Blueberry Lemon Pie Bars
Blueberry Lemon Pie Bars start with a buttery crust, followed by a lemon blueberry cheesecake filling covered with a crumble topping and lemon glaze.
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.
