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    Home » Recipes » Cookies

    Blueberry Lemon Shortbread Bars - Buttery, Fruity, and Bright

    Published: Jul 10, 2022 · Updated: Jun 8, 2025 · by Barbara · This post may contain links on which I could make a small commission if an item is purchased · Leave a Comment

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    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.

    Feature picture of 3 blueberry lemon shortbread bars with a small green leaf for color.

    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.

    Jump to:
    • Why You'll Love These Cookie Bars
    • Blueberries and Health Benefits
    • Ingredients For Filling and Shortbread
    • Making the Blueberry Lemon Shortbread Bars
    • Making Homemade Blueberry Filling
    • Baking the Buttery Shortbread
    • Putting Together Shortbread and Blueberry Filling
    • FAQ's
    • Other Blueberry Cookies To Try
    • Recipe

    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

    Ingredients for blueberry lemon shortbread bars.
    Jump to Recipe for Amounts

    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

    Blueberry Filling with spoon on wooden plank.

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

    Sugar and blueberries in a saucepan.

    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.

    Blueberries in saucepan after 8 minutes and blueberries are starting to break apart.

    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.

    Bowl of blueberries cleaned.

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

    After whole blueberries are added to the cooled cooked 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.

    Lining the baking pan with parchment paper.

    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.

    Shortbread ingredients in a food process bowl.

    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.

    Spreading clumps of shortbread around bottom of pan so it can be covered.

    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.

    Pressed down shortbread for bottom bars crust.

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

    Bottom shortbread crust after baking to a golden color.

    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

    All the blueberry filling spread on top of the bottom shortbread crust.

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

    Small pieces of shortbread spread around the top over the blueberry filling.

    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.

    Side view of layers for a blueberry lemon shortbread bar sitting on a piece of parchment paper.

    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.

    FAQ's

    Can I skip the lemon?

    You can, but the citrus helps to balance the sweetness.

    Can I double the recipe?

    Yes, just use a 9X13 pan and increase the time slightly.

    Do you really need to par-bake the bottom crust?

    You do not want to skip this step. You want the bottom crust mostly baked before you add the blueberry filling. This helps to stop leaking into the bottom crust.

    How do I store the blueberry shortbread bars?

    I store these in large Rubbermaid Take Along storage containers. These are fantastic for storing bars or cookies. Cut a piece of parchment paper and lay it between layers if needed. These bars will last for 5 to 7 days. I do not refrigerate them, but you can if you like cold bars.

    Other Blueberry Cookies To Try

    • Blueberry lemon with mascarpone cookies feature shot.
      Blueberry Lemon with Mascarpone Cookies
    • Single blueberry with blueberry jam cookie with powdered sugar sprinkled on top.
      Blueberry with Blueberry Jam Cookies
    • Blueberry with walnuts and cinnamon oatmeal cookies on a blue plate.
      Blueberry with Walnuts and Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies
    • Blue plate with a stack of blueberry lemon cookies on it.
      Blueberry Lemon with Ginger Glaze Cookies

    Recipe

    Feature picture of 3 blueberry lemon shortbread bars with a small green leaf for color.
    QR Code

    Blueberry Lemon Shortbread Bars

    Barbara Hall
    These Blueberry Lemon Shortbread Bars have a butter shortbread crust on the bottom and dabs of shortbread on top. Add to that the sweet taste of fresh blueberries in the middle.
    Prevent your screen from going dark
    5 from 4 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 15 minutes mins
    Total Bake Time 55 minutes mins
    Making Filling and Chill 2 hours hrs 45 minutes mins
    Total Time 3 hours hrs 55 minutes mins
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American
    Servings 16 bars
    Calories 262 kcal

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    Ingredients
     

    Home Made Blueberry Filling

    • 4 cups (592 g) Fresh Blueberries
    • ½ cup (100 g) Sugar white
    • 2 Tablespoon (2 Tablespoon) Corn starch
    • 1 Tablespoon (1 Tablespoon) Lemon juice
    • ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Vanilla Extract
    • ½ Tablespoon (0.5 Tablespoon) Butter unsalted

    Shortbread

    • 1 cup (227 g) Butter unsalted cold and cubed
    • ¾ cup (150 g) Sugar white
    • 2 ½ cups (312.5 g) All-purpose flour
    • 1 Tablespoon (1 Tablespoon) Lemon zest packed
    • ⅛ teaspoon (0.13 teaspoon) Ground cinnamon
    • ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Kosher Salt

    Instructions
     

    Home Made Blueberry Filling

    • Rinse and clean the blueberries and add 3 cups to a saucepan - reserve 1 cup of the blueberries for later. Add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to a bowl and set it aside.
    • Add the sugar to the saucepan with the blueberries and heat on a medium setting. Bring the sugar and blueberries to a low boil. You want the blueberries to break down and get mushy. I use a wooden spoon to stir and keep pressing the blueberries against the side of the saucepan to help the blueberries break apart. Continue to stir for about 8 minutes; it will start to thicken slightly.
    • Add the 2 tablespoons of corn starch to the 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and mix. If you need more liquid, take a spoonful of the blueberry mixture from the saucepan to finish mixing the corn starch, then add the corn starch mixture to the saucepan. If it is not already, you will need to have this come to a boil and continuously stir for at least 2 to 3 minutes or until the mixture has thickened.
    • Take the pan off the heat and add the vanilla extract and the butter to the pan. Stir until the butter has melted. Move the blueberry filling to a bowl and let it cool for a few minutes. Then add the 1 cup of reserved blueberries to the cooked blueberries and mix. After a few minutes, transfer to a glass container with a lid and refrigerate if making the shortbread the next day.

    Blueberry Lemon Shortbread Bars

    • Add the flour, sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon, salt, and the cold butter cubed into a food processor. I start with a few long pulses to get the butter broken up. Then about 8-10 short pulses to bring the ingredients together. You want it in small pieces. You can always break up any big pieces into smaller ones if needed.
    • Butter a 9 X 9 pan. Take a long piece of parchment paper and place it along the bottom and the opposite sides. Make sure it is long enough to fold over the tops of both sides of the pan. You can use these as handles to lift the completed bars out of the pan. (see image above) Take half of the shortbread dough and place it on top of the parchment paper lining the bottom. Spread the pieces around the bottom and press down to spread and cover the bottom.
    • Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C or 180°C). Bake for 13-15 minutes. You want a light-colored bake. It will be a little soft, but that is perfect; it will be baked again. Let it cool for 10 minutes or until you can handle the pan with your hands.
    • Spread the blueberry filling evenly onto the partially baked bottom crust. Now, dot the remaining shortbread dough pieces around the top of the blueberry filling. I press the pieces down a little just so that all the pieces are touching the blueberry filling. Bake at 350°F (175°C or 180°C) for 35-40 minutes. I start to check at 35 minutes. The top should be a nice golden color.
    • Cool completely in the pan for at least 2 hours. You can hurry the cooling by placing the pan in the refrigerator until chilled. 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 these any size you like. To make them even prettier, I sprinkle powdered sugar on top before serving.

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    NUTRITION DISCLAIMER

    I am not a certified Dietitian or Nutritionist. The nutrition amounts given below are provided through a program and are only a guideline.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 262kcalCarbohydrates: 37gProtein: 2gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 75mgPotassium: 55mgFiber: 1gSugar: 19gVitamin A: 386IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 10mgIron: 1mg
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    5 from 4 votes (4 ratings without comment)

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    Hi, I'm Barbara Hall, the baker and photographer behind My Cookie Journey, a blog devoted to creating and sharing unique cookie recipes. A retired IT pro, I now spend my day's baking, styling, and snapping photos of cookies that have been featured in multiple regional magazines.

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