Blueberry Lemon Pie Bars start with a buttery crust, followed by a lemon blueberry cheesecake filling covered with a crumble topping and lemon glaze. You might also love my Rhubarb Dessert Bars!
Blueberry Lemon Pie Bars
The flavors of lemon and blueberry are a perfect pair. The lemon is a great contrast to the sweetness in the blueberries. In fact, I have quite a few desserts with this combination from my Lemon Blueberry Cake to Blueberry Lemon Heaven Dessert and Lemon Blueberry Sweet Rolls, just to name a few. I even added some lemon flavor to both the crumble topping and glaze.
Ingredients & Substitutions
There are four parts to this recipe–crust, filling, crumble topping, and glaze.
Crust: Use cold unsalted butter in the crust. It’s one of the few times I will not recommend using room-temperature butter. Using cold butter will give the crust that flakiness.
Blueberries: I used (and prefer) fresh blueberries in this recipe.
Lemon flavor: Use lemon juice in the filling and glaze; the lemon extract is added to the crumble topping mixture.
How to Make the Crust
The crust will be baked before adding the filling. I prefer using my hands to mix the ingredients; however, you could also use a food processor or pastry cutter. Remember, the diced butter should be cold when making the crust.
Why Use Cold Butter?
Yes, I usually stress using room-temperature ingredients, including butter, in most of my recipes. However, for the flakiest crust, cold butter is the key. Mixing in the diced cold butter will help the butter keep its shape and not seep into the dough, which would result in too tender of a crust.
Can I Use Frozen Blueberries?
Yes! You can definitely use frozen blueberries in these bars. Just be sure to let them thaw before folding them into the batter.
Can I Make These Bars Ahead of Time?
Yes! This dessert is great to make a day in advance. It has to chill for a couple of hours anyway; and, when storing the bars, they should be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
More Delicious Bars
Blueberry Lemon Pie Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup (83 g) confectioners' sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks / 227 g) unsalted butter, cold and diced
Filling
- 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- ¼ cup (57.5 g) sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 3 cups (444 g) fresh blueberries*
Crumble Topping
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup (42 g) confectioners' sugar
- ½ cup (1 stick / 113 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup (125 g) confectioners' sugar
- 1½ tablespoons whole milk, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, blend the flour, confectioners' sugar, and butter. You can use a food processor or pastry cutter, but I prefer my hands. You want the butter to be no bigger than a pea size and the ingredients to be well incorporated.
- Press the crust mixture into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the edges just barely start to golden.
- Remove the crust from the oven and set it aside to cool slightly while you prepare the filling.
Filling
- In a large mixing bowl, add cream cheese and sugar and beat with a hand mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy (about 2 minutes).
- Add the egg, sour cream, vanilla extract, and lemon juice and continue mixing until well blended.
- Gently fold in the blueberries.
- Pour the blueberry mixture over the partially cooled crust.
Crumble Topping
- In a medium bowl combine flour sugar, butter, and lemon zest. Mix together and crumble over the top of the blueberry filling.
- Bake 45-50 minutes, or until the filling is just set and the crust is golden brown.
- Let the bars cool on counter for 30 minutes. Then, place them in the refrigerator until chilled (about 2 hours).
- When ready to serve, make the vanilla glaze.
Lemon Glaze
- To a medium bowl, add confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine until fully incorporated. If the glaze is not thin enough, add more milk as needed, one teaspoon at a time.
- Drizzle over cooled bars.
Notes
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I enjoy your recipes
Thank you
Does the blueberry lemon pie bars have to stay in the ice box? Thanks
They are a must try for me.☺☺☺
I made this tonight and it was a big hit – some things i changed or will change bc i love more lemon – all the lemon! I added a Tbsp of zest to the crumb and another 1/3 cup of powdered sugar bc it tasted too floury to me. I just kept adding but by but until it tasted right. Ended up with the above. I also added more lemon juice and a touch more vanilla to the glaze – i use homemade vanilla which i found isn’t as strong as store bought. I think next time i will add some zest and more lemon juice to the cheesecake part too. I found myself searching too hard for the lemon in there. Also- i used the low fat cream cheese and it worked just fine. Excellent dessert!!! Will def be adding to the rotation.
I volunteered to prepare dessert for a luncheon and found this delightful recipe.
The recipe was easy to follow and came together without any issues. It was delicious and very pretty when served.