Blueberry Pie Bars

Made with a buttery shortbread cookie base, a creamy, sweet blueberry filling, and a generous crumb topping, these Blueberry Pie Bars are absolutely delicious.

One of my all-time favorite dessert recipes is this recipe for Blueberry Pie Bars.

From the flaky shortbread crust to the sweet blueberries that are enveloped in a creamy custard to the buttery crumble, these Blueberry Pie Bars have it all. They are sweet. They are buttery. They are creamy. Absolute perfection!

Not to mention, these blueberry bars are nearly effortless to make--so much easier than pie!

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!

How to Make Blueberry Bars

• To form the shortbread crust and crumble, mix together the flour, ¼ cup sugar, and a dash of salt together in a large mixing bowl or in a food processor fitted with an s-blade.
• Add the cold butter to the flour mixture and either pulse the mixture together in the food processor or use a fork, your hands, or a pastry blade to mix the mixture together by hand, until the butter is incorporated into the flour mixture and resembles sand.
• 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.

• Bake the shortbread pie bar base for 15 minutes. This will help the crust to set up so that the berry mixture doesn't make the base soggy.
• While the crust is baking, prepare the blueberry filling by mixing together the sour cream, remaining sugar, egg, and vanilla together until well combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.
• Remove the shortbread crust from the oven and spread the sour cream blueberry pie filling over the shortbread crust.
• Sprinkle the reserved pie crust over the top of the blueberry pie bars evenly.

• Bake the bars until the blueberry pie filling is set and the crumble topping is golden brown.
• Cool bars completely and then store in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours before slicing and serving.

Serving and Storage Tips

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.

To store leftover Blueberry Pie Bars, keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to up to 3 days. You can freeze these bars as well, if well wrapped and stored in an airtight container for up to 1 month. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight before enjoying. The texture will be a bit softer after freezing, but still taste delicious.

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.
• Berry Options: Feel free to replace the blueberries with blackberries, raspberries, diced strawberries, or a combination of berries.

More Dessert Recipes

• Homemade Brownies
• Homemade Cheesecake
• Sugar Cookies
• Homemade Banana Pudding
• Strawberry Crumb Bars

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