Blueberry Pie Bars

These Blueberry Pie Bars feature a buttery shortbread crust, a creamy blueberry filling, and a crunchy crumble topping, creating the ultimate blueberry bar recipe.

Just like blueberries shine in recipes like Blueberry Coffee Cake, Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins, and Eggless Blueberry Pancakes, plump, sweet blueberries are the star in these Blueberry Bars. In fact, I have to say, they are my all-time favorite blueberry recipe.

Notes on Ingredients

• Shortbread: Both the crumble and the base of these bars are a shortbread mixture that is made with flour, butter, sugar, and salt--much like my recipe for Classic Shortbread Cookies.
• Blueberries: While fresh berries are best, frozen blueberries work as well, so you can enjoy this treat year-round.
• Custard Filling: The creaminess in these pie bars comes from a mixture of sour cream, vanilla, eggs, and sugar together. The mixture is tangy, creamy, and perfectly sweet. It coats the blueberries in a rich, sweet coating that takes the blueberry bars to a whole new level of deliciousness!

Recipe Modifications

• Sour Cream: Feel free to replace the sour cream with plain Greek yogurt if desired. The bars will still be creamy and a bit lower in fat, but will not have the same tanginess that helps cut through the sweetness and balance the overall flavor of the Blueberry Bars.
• Frozen Berries: If using frozen blueberries, DO NOT THAW the berries before adding the sour cream mixture. Instead, simply mix the frozen berries into the sour cream mixture and increase the baking time by 10 minutes.
• Egg-Free Option: If needed, simply omit the egg from the filling. The bars don't set up as well and may need to be enjoyed with a fork, but are still delicious.
• Berry Options: Feel free to replace the blueberries with blackberries, raspberries, diced strawberries, or a combination of berries.

How to Make Blueberry Bars

The following tips are provided to help you achieve perfect results. You will find the detailed instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Step One: Prepare Shortbread. The shortbread forms the base and the crumble topping of the blueberry pie bars and comes together easily using a food processor or with two forks. Once the mixture comes together and is nice and crumbly, take out a ½ cup of the shortbread mixture and set it aside to use for the blueberry bar's crumb topping. Press the remaining batter evenly into a greased or parchment-lined glass baking dish.

Step Two: Bake the Shortbread Crust. Partially baking the crust for these blueberry bars will help to keep the crust keeps it flaky and tender. If you skip the prebaking, the filling can soak into the crust, making it soggy and dense.

Step Three: Prepare Sour Cream Blueberry Filling. The sweetened sour cream filling is made just like my recipe for Strawberry Bars and Cherry Crumb Pie and is as easy as mixing the sour cream, sugar, egg, and vanilla until well combined and then gently folding in the blueberries.

Step Four: Layer Blueberry Bars. When the crust comes out of the oven, pour the blueberry filling over the crust and then sprinkle the reserved ½ cup crust batter over the berry mixture evenly.

Step Five: Bake. Bake the bars until the blueberry pie filling is set and the crumble topping is golden brown.

Step Six: Chill. While Blueberry Pie Bars can be enjoyed immediately after baking and cooling, their flavor intensifies after chilling. I highly recommend chilling for at least 2 hours, overnight is best, before enjoying these bars. Not only will the flavor be better, but they will slice easier as well.

Storage Instructions

Blueberry Pie Bars should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. I don't recommend freezing the bars due to the sour cream blueberry filling.

More Dessert Recipes

• Homemade Cheesecake
• Homemade Banana Pudding
• Hot Milk Cake
• Peach Crisp
• Blackberry Crisp
• Peach Cobbler

If you tried these Blueberry Pie Bars, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.