Blueberry Crumble Bars
Heaven help me, these Blueberry Crumble Bars are SO good. With a buttery sweet crust, blueberry filling, and crumble topping, this dessert will rise to the top of your list in the summer months. It can be made ahead and is even better on day two!
“Took this to share on a camp out. It was clearly the favorite and I only got one square! This was a super easy recipe. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️” – Dale
Table of Contents
How to Make Blueberry Crumble Bars
While this recipe isn’t as simple as Oreo Fluff or Blondie Brownies, the few steps it takes to get the crumble assembled are totally worth it. Here is a quick visual overview of how it comes together.
This is important and easily missed: Transfer 1 1/4 cups of this crust mixture to another bowl and set aside.
How to Freeze Blueberry Crumble Bars
Freeze For Later: Bake bars according to recipe directions. Let cool completely. Once cool, cut bars apart. Store in freezer bag or wrap tightly with plastic wrap and freeze.
Prepare From Frozen: Remove desired number of bars. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or warm in 10-second increments in the microwave.
Polly’s Testing Tips
- I like to use a potato masher when mashing the blueberries.
- Blueberry preserves – Jam will work too.
- Fresh blueberries – I haven’t tried frozen yet but if you do, thaw them and remove excess moisture if possible.
- Lemon Juice – Fresh is always best!
- Dark brown sugar – Light brown sugar will work if that’s all you have on hand.
More Fruity Dessert Ideas
Blueberry Crumble Bars
These blueberry crumble bars have a buttery shortbread that cuts easily for sharing. On top of the shortbread is a sweet, but not too sweet, blueberry filling topped with an oats crumble topping.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (soft but not quite room temp)
For Crumble Topping:
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
For Blueberry Filling:
- 3/4 cup blueberry preserves (I used jam and it worked fine.)
- 3/4 cup blueberries
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat oven to 375° F. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with foil or parchment paper, leaving an overhang on opposite sides to use as “handles” to lift the bars out afterward. Spray the foil/parchment with nonstick cooking spray.
- Make the Shortbread Crust: Add the flour, sugar, and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix briefly on low speed to combine.
- Cut the butter into small, 1/2-inch pieces. With the mixer on low, add of the butter, one piece at a time. When you’ve finished adding the butter, continue mixing on low speed until the butter has been broken down into small pieces and the mixture resembles wet sand (shouldn’t take much longer than a minute or two).
- Important! Transfer 1 1/4 cups of this crust mixture to a small mixing bowl and set aside.
- Dump the remaining crust mixture into the prepared pan and press into an even layer over the bottom of the pan.
- Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the edges of the crust turn golden brown and it is set.
- Make the Crumble Topping: Add the oats and brown sugar to the bowl with the reserved crust mixture. Stir to combine. Add the remaining two tablespoons of butter to the bowl and use your fingers (or a pastry cutter) to work the butter into the dry ingredients until combined.
- Make the Filling: Stir together the blueberry preserves (or jam), fresh blueberries and lemon juice in a small mixing bowl. Mash the blueberries with a fork or potato masher. You want to break them down some, but still leave some chunks resembling berries.
- Finish the Bars: When you remove the crust from the oven, add the filling directly on top of the hot crust. Spread in an even layer. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the filling evenly. Don’t press the crumble into the filling!
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling and the crumble topping has browned.
- Remove the pan and let the bars cool to room temperature, about 1-2 hours. Use the foil handles to lift the bars from the pan and cut into squares for serving. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Freezer Instructions
Freeze For Later: Bake bars according to recipe directions. Let cool completely. Once cool, cut bars apart. Store in freezer bag or wrap tightly with plastic wrap and freeze.
Prepare From Frozen: Remove desired number of bars. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or warm in 10-second increments in the microwave.
Notes/Tips
While many desserts are best served fresh, this recipe just gets better as it sits. At least for the first day or two!
Nutrition
Serving: 1 bar | Calories: 289 kcal (14%) | Carbohydrates: 40 g (13%) | Protein: 3 g (6%) | Fat: 13 g (20%) | Cholesterol: 34 mg (11%) | Sodium: 81 mg (4%) | Fiber: 1 g (4%) | Sugar: 20 g (22%)
If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe!
Please clarify if the recipe calls for blueberry jam AND fresh blueberries OR just either the jam or the fresh berries. I’m thinking it’s only 1 item and not both the jam and fresh berries together. Better to ask before making these, right? Thanks.
Hi Eleanor. It is BOTH blueberry preserves/jam AND fresh blueberries. Hope you enjoy these!
Could you swap the blueberries for cranberries and perhaps use cranberry sauce?
I like your creativity with this! My first thought is that cranberries have a lot less sugar in them and are way more tart than blueberries. They are also firmer. So I’m not quite sure how much sugar to tell you to add or if they would cook down to the right consistency. But, I think it might work with some experimentation.
Delicious and easy. I doubled the filling for the recipe because we like lots of gooey fruit!
Hi Judie. Who doesn’t love gooey fruit? 🙂 That’s a great idea to double the filling… they probably weren’t crumble bars anymore, but I bet they were delicious!
Terrible. Very crumbly and then the Shreddies got crumbly. Threw it out.
Thanks for your feedback, Cheryl. We haven’t had that issue before, so we’re not sure what happened. Sorry!
Took this to share on a camp out. It was clearly the favorite and I only got one square! This was a super easy recipe.
Bummer you only got one square, but an empty pan is definitely the sign of a good recipe! Thanks for sharing.
I had some fresh blueberries and a can of mixed berry pie filling that I pureed together and I was looking for a recipe that I could use it in, your recipe looked fairly easy and sounded yummy! Your recipe worked well with my berry puree and tasted delicious, we will be selling some at our lemonade stand tomorrow.
Oh how fun to know you’re selling these bars! Now I’m interested to know what kind of lemonade stand this is. Is this a kid-run business (my favorite kind)? Thanks for the review and feedback, Tera.
Made these for the first time today. Absolutely delicious! I only had salted butter, so I reduced the salt in the recipe by half. New favorite for my family!
Woo hoo! Love that. Thanks for leaving a review, Trista.