Easy Blueberry Crumb Bars (with Fresh or Frozen Berries)
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Blueberry Crumb Bars are made with a shortbread crust, fruity filling, crumble topping, and — perhaps the best part — no forks needed! Welcome the warm spring days with a heavenly-sweet blueberry crumb bar!
Typically, blueberry bar recipes use canned pie filling. However, whole blueberries are the star ingredient in this easy blueberry dessert recipe!
As these blueberry bars bake, the berries get soft and juicy, filling your kitchen with a mouthwatering aroma! This recipe also works well with all kinds of berries, like raspberries or blackberries.
Lucky for me, I always have plenty of blueberries in the freezer picked fresh from my father-in-law’s prize blueberry bushes.
These fruity crumb bars are just another of the many blueberry recipes I keep handy, so we continuously use the delicious blueberries in the freezer. That means my family and I get to enjoy them all year long!
Key ingredients & substitutions for Blueberry Pie Bars
Crust and crumb topping
- Flour | This simple crumb mixture uses all-purpose flour to give it structure.
- Sugar | Mix in some granulated sugar for sweetness. If desired, I’m sure this recipe would also taste great with brown sugar.
- Salt | Add just a pinch of salt to contract and enhance the sweeter notes.
- Butter | Cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes makes a crumbly texture.
Filling
- Eggs | A couple of eggs will help to hold all the filling ingredients together and improve the texture.
- Sugar | Make this bar nice and sweet with plenty of sugar.
- Flour | Use a bit of all-purpose flour to attain the right consistency for your blueberry filling.
- Sour cream | Sour cream adds a creamy tang to compliment the sugary-sweet blueberries.
- Salt | Sprinkle in some salt to highlight the sweeter flavors.
- Blueberries | You may use either fresh or frozen blueberries in this recipe. Either option will result in a delicious blueberry bar!
How to make Blueberry Bars with Crumble Topping
With a couple of bowls, a baking dish, and a hot oven, these crumbly blueberry bars will be done in no time!
STEP 1 | Preheat and prep
Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F, then lightly spray a 9×9 baking dish with cooking spray.
STEP 2 | Mix the crumb mixture
Next, set out a large bowl and add the flour, sugar, and salt. Whisk the ingredients until they are combined, then add the cubes of butter and mix it in until the texture is nice and crumbly.
Be sure to set aside a half cup of the buttery crumb mixture.
STEP 3 | Form and bake the bottom crust
Pour the remaining crumb mixture into the prepared pan, pressing firmly to make the bottom crust. Ensure the entire bottom is covered, then slip the pan into the oven to bake for 15 minutes.
STEP 4 | Combine the filling
Now for the sweet blueberry filling! Whisk together all the yummy filling ingredients, leaving out the fresh or frozen blueberries for now. You’ll add them just before assembling the bars.
tips
- Don’t worry if it seems that the filling is a little sparse when you spoon it onto the crust. It spread a little during baking and turned out to be the perfect amount.
- Add a citrus kick by including just a bit of lemon juice or lemon zest to the filling.
STEP 5 | Assemble the bars
Once the crust is finished baking, remove it from the oven. Next, complete the filling by gently folding the frozen blueberries into the rest of the ingredients.
Then, spoon the blueberry mixture evenly over the freshly baked crust and crumble the remaining crumb mixture over the top.
tips
- You’ll be tempted to eat these blueberry crumble bars straight out of the oven. Allow them to cool first, though. Otherwise, cutting them may be a mess with the filling oozing out.
- These bars can be served at room temperature or chilled. They will keep for a couple of days in an airtight container on the countertop or for a few more days in the refrigerator.
STEP 6 | Bake, cool, and serve!
Place the dish back into the oven and bake the delicious bars for around 45 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.
Finally, allow the bars to cool when removed from the oven, slice them into squares, and dig in!
Frequently asked questions
You absolutely can substitute frozen blueberries for fresh ones in this bar recipe. Even better, you won’t need to make any changes. Suppose you’re buying a bag of frozen berries instead of freezing farm-fresh ones. In that case, I recommend choosing fresh berries so the bars have a more authentic flavor.
There’s no need to thaw frozen blueberries before baking these pie bars. Give them a quick rinse and drain them well. Then proceed with the recipe instructions as written. When exploring similar recipes, you’ll notice some ask for the frozen berries first to be thawed. However, I’ve never had any trouble using the frozen ones.
Stored in the refrigerator, fresh blueberries last around a week. The only thing you want to avoid is placing them in the crisper drawer with higher humidity levels. In that case, they may begin to mold much quicker. If you’re worried they will go to waste because you won’t use the berries in a week, freezing them is an excellent way to store them for longer.
Always wash blueberries before you eat them or add them to a recipe. However, you shouldn’t wash them before storing them in the refrigerator or freezer. Leaving the berries as they are will prolong their shelf life and keep them fresh until you’re ready to use them.
Serving suggestions
If you have an overflow of blueberries, like I often do, make a whole day of delicious blueberry recipes!
For breakfast, enjoy a sweet Blueberry Coffee Cake. Then, throw together this incredible Blueberry Blue Cheese Bacon Burger with a refreshing glass of Blueberry Tea for lunch.
Serve Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Blueberry Salsa for dinner. And Top it all off with today’s recipe, blueberry crumb bars, for dessert! Try it with a scoop of ice cream!
Looking for more tasty dessert bar recipes?
If you’re a fan of easy bar cookies and desserts like me, you’ll love these scrumptious Strawberry Pie Bars, crunchy Heath Cookie Bars — a personal favorite! — and my cream cheese frosted Pumpkin Bars.
Behind the recipe: Blueberry Crumb Bars recipe
I adjusted my original blueberry bars recipe to make a smaller batch more fitting for couples or small families.
But when serving more of a crowd, double the recipe and use a larger dish, like a 9 x 13-inch pan. You can even quadruple the recipe to feed a much larger group, like for a school event, family reunion, or office party!
Because it’s just my husband and me at home, we are less tempted to quickly gobble down the larger batch. For just the two of us, a smaller batch is a wise choice — No one wants a tummy ache!
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Blueberry Crumb Bars
Ingredients
Crust/Topping
- ¾ cups all purpose flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- pinch salt
- 6 tablespoons cold butter cut into cubes
Filling
- 1 large eggs
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup sour cream
- pinch salt
- 1 ½ cups frozen blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×9 baking dish with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and salt. Add cubed butter and mix until crumbly. Reserve one-half cup of crumb mixture.
- Pour remaining crumb mixture into prepared pan and press firmly to make the crust, being sure to cover the entire bottom of pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Whisk together all filling ingredients except for the blueberries — add blueberries just before assembling the bars.
- After crust is finished baking, gently fold frozen blueberries into the filling and spoon evenly over the crust. Crumble the remaining crumb mixture over top of the filling.
- Bake 40-45 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool before cutting into squares.
Notes
- Don’t worry if it seems that the filling is a little sparse when you spoon it onto the crust. It spread a little during baking and turned out to be the perfect amount.
- Add a citrus kick by including just a bit of lemon juice or lemon zest to the filling.
- You’ll be tempted to eat these blueberry crumble bars straight out of the oven. Allow them to cool first, though. Otherwise, cutting them may be a mess with the filling oozing out.
- These bars can be served at room temperature or chilled. They will keep for a couple of days in an airtight container on the countertop or for a few more days in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Life Love and Good Food does not claim to be a registered dietician or nutritionist. Nutritional information shared on this site is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
Can fresh blueberries be used
Yes, absolutely!
We just made these beautiful little bites of summer this week as well and yours look perfect!
Looks dreamy those little bars!!