Make these melt-in-your-mouth Lemon Blueberry Shortbread Bars before summer is over! Homemade shortbread is used for both crust and the crumble topping, and the filling is a homemade lemon custard with fresh blueberries on top.

Best Blueberry Lemon Shortbread Bars

These Blueberry Lemon Cream Crumb Bars are so simple to make and absolutely irresistible.

Today I’m bringing you a dessert dream. A blueberry lemon pie bar of sorts that is a layer of buttery shortbread cookie crust, a lemon pie filling made with sweetened condensed milk, lemon zest, and fresh lemon juice, fresh juicy blueberries, and then a shortbread crumble on top.

It’s a lemon lover’s dream (aka, my dream come to life) and it’s shockingly simple to make. You’re welcome.

It begins with my favorite homemade shortbread, which is the same buttery shortbread crust I use in these Strawberry Jam Shortbread Bars.

The lemon filling is a cross between a lemon cream pie and a lemon custard pie (it’s a sweeter filling though than a lemon curd) and the fresh blueberries are the pièce de résistance to the whole shortbread bar. Sweet with a little bit of tang from the fresh lemon flavor with a whole lot of melt-in-your-mouth shortbread.

It’s one of the most classic summer dessert pairs and I’m not mad about it. Shortbread crusted lemon blueberry pie bars are what summer dreams are made of, in case you were wondering.

My Favorite Things About These Blueberry Lemon Shortbread Bars!

Lemon Blueberry Filling: I know. I’m a broken record. However, the lemon blueberry filling is made with fresh lemon and fresh blueberries and it’s a perfect flavor pairing with the buttery shortbread. Plus it’s a no bake lemon pie custard!
Homemade Shortbread: Shortbread is a very buttery cookie made with butter, flour, and sugar. This recipe uses vanilla and almond extract, which really enhances the overall flavor of the lemon shortbread crust.
Versatile: You can pretty much classify these Lemon Blueberry Shortbread Bars as a lemon blueberry shortbread cookie, a lemon blueberry pie bar, a dessert bar, a crumble pie bar, etc. It’s practically 100 different things in one.

Love a good creamy Lemon Blueberry dessert? Try these shortbread Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars!

Ingredients For These Lemon Blueberry Bars:

Unsalted Butter: I use unsalted butter for pretty much everything. I prefer to have control over the salt content in each baked good.
All Purpose Flour
Granulated Sugar
Vanilla and Almond Extracts: If you don’t have almond extract, what are you even doing with your life? (100% kidding, but I would suggest keeping some handy in your pantry!) You can use double vanilla if you don’t have almond extract.
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Lemon Juice
Lemon Zest
Blueberries: I highly recommend using fresh blueberries for this recipe! If you don’t have fresh, you can substitute with frozen blueberries (keep them frozen otherwise they will release too much moisture as they bake). You can also use blueberry jam and swirl it into the lemon filling.
Powdered Sugar: It’s optional (though it’s not in my world) but you can dust the bars with powdered sugar!

How To Make These Shortbread Lemon Bars From Scratch:

This is a brief overview of how to make lemon blueberry shortbread crumb bars. The full recipe card is down below and it has a printable option.

Shortbread Crust and Crumb: Using a standing mixer or hand mixer (actually, you can also use a food processor too), cream unsalted butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add in the granulated sugar and continue to mix until well combined. Add in the vanilla extract and almond extract and mix until combined. Lastly, add in the flour and mix until combined. The shortbread cookie will be a little crumbly. Set aside.
Blueberry Lemon Filling: In a mixing bowl using a hand electric mixer, mix sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest together.
Assembly: Line a 9×9 square baking pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Press half of the shortbread cookie crust into the bottom of the prepared pan until it’s in an even layer. Spread the lemon custard filling on top of the shortbread crust. Spread the blueberries on top of the filling. Lastly, spread the remaining shortbread crumble mixture on top of the blueberry filling.
Bake: Bake the bars for about 30-35 minutes, or until the shortbread on top is lightly golden brown and the blueberries are bubbling.
Cool: Allow the bars to cool completely before serving. In fact, I actually prefer these shortbread lemon blueberry bars cold! They can be eaten both at room temperature or cold.
Powdered Sugar: Dust with powdered sugar on top of the bars, if desired!

Storage Tips:

Store these shortbread bars in an airtight container. They can be stored at room temperature or in the fridge. Additionally, you can freeze these shortbread lemon bars after they have baked and cooled for up to 3 months.

Fresh Or Frozen Blueberries?

I highly, highly recommend using fresh blueberries!
However, if you don’t have any fresh blueberries you can use frozen blueberries. Keep them frozen–if you let them thaw, they will be too juicy and ruin the consistency of the filling. Due to them being frozen, you may have to add an extra couple of minutes.
If you don’t have fresh or frozen blueberries, you can use blueberry jam! Dollop a few tablespoons of jam on top of the creamy lemon filling and then use a knife to swirl the jam into the lemon custard.

Try These Other Lemon Blueberry Recipes Next:

Final Baking Tips:

Room Temperature Butter: For this homemade shortbread dough, you want to use room temperature butter (don’t use cold butter or melted butter otherwise the shortbread will not bake properly).
Fresh Lemons: Make sure you use fresh lemon zest and juice! Zest the lemons first, then cut the lemons in half and squeeze out the juice.
Topping: While you press the shortbread into an even layer to make the crust of these Lemon Blueberry Shortbread Bars, you just sprinkle the remaining shortbread topping on top of the fruit filling. Easy.