firmly and evenly around the bottom. Add the blueberry mixture on top and spread evenly. Then crumble the remaining dough mixture on top.
• Bake – Bake for 55-60 min. Allow to cool to room temperature before popping them in the fridge for an hour. Slice into 9 bars, dust with powdered sugar and serve.
• Chill – Once it’s baked, let it cool to room temperature before covering with plastic wrap and chilling in the fridge for a couple hours. I like leaving it in there overnight. Use a large sharp knife to slice into 3×3 bars. Dust with icing sugar and serve!

Notes

Making the crumble by hand – To make the crumble by hand add the sugar and lemon zest into a large mixing bowl and rub the zest into the sugar. Then add the flour and salt and mix using a spoon. Next, add the butter and begin smooshing it with your fingers until it crumbles into pea sized pieces. Add the egg yolks and cold water and continue the same technique with your fingers until everything is evenly combined and the mixture begins coming together in large crumbs that stick together when squeezed in your hand.

Butter – Make sure the butter is straight out of the fridge. This helps ensure the butter doesn’t soften too much as it’s being mixed. It also results in a nice crumble and flaky biscuit base that is light in texture.

Blueberries – Depending on what season it is where you are, you can use fresh blueberries for this recipe or frozen ones. Frozen blueberries work great, are often just as fresh and are much cheaper than using fresh blueberries.

Storage – Blueberry Bars can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days in the fridge

Nutrition – is an approximate and is based on per slice.

A note on measurements – This recipe uses weight measurements for the most accurate results. Cup measurements can vary depending on where you are, which affects the precision needed for a recipe like this. Here is where you can learn more about how to measure ingredients using digital kitchen scales.

Nutrition

Calories : 521kcal

Carbonhydrates: 56g

Protein: 7g

Fat: 24g

Saturated Fat: 15g

Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g

Monounsaturated Fat : 6g

Trans Fat : 1g

Cholesterol: 103mg

Sodium: 139mg

Potassium : 164mg

Fiber: 3g

Sugar : 12g

Vitamin A: 783IU

Vitamin C: 14mg

Calcium: 30mg

Iron: 3mg

Nutrition Disclosure

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