These blueberry pie bars have a crispy and chewy press-in shortbread crust topped with fresh blueberries that cook down into a jammy blueberry pie filling and get swirled with whipped cream cheese frosting. It's all the flavors you love about blueberry pie in half the time and much easier to transport and eat!
We all love to eat pies, but making them may be a different story. Dessert bars in any form take everything you want in a pie and turn it into a simpler version (hello, eating with your hands).
These blueberry shortbread bars are no exception, just like these apple crumble bars, sweet potato bars, and pumpkin pie bars!
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Shortbread crust - this press-in crust doesn't require a rolling pin and pushes right into the pan with your fingers.
Jammy blueberries - ditch the store bought canned pie filling, because this version does all the work for you simply by cooking the blueberries on top of the crust with a bit of flour and sugar.
Whipped cream cheese frosting - this lightly sweet frosting adds a slight tanginess to offset those ultra sweet, jammy blueberries.
Make ahead - these blueberry bars store for days in the fridge without sacrificing structure or flavor. You can even add the whipped cream for storage since it's stabilized with cream cheese!
Ingredients
- Blueberries. Fresh, perfectly sweet blueberries are my favorite in this recipe. However, you can use frozen blueberries in a pinch.
- Almond extract. A small amount gets added to the crust and adds such a nice hint of flavor.
- White vinegar. While only 1 tablespoon is added, it cuts the sweetness in the crust, adds a slightly sharp tang to the base, and helps with an extra crisp texture.
- Cinnamon. A dash of cinnamon gets added on top of the blueberries to warm up these bars and make them super cozy!
- Cream cheese. This is used in the whipped cream for an extra tangy flavor and to help stabilize the whipped cream for storage.
See recipe card for full ingredients list and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
- Use Bob's 1-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour in place of all-purpose flour to make the blueberry bars gluten free.
- Rub lemon zest into the sugar in the pie crust for a lemon blueberry pie bars version.
- Swap blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, or cranberries for the blueberries.
- Add a crumble topping to incorporate much crunch with some oats!
How to Make This Recipe
One: Pulse the ingredients for the shortbread crust in a food processor until crumbly, but holds together.
Two: Press the shortbread crust into the pan prepared with parchment paper.
Hot tip! Here's a great way to line your pans with parchment paper.
Three: Add the blueberries on top of the crust.
Four: Sprinkle flour, cinnamon, and sugar all over the blueberries, then bake and cool completely.
Five: Beat together the cream cheese, whipped cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.
Six: Pipe or spread the whipped cream cheese frosting on top of the bars before serving.
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Expert Tips
- You may feel like you're adding too much flour and sugar mixture on top of the blueberries, but please use it all!
- Cool the bars completely before slicing in so the blueberries have time to thicken and so the icing doesn't melt off. I like to chill them in the fridge before slicing!
- Clean off the knife completely between each cut for ultra-clean slices.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. Simply add the blueberries onto the crust fully frozen. You may need to increase the bake time by a few minutes.
If you don't have a food processor, you can use softened butter and mix everything together with a hand mixer. It will be slightly more difficult to spread the dough out, but be patient and be sure to get it to the edges!
Freeze the dough until it's solid before adding the blueberries, toppings, and baking.
No. Canned pie filling contains a lot of extra liquid that will affect how the crust bakes.
Yes. Double all of the ingredients and make make the bars in a 9x13" following the same amount of bake time.
Storage
Store the bars uncovered in the fridge for up to 5 days (frosted or unfrosted).
To freeze, wrap the unfrosted bars tightly in plastic wrap, foil, and add to a zip top bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Thaw uncovered in the fridge, then make and add the frosting before serving.
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What to Know When Cooking with The Cozy Plum
- All recipes are created with Diamond Crystal kosher salt, the least salty variety of kosher salt. If using Morton's, you'll need to cut the amount of salt in half as it's 2x as salty. This will be the same for sea salt. Please do not use table salt.
- Switch between Cups vs Metric using the toggle on the recipe card. Baking by weight using a digital scale will always produce the most accurate results.
- Scale the recipe using the '1X' '2X' '3X' buttons on the recipe card. Note that this does not make an adjustment for baking times, only quantities.
- If you'd like to make the recipe in a different pan, use the pan size converter.
Did you make this recipe? Share it with us! Tag @thecozyplum on Instagram & Facebook and leave a star rating ⭐️ below!
Recipe adapted from Woman'sDay Magazine, 2008.
📖Recipe
Easy Blueberry Pie Bars with Shortbread Crust
Equipment
- 8-inch square pan or tart pan
Ingredients
Tart Base
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- ½ cup unsalted butter cold & cubed
Blueberry Layer
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 cups blueberries fresh
Whipped Cream Cheese Topping
- 4 oz cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream cold
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375℉. Parchment line an 8x8-inch square pan with sling overhangs or use a tart pan with removable bottom (no need to parchment for this).
- In a food processor, add flour, sugar, salt, almond extract, vinegar and butter cubes and pulse until combined and the dough starts to form little balls and holds when pressed together with your fingers.1 cup all-purpose flour, ½ cup granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon almond extract, 1 tablespoon white vinegar, ½ cup unsalted butter
- Remove the dough and press it evenly into the bottom of the pan (no need to go up the sides). Spread 3 cups of blueberries evenly over the dough.3 cups blueberries
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and the cinnamon. Once combined, sprinkle evenly over the blueberries, making sure to get the edges. It will feel like a lot, but use it all!2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, ⅓ cup granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Bake for 45-55 minutes (the blueberries should be bubbling) and remove to a wire rack to cool completely, then transfer to the fridge for 1-2 hours to firm up.
Whipped Cream Cheese Topping
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whip the cream cheese and sugar on medium high speed for one minute.4 oz cream cheese, ¼ cup powdered sugar
- Add the vanilla and heavy whipping cream and whip on medium speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and whip until stiff peaks form and the cream holds in the whisk.1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
- Pipe or spread the whipped cream cheese topping onto your cooled bars, cut and enjoy!
Linda Gardner says
These blueberry bars were scrumptious! Not too sweet so blueberry flavor really shines
The Cozy Plum says
Love this, Linda - and totally agree! Thanks so much for making them.
Pam says
Cant wait to make again this year - get my box of blueberries this week. Such a well balanced dessert - not too sweet but still feels like dessert.
Ana says
This recipe was so good! The shortbread crust is everything and I love that this dessert is not overly sweet. Perfectly balanced. Thanks for the recipe!
The Cozy Plum says
Totally agree with this assessment. Thanks for trying them!
Pam says
Made these and they are so easy and delicious. Great recipe - dessert but not to sweet - just like I love it!
Donna says
I was lucky enough to taste this at Pam’s, lovely blend of flavors, definitely adding to my favorite recipe collection!!
The Cozy Plum says
Donna, I'm so happy to hear this! Thank you 🙂
The Cozy Plum says
I owe so much of my knowledge to her!! This one is actually very simple, it's just the fridge time that makes it look long! Also, if you follow the link to the original recipe, that one is even less fuss (you just add fresh blueberries to the top instead of the cream)! You should give it a try!!
Julie says
I recently made these scrumptious, blueberry pie bars, and I was not disappointed! When measuring the blueberries, go by the cups rather than the grams. My first time baking the bars, I went with the lower to mid range of 45 to 50 minutes. The next time I make them, which will be very soon because it is blueberry season, I will bake them for the full 55 minutes. I didn’t have a star tip for the cream cheese frosting so I piped with a Ziploc bag and they came out beautifully. Though not as elegant as the piped stars but a pretty presentation nonetheless. These are so good and my family loved them!