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lemon blueberry shortbread bars stacked on parchment paper.
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Lemon Blueberry Shortbread Bars
Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
35 mins
Total Time
55 mins
 
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.
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: lemon blueberry shortbread bars
Servings: 9 Bars
Author: Michelle
Ingredients
Shortbread:
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp sp almond extract*
  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
Blueberry Lemon Filling:
  • 1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
  • 6 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lemon zest
  • 2 cups fresh blueberries*
Topping:
  • Powdered sugar, if desired
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 9x9 baking dish with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Set aside.
Shortbread

  1. Using a stand mixer (you can also use a hand mixer or food processor), cream the unsalted butter until light and fluffy.

  2. Next, add in the granulated sugar and continue to mix until well combined.
  3. Add in the vanilla extract and almond extract and mix.
  4. Lastly, add in the flour and mix until combined. The mixture will be a little crumbly. Set aside.
Filling
  1. In a separate bowl, whisk sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest together until well combined (you can whisk by hand or with an electric mixer).
Assembly
  1. Press half of the shortbread dough into the prepared pan making sure to press it into an even layer.
  2. Spread the lemon custard filling on top of the shortbread crust.
  3. Spread the blueberries in an even layer on top of the lemon cream filling.
  4. Sprinkle the remaining shortbread crust on top of the blueberries.
  5. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the shortbread crumb topping is lightly golden brown and the lemon blueberry filling is bubbling.
  6. Allow the bars to cool completely before serving. (I also love the serve them cold!)
  7. Dust the tops of the shortbread bars with powdered sugar, if desired.
Recipe Notes

If you don’t have almond extract, you can use more vanilla extract instead.
If you don’t have fresh blueberries, you can use frozen blueberries (add them to the filling frozen otherwise they’ll add too much liquid to the shortbread bars; you may need to add a few extra minutes to the overall bake time). Additionally you can use blueberry jam.