Are we ready to close out the summer? Is it really already time?
Saying goodbye to summer feels a lot like saying goodbye to an old friend. Summer is that lively, carefree friend who shows up out of nowhere at your front door, sleeps on your couch and eats all your food, but gives you a load of funny stories and blurry photographs to save as memories. You shared some good moments and probably even got burned a time or two, but at the end of the day, there’s always promise that they’ll come back around again.
For my family, this summer was filled with a ton of joyful, big life moments, but was also not without its share of challenging learning experiences. Here’s a few things I learned:
- I learned that I could keep two humans alive, surviving on minimal hours of sleep.
- I learned that hormones are the wild, unbridled beasts of a postpartum body, generous enough to treat me to a receding hairline (at 28) and sweat production akin to a linebacker in a snowsuit on the Fourth of July.
- I learned that my toddler is SMART- smart enough to learn the ABC’s (thanks preschool!) and smart enough to wait until I leave the room to crawl up on the counter and put her grubby paws in my freshly iced sugar cookies.
- I learned that I probably don’t have a future in gardening, as it turns out my green thumb is actually more like gangrene- decrepit, black, and in desperate need of an amputation STAT (sorry, tomatoes).
This summer was a series of ups and downs, learning and unlearning, and trial and error, so while I’m sad to leave my jean shorts and tank tops behind, I’m excited for the next page in our book. Plus, I can keep some of those summer repeats on replay for at least another couple weeks, right? (I’m looking at you, ice cream cones!)
One thing I did manage to get right this summer? Blueberry lemon bars.
No other fruit is so quintessentially summer to me than blueberries. With their beautiful purple skins and juicy innards just begging to burst in my oven, I usually can’t keep blueberries in my fridge long enough to test out new recipes. BUT! This summer, I set out to perfect my blueberry lemon bars, and hold the phone because I think I did it.
My goal with for blueberry lemon bars was to create a good crust to fruit ratio, for that crust to be lightly scented with lemon, and for the bars to easily be sliced into neat squares for serving. After a few trial runs, this is the recipe I nailed down.
The crust is a lemon shortbread/sugar cookie hybrid and doubles as the crumble sprinkled on top of the bars as well. The filling is simple: berries and sugar, with a sprinkle of a few other ingredients, all tossed together quickly in a bowl. The whole thing bakes up pretty quick in the oven and stays good for DAYS. Fresh or frozen blueberries can be used for these little pals, although if you don’t take advantage of the inexpensive seasonal fruit then I just don’t know what’s the matter with you.
BONUS! I’m also including an expanded recipe in the event that you want to make these bad boys for a crowd. The smaller recipe still make more than you’d expect though, so don’t go too crazy right off the bat (actually, go wild, because who cares. I’m not holding you back.)
Blueberry lemon bars should be the cherry on top, the encore, or whatever you want to call it of a delicious and well-lived summer. I hope you share one or two of these before we fall face first into autumn.
Cheers to you and have a great week!
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Blueberry Lemon Bars
These blueberry lemon bars boast a sweet and salty lemon shortbread crust and crumble, and are filled with juicy blueberries!
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 45
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
For the crust
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1–1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2–1/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For the filling
- 3 cups blueberries
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9″ square pan with aluminum foil, covering all sides of the pan.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the vanilla and lemon and stir to combine. Scrape the bowl, then add the flour and salt. Stir on low speed until clumps begin to form. Scrape the bowl as needed, continuing to stir only until combined. Pat out 2/3 of the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the filling and toss gently. Strain any extra juice from the berries and sprinkle them evenly over the crust.
- Crumble the remaining dough over the top of the blueberries and crust.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake until the crumbs on top are golden brown, about 1 hour. Allow to cool completely before cutting.
Blueberry Lemon Bars for a Crowd
A slightly adapted version, these blueberry lemon bars boast a sweet and salty lemon shortbread crust and crumble, and are filled with juicy blueberries!
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 45
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
For the crust
- 2–1/2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1–1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- Zest of two lemons
- 3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the filling
- 2 pints blueberries
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1–1/2 tablespoons corn starch
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a quarter sheet pan with aluminum foil, covering all sides of the pan.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the vanilla and lemon and stir to combine. Scrape the bowl, then add the flour and salt. Stir on low speed until clumps begin to form. Scrape the bowl as needed, continuing to stir only until combined. Pat out 2/3 of the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the filling and toss gently. Strain off any extra juice the berries produce and sprinkle them evenly over the crust.
- Crumble the remaining dough over the top of the blueberries and crust.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake until the crumbs on top are golden brown, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting.
12 thoughts on “Blueberry Lemon Bars”
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After 1:30 in oven topping still not turning gold. Exactly how are we to figure out left over crust to equal 2/3? Didn’t understand making lemon/blueberry mixture just to discard.
Just watched the video on Facebook of you making these, now I need to go to the store and get the ingredients right away. They look delicious!
-Jordyn
hooray!!! I hope you love. they’re a no-frills dessert, but mannnnnn they’re good. 🙂
I can personally vouch for these little goodies again, and again, and… Oh yeah, again. Thanks for sharing!
Made just for you! 🙂
Loved being able to watch you make these on insta – fun little added bonus to this beauty of a recipe. I’m thinking I may need to host a brunch or something, to give me an excuse to make these. power to you lady for keeping 2 humans alive all summer long, sneaking in a vacay with your man, and keeping this blog up and running! whoop whoop!
Brunch is my favorite. If you host it, they will come!!!!! Come to think of it, these would be great for a bunch bc they are soooo fruit heavy…. can almost pass as breakfast. 🙂
These bars look gorgeous Kate!!! The sweat part made me laugh!! xo
#truth
Another delicious recipe! I might just try to make it this weekend! I absolutely believe you should have a cooking class! I would be the first to join!!!
hi! why thank you! this one is super easy and fun to make. i’m actually planning to “help” my toddler make these today.:) you should try them out!