Hello hungry friends! Today’s feature is another recipe of my favorite crumble bars dessert. My Strawberry Cheesecake Crumble Bars is one of the popular recipes here in my blog so I thought of making another version and I chose blueberries this time.
For this recipe, I added some lemon juice and zest to the cream to give a little lemony feel. Blueberries and lemons are perfect together, agree? You will definitely love the sweet and sour taste of the cream and the aroma as well! While baking, the irresistible smell from blueberries, lemon and cookie dough will scent your kitchen. Heaven scent, heaven sent!
As much as I wanted to use fresh blueberries, I live in a country wherein blueberries are like gold. A 200g-pack costs Php 450 to 500 (around $10) — enough amount to buy a decent meal for my family. It’s just that I never buy and use expensive ingredients for testing recipes.
And since this recipe is already 100% tried and tested and approved by family and friends, I am willing to spend an extra for blueberries next time. For my birthday maybe? (gift for myself hmmm 😌) It’s my dream to use fresh blueberries for my future recipes. Just spare me this time please? 🙏🏻 If you know where to buy cheap blueberries please let me know by leaving a comment below.👇🏻
If you want to use fresh berries, just toss half of the blueberries into the batter, pour onto a prepared pan then sprinkle the remaining blueberries on top of the lemon cream before baking.
The base and crumble dough is just the same with strawberry crumble recipe. My go-to cookie crumble recipe. I also used it to my Apple Cheesecake Crumble. It really goes well with cheesecakes. I use it as substitute for graham cracker base on special days.
For the cookie crumble dough, blend the cold butter into the flour-sugar mixture until it can hold its shape when pressed. You can use a pastry cutter or fork but I like using my hands so I can feel if there are still large chunks of butter in the mixture and if it’s already well blended.
I hope you enjoy these sweet and tangy blueberry lemon bars. Let me know if you make this recipe.
BONUS: there are no eggs in this recipe, perfect to those allergic to eggs.
Blueberry Lemon Cream Crumble Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup cold unsalted butter cubed
Lemon Cream
- 8 ounces brick style cream cheese softened
- ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1½ tbsp lemon juice from 1 medium-sized lemon
- ¼ tsp lemon zest
- 1 can blueberry preserves I used Duncan Hines *see notes*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper leaving an overhang on the sides for easy lift.
- Prepare the crust. Stir flour and brown sugar in a large bowl. Rub butter into the flour mixture with your fingers. You may also use a fork or pastry blender. Your dough is done when there are no more chunks of butter and holds its shape when pressed in your palm.
- To make the base/crust, take half of the dough and press it evenly on the lined pan. If needed, take more dough to cover the entire bottom of the pan. Just be sure to set aside at least ¼ of the dough for the crumble topping. I used approximately ¾ of the dough for my crust. Bake the crust for 20 minutes. Let it cool on a wired rack.
- Prepare the lemon cream. Using a stand or handheld mixer, beat softened cream cheese and condensed milk in a bowl until smooth and no more lumps. Add lemon juice and zest, beat until well combined. Don't forget to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Pour cream onto the cooled crust and spread evenly. Add spoonfuls of blueberry preserves on top of batter. Crumble the remaining dough on top of the blueberries.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes (rotate pan at 25 minutes if edges starts to brown on one side) or until the blueberry preserves are bubbling and crumble topping turns golden brown. Let it cool on a wired rack. Refrigerate for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. It may be difficult to cut the crust so use a large knife.
- Store in a covered container in the fridge. Consume within a week.
Notes
You will probably need about 1 to 1½ cup preserves depending on the amount you would like to use.
