Lemon Blueberry Bars…a hint of lemon combined with the delicious taste of blueberries over a yummy oatmeal crust. Perfect for your sweet tooth craving!
I have been doing a lot of baking lately…I’ve had some successes, some fails.
That’s the life of a food blogger…just like anyone else, we often have behind the scene fails.
I mentioned the other day that my kids sometimes ask why I can’t just make the things they like, instead of trying something new. But I like experimenting. I feel like it would be so boring if we just ate the same things over and over again. So I try to compromise and make a few things I know my family likes each week and limit my experimentation to just one or two recipes.
I don’t usually do a ton of baking, because baking is more of an exact science than cooking is. You can’t just throw in a little of this, and a little of that when you’re baking. And that’s how I cook. I like to play with spices and combinations, and often decide a recipe needs something else in the middle of cooking it.
However, the other day I was having a sweet tooth craving. I was in the mood to bake, and I had lemon and blueberries on my mind. I decided to make bar cookies. My baking inspiration came from a recipe I tried a few months back, Cherry Oatmeal Almond Bars from Bunny’s Warm Oven. I’d definitely recommend trying these out as well…they were really delicious!
LEMON BLUEBERRY BARS
Start out by preheating the oven to 350 degrees.
I used Bunny’s tip of putting the tinfoil down first and baking on top of that. I did it last time I made her bar recipe; it works like a charm. I pretty much do this whenever I make bar cookies these days because it makes getting them out of the pan so much easier.
Grease your foil with butter. Using a stand mixer, beat the butter until it’s smooth. Add the brown sugar and baking powder and continue beating to combine, then add the egg and vanilla and beat again.
Add the flour slowly and continue to mix until the flour is combined. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, fold in the oats, and mix with a spoon.
Press most of the dough into the bottom of the baking dish, reserving about a half of a cup. You want to make sure the entire bottom of the baking dish is covered. Then spread the lemon zest, almonds and blueberries on top of the dough. Crumble the rest of the dough over the top of the blueberries.
Bake the Lemon Blueberry Bars for about 35 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick cleanly. Allow the bars to cool completely before removing the foil and cutting the bars.
These Lemon Blueberry Bars are always a huge hit with my family. They disappear really quickly. The last time I made them I cut about three quarters of them into regular size bars and the rest into bite size pieces to put into the freezer for school lunches for the kids. All of the bars (minus the ones I hid in the freezer…shhh…don’t tell them they are in there) disappeared within a day. If they knew about the ones in the freezer, they’d definitely be gone too. They’ve already asked me when I am making my lemon blueberry bars again. MAJOR SCORE!
If you really want a decadent treat, warm a Lemon Blueberry bar up slightly, and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to the top!
MORE BAR COOKIE RECIPES YOU MAY ENJOY
- Oreo Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cookie Bars
- PB&J Bars with Strawberry Jam
- Berry Cheesecake Bars
- Berrylicious Bar Cookies
Lemon Blueberry Bars
Lemon Blueberry Bars...a hint of lemon combined with the delicious taste of blueberries over a yummy oatmeal crust.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks of butter, softened
- 2 cups of light brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 cups of oats
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
- zest from one lemon
- 2 cups frozen blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a 13 x 9 glass baking pan with foil, with extra over the edges. When your bars are done, you can simply lift them out of the baking dish.
- Grease your foil with butter.
- Using a stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
- Add the brown sugar and baking powder and continue to beat until combined.
- Then add vanilla and egg to mixture, continue to combine.
- Add flour to mixture slowly and continue beating until well mixed.
- Remove bowl from stand mixer, fold in oats, and mix in by spoon.
- Press most of the dough into the bottom of your baking dish, reserving about a half of a cup.
- Spread the lemon zest, almonds and blueberries across the top of the dough.
- Crumble pieces of the reserved dough across the entire top.
- Bake for approximately 35 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick cleanly.
- Remove from oven, allow to cool.
- Once cool, remove from pan, and cut into bars or squares.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 459Total Fat: 5gCarbohydrates: 88gProtein: 15g
Updated with new photos on 5/26/17.
Sara
Monday 10th of September 2018
I have a question about the lemon blueberry bars. Do you thaw the blueberries before using? I’ve made them twice now and have had to cook for over an hour because the batter/crust takes a while to bake because the blueberries are so wet. Seems like fresh berries may help avoid this issue too but I always have frozen berries available. Thanks
Michelle Nahom
Monday 10th of September 2018
I never thaw them...I use them straight from the freezer. Every oven does cook a little differently though...perhaps there is an issue there?
Elizabeth
Saturday 10th of June 2017
For someone allergic to almonds what could be substituted? I would love to try these.
Michelle Nahom
Saturday 10th of June 2017
I would be uncomfortable giving anyone with allergies substitution recommendations, but why not just leave them out?
Beverly
Wednesday 31st of May 2017
Love these blueberry lemon bars. Can't wait to try them. Pinning. Hugs, Bev
helenfern
Monday 29th of May 2017
This looks like a delicious treat! Thanks for sharing on the What's for Dinner link up!
Cathy
Monday 29th of May 2017
Lemon & blueberry - one of my favorite flavor combinations!