Blueberry Crumble Bars Recipe

Blueberry Lemon Crum Bars cut into squares on a white plate.

4.75 from 4 votes

These simple-to-make Blueberry Shortbread Crumble Bars combine sweet juicy lemon-blueberry filling with buttery shortbread. They are perfect for every occasion and all-year round.

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: Brownies & Bars

Cuisine: American

Servings: squares

Calories: 300kcal

Author: Emma Duckworth

Equipment

Ingredients

Crumble Base and Topping

350 g plain flour (all-purpose)
150 g granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon fine salt
220 g unsalted butter cold and cubed
1 large egg lightly beaten

Blueberry Filling

50 g granulated sugar
15 g cornflour (corn starch)
375 g blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Crumble Base and Topping

Prepare the baking pan. Grease and line with parchment paper a square baking pan 23x23cm (9x9inch). It's important to line the pan with paper so that once the bars are baked, it's easy to remove them from the pan and slice them up. Leave an overhang of paper to use as a sling to lift the bars out. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
Mix the dry ingredients together. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into the mixing bowl and mix together.
Add in cold butter. Add the cold cubed butter and rub the mixture and butter together between your fingertips. You want to achieve a mixture that resembles fine breadcrumbs but also has some large clumped pieces.
Add in the beaten egg. Pop the lightly beaten egg into the bowl and mix in with a spoon. Make sure all the dry bits at the bottom of the bowl are mixed in. Use your fingers to squeeze together the mixture into clumps.

Blueberry Filling

Mix blueberry filling ingredients together. Combine the sugar and cornflour into a medium bowl and mix. Then add blueberries, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract and mix until combined.

Assemble

Add half of the crumble mix to the baking pan and flatten. Pour half the crumble mix into the prepared pan. Use your fingertips to level it off and press flat into the base of the pan. Or use the base of a measuring cup or glass to get a super flat base. Set aside.
Layer fruit onto the base pan. Spoon the blueberry filling onto the crumble base and in the pan and level with the back of the spoon.
Add the remaining crumble and bake. Scatter your remaining crumble mixture over the blueberry filling. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until the crumble is golden brown and the filling is oozing and bubbling.
To serve. Remove from the oven and cool for a couple of hours to chill sufficiently and not fall apart when you lift them out of the baking pan. Wait until the filling has set before using the paper sling to lift the bars out of the pan onto a chopping board and slicing and serving. (Chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours for nice and neat slices).

Notes

Step-by-Step Photos: My blog post includes helpful step-by-step photos to help guide you through making this recipe.

To store: Store these Blueberry Shortbread Bars in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

To freeze: Wrap each slice in parchment paper and plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or heat in the oven at 110C (230F) for 20 minutes or so.

TIP 1: Paper sling. Leaving an overhang with the parchment paper helps to lift the bars out of the pan when they are cooled.

TIP 2: Use a cup or glass to flatten the oatmeal crumble base. To get that super flat crumble base to your bars, the base of a glass or measuring cup pressed firmly onto it helps give the professional finish.

TIP 3: Crumble chunks. Who doesn't love some gnarly crunchy crumbs on the top of the bar? Just squeeze some of the mixture together when layering the crumble mix over the blueberry filling.

Nutrition