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With a buttery crust and a hint of lemon, these blueberry crumb bars are the perfect way to use beautiful fresh blueberries.
Longtime readers will know how much I adore blueberries. Fresh out of the container, in my cereal, and especially baked into yummy desserts. Throw in some lemon and I’m one happy girl.
There’s a reason why I love blueberry french toast casserole, blueberry lemonade, and lemon blueberry bread so much! I really can’t get enough of that blueberry-lemon combo.
And these blueberry crumb bars are no exception. They’ll be the perfect way to use summer-ripe blueberries once they start popping up at the farmers’ market. But until then, frozen blueberries work just as great in this recipe.
These bars are delish for breakfast with a cup of coffee, as dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or as an afternoon pick-me-up with an iced shaken espresso. They’re truly an anytime-of-day baked good.
They also travel well, so they’re perfect for taking along to all of your upcoming summer barbecues!
How to make blueberry crumb bars
These blueberry crumb bars come together easily thanks to your food processor. If you’ve made my pecan bars, then you’re used to using a food processor to make crusts like this a snap!
Ingredients you’ll need
The crust for these blueberry crumb bars serves as both the base and the crumb topping. To make the crust, you will need:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Before you start baking, make sure you know how to measure flour correctly so that your bars turn out perfect every time.
I love adding lemon zest to the crust to give the blueberry bars a bit of bright lemony flavor. You will need about 2 lemons to get 2 teaspoons of zest.
For the blueberry filling, you will need:
- 4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
You can use fresh or frozen blueberries in this recipe. If you’re using frozen berries, you can thaw them or leave them frozen; it really doesn’t make a difference for how the final bars turn out.
Making this recipe
To start, make the crust for these blueberry crumb bars.
Grab a food processor and add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. Pulse this mixture a few times to combine everything.
Now add the butter pieces and pulse 10-12 times; the mixture should resemble coarse meal with a few pea-sized pieces of butter throughout.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and the vanilla. With the food processor running, stream in this mixture. Once the egg has been added, let the food processor run for just a few more seconds to finish combining everything.
The dough will be really crumbly, but should hold together when you squeeze it in your hand.
Add just over half of the dough mixture to a 9×13-inch pan that has been greased and lined with parchment paper. Use your hands or the bottom of a glass or measuring cup to press the dough firmly into the bottom of the pan.
Bake the crust at 375°F for 10 minutes, until the edges are golden and the center is just set.
While the crust bakes, stir together the blueberries, sugar, and cornstarch. Spread this mixture evenly over the baked crust, then sprinkle on the remaining dough.
If you want some larger crumbs on the top, squeeze some of the dough together in your hands as you add it over the berry layer.
Bake the bars for 35-40 minutes, or until the crumb topping is lightly golden and the fruit is bubbly around the edges.
Let the blueberry crumb bars cool completely before cutting and serving.
Blueberry crumb bar storage and freezing
Store blueberry crumb bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
If storing in the fridge, allow the bars to come to room temperature before serving. Or you can microwave bars for about 30 seconds to warm them through before enjoying.
To freeze, place the bars in an airtight container with parchment paper between layers. Freeze for up to a month.
Allow the bars to thaw on the counter for a couple of hours before enjoying.
Frequently asked questions
A food processor makes this recipe super easy, but you can still make these bars even without one.
One method is to whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles a coarse meal with a few pea-sized pieces of butter.
The other method is to freeze the butter, then grate it using the large holes on a box grater. Add the grated butter to the dry ingredients, then use your fingertips to mix it in until well combined.
Once the butter is added using either of the above methods, add the whisked egg and vanilla and stir this into the mixture with a fork until well combined and crumbly.
Yes! These blueberry crumb bars are just as delicious with frozen blueberries as they are with fresh.
If using frozen blueberries, you can leave them frozen or thaw them before adding them to the crust. The bars will turn out great either way.
Blueberry Crumb Bars
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 cup unsalted butter cold, cut into pieces
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the filling:
- 4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray (1) 9×13-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. Pulse a few times to combine.3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- Add the butter pieces to the flour mixture; pulse 10-12 times, until the mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-sized pieces of butter throughout.1 cup unsalted butter
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and vanilla. With the food processor running, stream in the egg mixture. Let the food processor run for a couple of seconds after the egg has all been added to finish incorporating. The dough will be very crumbly, but should hold together when you squeeze it in your hand.1 large egg, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Transfer just over half of the dough mixture to the prepared baking pan. Use your hands and/or the bottom of a glass or measuring cup to press the dough into an even layer in the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the center is just set.
- In a large bowl, stir together the blueberries, sugar, and cornstarch. Spread this mixture evenly over the baked crust. Sprinkle the remaining dough evenly over the blueberries; for larger crumbs, squeeze some of the dough together in your hands as you add it to the pan.4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, ½ cup granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the top is lightly golden and the fruit is bubbly around the edges. Allow to cool completely in the pan before cutting into squares and serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
those look delicious! I love blueberries :)
Lemon and blueberries are so good together and your bars look divine. I will have to try these when the local blueberries hit the market.
These blueberry bars look absolutely wonderful! I adore blueberries in ANYTHING. I can’t wait to make these.
They look great! I love blueberries soooo much.
I’m happy too because they’re on sale right now (along with raspberries and blackberries) for just a dollar a pint! I have never seen them so cheap before!
Allrecipes is one of my favorite resources for recipes. I love the reviews :)
Really like the idea of using frozen strawberries here as even when fresh ones are on sale I find that it is always hit or miss for flavor. With frozen, they are usually right every time. Can’t wait to try these bars for myself.
that looks very good. but … i don’t have any blueberries – do you think sweet or sour cherries would work?
Jacquie-
I think cherries would be amazing!!! Definitely report back if you decide to go this route!
-Jamie
That bar looks incredible. I’ve been wanting to make something similar for some time. This is so inspiring
Looks like we both had the same flavor combinations in mind for our baking this week…lemons & blueberries = YUM! Luckily I hit the jackpot with super cheap blueberries over the weekend when my husband and I went to a local berry farm. We got over 6 lbs of blueberries for $1.50 per pound, not too bad!
Your lemon blueberry bars look amazing. I’ll have to give this recipe a try b/c I’ve still got quite a few berries I need to use up soon!
Lol. While you were at your local Whole Foods, I was at mine. For $67.14, I bought morels, 5 different kinds of cheeses, some jumbo scallops and spring onions. I couldn’t make blueberry crumb bars with these, but I did make a mean scallop dinner (post soon).
These blueberry bars, though… wow, they look delicious. Will prob. have to buy some more soon and make for Mr. RGBistro. :)
As always, thank you for the beautiful photos and scrumptious post!
[K]
Thanks so much, Kim! I actually spent less than $50 which is a record for me at Whole Foods! Can’t wait to see the scallop post!!
-Jamie
I love it when blueberries are on sale. Great recipe!