Blueberry Lemon Shortbread Bars - Buttery, Fruity, and Bright

These Blueberry Lemon Shortbread Bars are packed with flavor. A buttery shortbread crust holds layers of sweet blueberry homemade jam and tangy lemon zest and juice for a cookie-bar that’s both elegant and easy to make. Perfect for the spring family cookouts, or summer picnics, these bars are just the right balance of fruity, lush, and fresh.

Wild blueberries are only grown commercially in Atlantic Canada, Quebec, and Maine. However, cultivated blueberries can be planted and raised worldwide, ending up in our grocery stores for us to enjoy.

I want to take a trip to Maine and maybe Quebec to experience picking wild blueberries for myself. I would love to see them in the wild.

Why You'll Love These Cookie Bars

• Buttery, melt-in-your mouth crust
• Bright lemon zest and sweet homemade blueberry jam
• Easy to cut and store

Blueberries and Health Benefits

So is there a difference between cultivated and wild blueberries concerning health benefits?

According to Superfoodsrx.com the most significant difference is size. The wild is much smaller, so if you take 80 to 90 cultivated blueberries in a cup vs. 150 wild blueberries, the wild variety will have more health benefits because there are more blueberries. Healthline.com give ten health benefits:

• Blueberries are low in calories but high in nutrients
• King of Antioxidant
• Reduce DNA damage
• Fights damaging cholesterol
• May lower blood pressure
• It might help prevent heart disease
• Could maybe help maintain brain function and improve memory
• It May have anti-diabetes effects
• It might help fight urinary tract infections
• It might reduce muscle damage after strenuous exercise

So I love buying blueberries from the store and just snacking on them, and I think you can see why they are called the superfood based on the benefits.

Ingredients For Filling and Shortbread

Home Made Blueberry Filling

• Fresh Blueberries
• Sugar white
• Corn starch
• Lemon juice
• Vanilla Extract
• Butter unsalted

Shortbread

• Butter unsalted
• Sugar white
• All-purpose flour
• Lemon zest
• Ground cinnamon
• Kosher Salt

Ingredient Notes

• Use cold butter for crumbly shortbread
• If you can, my blueberry filling is fantastic, but you can use a good quality jam or preserves if time is a factor. Buy 3 or 4 jars and some fresh blueberries to add to the store-bought jam.
• Lemon zest and juice adds natural brightness

Making the Blueberry Lemon Shortbread Bars

This recipe's instructions show how to make the Blueberry Filling plus the Blueberry Lemon Shortbread Bars. But you can also find the Home Made Blueberry Filling here as a stand-alone recipe that you can print out.

So let's get started!

Making Homemade Blueberry Filling

To start, juice one lemon. You want a good tablespoon to mix with the cornstarch.

1. Add the sugar and 3 cups of blueberries to a saucepan. Turn the stove on to medium heat and bring to a boil. Keep stirring.

2. You want the blueberries to soften and start to break apart. I use the back of my wooden spoon to help crush the blueberries. Do this for about 5-8 minutes.

3. Take the cornstarch and add it to the lemon juice. If you need a little more liquid, take a spoonful of the liquid from the saucepan and mix it with the lemon juice and cornstarch. Add the cornstarch to the saucepan and bring the blueberries to a boil.

4. Stir continuously for 2 to 3 minutes or until the mixture thickens. Take the saucepan off the stove and add the vanilla extract and the butter, stirring until the butter has melted.

5. Rinse and clean the 1 cup of reserved blueberries.

6. Add the blueberries from the saucepan to a bowl. Fold in the reserved blueberries until they are incorporated.

7. Add the completed blueberry filling to a glass jar and seal it with a lid. I put it in the refrigerator if I am making the shortbread the next day.

Baking the Buttery Shortbread

Prepare a 9 X 9 baking pan by buttering the inside of the pan. Then, using tin foil or parchment paper, line the bottom and sides so they stick out over two sides.

1. These make great handles for getting the shortbread out of the pan. I butter the pan, so the parchment paper sticks and the blueberry juice does not stick to the sides.

2. Add the flour, salt, lemon zest, sugar, cinnamon, and the cold butter cubed into the food processor bowl. Pulse 8 to 10 times or until all the ingredients are in small pieces.

3. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C). Take half of the shortbread dough and add it on top of the parchment paper. Spread it around so you can start to cover the whole bottom.

4. Press down the shortbread dough so you have a solid bottom crust with no gaps.

5. Bake for 13-15 minutes. The goal is to do a light bake since you will be baking this again with the blueberry filling and topping. Cool the pan until you can touch the sides of the pan.

Putting Together Shortbread and Blueberry Filling

6. Take the jar of blueberry filling and spread it evenly over the partially baked shortbread.

7. The next step is to break up any big pieces of shortbread dough, so they are about all the same size. Spread them evenly over the top of the blueberry filling. I press them down gently to try and get a consistent height.

8. Bake at 350°F (175°C or 180°C) for 34-36 minutes. The pieces on top should be a nice golden color. I also put the pan on a cooling rack, so the bottom cools. You want this to set, so leave it be for a couple of hours or stick it in the refrigerator to hurry the setting process.

When you are ready to serve, I sprinkled some powdered sugar on top to make them even prettier. Pull the shortbread out of the pan by the parchment paper handles before cutting. I cut four rows down and four across, but you can make whatever size bars you like.