Blueberry Pie Bars – A Couple of Cooks

These blueberry bars taste like blueberry pie or crisp – in a portable format! They are sweet and jammy, covered with butter crumbs.

There’s just something about bars that’s so homey and inviting (especially if you’re from the Midwest like us!). introducing Blueberry Pie Bars: all the flavors of blueberry pie in a portable format! These are so simple and satisfying! The same dough forms a thick base and crumbles with browned butter, and the filling is a bright explosion of fresh blueberries and lemon juice. Everyone loves this summer dessert – they are thick and just the right chewy texture.

Table of Contents

Ingredients in blueberry bars

These blueberry bars follow the formula of a typical fruit crumble bar: the same batter is used for the crust and the crumble! It makes it simple and you only need a short list of ingredients to put them together. The fresh blueberry filling seals the deal, with just the right amount of lemon to bring out the flavor (necessary, in our opinion!). This is what you will need:

blueberries
all purpose flour
light brown sugar
Granulated sugar
Oatmeal
Salt
Butter
Cornstarch
Lemon juice
Vanilla extract

Can you use frozen blueberries?

Want to use frozen berries instead of fresh? Can! Pies and bars are a great place to use frozen berries because they need to be broken down to make a jam filling.

Full disclosure: We have not tested the frozen blueberries specifically in these bars. However, frozen berries work similarly to fresh berries in our cranberry sauce, which is the same basic concept as this filling. So we feel confident in sharing that this substitution will work! Let us know if you try this with frozen berries in the comments below.

Tips for Blueberry Bars

Blueberry Pie Bars are actually more like blueberry crumble with a bottom crust! They are easy to do, but there are a few things to keep in mind about the process. Here’s what you should know:

Grease the pan, then line the pan with parchment paper. This makes them easy to remove from the pan, because the blueberry filling can get a bit sticky! Cut the parchment so that it extends on both sides for easy removal from the pan. Greasing the entire pan helps the parchment stick to the bottom.
Let bars cool for 30 minutes, then refrigerate 1 hour. This allows the texture to set, firming it up, making it the ideal texture to eat. Once you have refrigerated for 1 hour you can easily cut them into 16 squares.

storage information

How do you store these blueberry pie bars once you’ve baked them? If you stack them, be sure to store them with parchment paper in between each layer so they don’t stick together. Then, place them in an airtight container and you can save them for:

3 days at room temperature
2 weeks refrigerated
3 months frozen

More blueberry recipes

Blueberries are one of our favorite fruits to use in the kitchen! Here are some great blueberry recipes to use for them:

This blueberry pie bars recipe is…

Vegetarian.

Description

These blueberry bars taste like blueberry pie or crisp – in a portable format! They are sweet and jammy, covered with butter crumbs.

1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup oatmeal
½ teaspoon kosher salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups (18 ounces) fresh blueberries (or substitute frozen*)
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
½ tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 9 x 9 baking dish. Line pan with a piece of parchment paper, cut so it extends on two sides for easy removal from pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, oats, and salt. Cut the butter with a pastry cutter or fork. As it’s incorporated, use your fingers to knead until it’s a smooth, consistent dough with no more dry bits of flour (this takes a while, so be patient!). Use your fingers to break it up into small crumbs and measure out 1 ¾ cups for the topping.
Pour the remaining crumbs into the prepared pan and press them into an even layer for the crust of the bars. Use the bottom of a measuring cup to press the dough down to make it flat and even.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the blueberries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Spread them in an even layer on the crust.
Add the reserved crumbles over the top in an even layer.
Bake for 1 hour, until the edges are golden. Remove from the oven and cool on a cooling rack for 30 minutes. Then transfer to the refrigerator and for 1 hour. Remove from the refrigerator and use the parchment to remove the bars from the pan. Cut into 16 even squares. Store bars up to 1 week refrigerated (with parchment paper between layers if stacked) or 3 months frozen.