Blueberry pie without the hassle of making a homemade pie crust!
Happy (almost) 4th of July, everyone. Festive blueberries mixed with apple pie – it doesn’t get more American than that.
I made these bars over the weekend after I spotted a blueberry sale at the grocery store. I love fresh summer berry season! You could also make today’s bars with frozen blueberries. I have a huge bag of those in the freezer as we speak. Frozen berries make wonderful Blueberry Sweet Rolls!
Today’s bars are just like blueberry pie, without the hassle of making a homemade pie crust. Rather, the crust is made from whole wheat flour, oats, sugar, and butter. The crust’s job is two-fold, it’s the foundation for the juicy bars and the crumble topping. That fruity center is a homemade blueberry pie filling topped with a peeled and sliced Granny Smith apple. The tart green apple is a wonderful contrast to the sweet blueberry pie filling. An untraditional fruit pairing and I love it!
You’ll make the filling first on the stovetop. Combine 3 cups of blueberries with sugar, orange juice, and cornstarch. You may use frozen or fresh blueberries – meaning you can make them year round! Cook down the blueberries with the sugar and juice, before adding the cornstarch. Bring it to a boil then simmer. The cornstarch will be mixed with a few teaspoon of water before adding. Mix it until it resembles the consistency of milk. If you throw the cornstarch right into the blueberry mixture, you’ll end up with white chunks everywhere. Not pretty. Make sure you mix it with water beforehand, as noted in the recipe below.
Once the cornstarch is mixed in, allow the blueberry mixture to simmer on low as it miraculously thickens into a chunky blueberry jam. And it’s TASTY. Allow the blueberry filling to cool completely. I stuck it in the refrigerator (to speed things up, obviously) until I was ready to use it.
As the blueberry filling cools, make the crust. Flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and melted butter. That’s it! Mix it all together and set aside 1/3 of it to crumble on top. Press the remaining 2/3 of it into an aluminum foil lined square baking pan. Bake the crust for 10 minutes. Top with the cooled blueberry filling. Then, top with 1 peeled and sliced apple.
Crumble the leftover crust on top of the apple and bake! The bars took about 40 minutes in my oven. The first time I made them, it took about 35 minutes. So, bake it for anywhere between 35-45 minutes – just until the topping is lightly browned.
Remember, these are blueberry pie bars. They’re gooey, juicy, crumbly, and messy. So, you’ll still need a fork to enjoy them. Unless you want to stain your fingers and favorite white tank.
The bars taste like berry crumb pie with a bit of apple mixed in. The apple taste is faint, but its slight tartness is there. The buttery cinnamon flavor in the crust/topping work so well with the juicy blueberries. The filling “seeps” into the crust, so things get extra gooey as you take your first bite. Unbelievable!
And who says these pie bars only have to be for dessert? Oats, orange juice, blueberries, apple — I smell a nice accompaniment to my morning coffee. And feel free to use any berries you like. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, or even peaches, pears, and nectarines.
PS: try them with a huge scoop of melty vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream!
Follow me on Instagram and tag #sallysbakingaddiction so I can see all the SBA recipes you make. ♥
Here are some other fruity bar recipes you’ll love!
- Lemon strawberry crumb bars
- Blueberry almond snack bars
- Apple pie bars
- 130 calorie Greek yogurt lemon bars
- Glazed orange poppy seed bars
- Raspberry streusel bars
- Lemon blueberry cheesecake bars
- Skinny raspberry swirl cheesecake bars
- Healthy strawberry oat squares
- Strawberry swirl chocolate chip cheesecake bars
- Key lime pie squares
- Healthy berry streusel bars
- Oatmeal lemon crumble bars
Apple Blueberry Pie Bars
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes
- Yield: 16 bars
- Category: Bars
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Blueberry pie without the hassle of making a homemade pie crust!
Ingredients
Filling
- 3 cups (390g) blueberries, fresh or frozen (do not thaw)
- 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) orange juice
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and sliced
Crust + Topping
- 1 and 1/2 cups (190g) white whole wheat flour (spoon & leveled), or mixture of whole wheat and all-purpose flours
- 1 cup (85g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats (or quick oats)
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 10 Tablespoons (150g) unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Make the filling first: Combine the blueberries, sugar, and orange juice into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Allow to boil for 1 minute, then whisk for 1 minute. Mix the cornstarch with 3-4 teaspoons of warm water, until it resembles milk (if you don’t mix with water, you will have white chunks in the filling). Add the watered down cornstarch to the blueberry mixture. Simmer on low heat for 3-4 minutes until the mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool. I poured mine into a bowl and refrigerated it until I was ready to use it.
- Make the crust: Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line an 8×8 or 9×9 square baking pan with aluminum foil. Set aside. Combine the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. Toss with a large spoon. Add the melted butter and mix until the mixture is crumbly. You will have about 3 cups of crust mixture. Press 2/3 of the mixture (about 2 cups) into the prepared baking pan. Press so that the crust is tight and even. Place in the oven for 10 minutes, which will allow it to set.
- Remove crust from the oven after 10 minutes and spread the blueberry filling on top. Top with the peeled and sliced apple, as shown in the photo above. Top with the remaining oat crumble.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes until the topping it lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes on a wire rack. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill for 3 hours before cutting into squares.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Bars will stay fresh in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5 days. You can freeze the bars for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
Keywords: blueberry bars, blueberry pie bars
I picked apples and blueberries and would like to try this as follow your delicious recipe’s and even purchased your books. If I don’t have foil, can I use Parchment paper instead?
Hi Laura, parchment paper will work as well. Hope you enjoy these bars!
Can these be made without the apple ?
Hi Janet, that should work just fine — you may want to slightly increase the blueberries so the filling isn’t too thin. Enjoy!
Just picked blueberries and about to get some peaches tomorrow. Any big adjustments if I use peaches instead of apples?
Hi Jon, We haven’t tested this recipe with peaches. You may also enjoy our recipe for these peaches and cream bars!
Could I ask two beginner’s questions?
After letting the mixture boil for a minute, should I turn the heat off while whisking? And should the crust be put only on the bottom of the pan, or on the sides too? Thank you!
Hi Heather! Continue heating the mixture over medium heat while you whisk. No need to push the crust up the sides. Hope you love these bars!
What could I use as a substitute for the oats in the crust and topping?
Hi Robin, we haven’t tested this recipe without oats, but let us know if you do!
If i sub peach for the apple think it would work?
Hi Elizabeth! We haven’t tested this recipe with peaches. You may also enjoy our recipe for these peaches and cream bars!
Thank you so much for such a speedy reply! I am trying to combine my blueberries and peaches as I don’t have exactly enough of either : ) I may try the peaches and cream bars with some blueberries. Thank you!
This recipe is delicious! I was looking for a quick and easy recipe to use up some blueberries (just picked). I didn’t have an apple or orange juice so I used lemon juice and added more blueberries. The whole family enjoyed this and was super quick and easy to throw together.
★★★★★
These bars might be the most delicious dessert I’ve made from this website! I took Sally’s recommendation and served with a scoop of ice cream.
I didn’t have any OJ so I substituted with 2-3 tbs of lemon. I also omitted the apple because I’m not a big fan of apples in my dessert. I’m looking forward to making these again, but with blackberries.
★★★★★
Can these be stored at room temp?
Hi Melanie, The bars are best stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
These are truly delicious! I’ve made them about five times this summer while we were picking blueberries every week. I don’t change a thing except sometimes add lemon and apple cider in place of orange juice. They’re to die for and my whole family loves them. I’m taking these along with your apple crumble pie and pumpkin cake to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow Thank you again Sally!
Hi Sally,
I was thinking about using this filling recipe with a different kind of crust/crumble topping for a BBQ next weekend.
Do you know or have you experimented with any liquid other than orange juice in the filling? We never have any around my house and I am not a big fan of it myself. Would lemon or lime juice be an acceptable substitute if I perhaps increased the sugar slightly?
Thanks!
I think lemon juice would be perfect, though maybe reduce it down to 2 Tbsp. I wouldn’t change anything else.
made these for thanksgiving and they were fabulous!! i may mix in some toasted hazelnuts to the topping next time. easy recipe to follow-they will be a staple blueberry dessert in my house!
Can i use fuji apple instead or will the texture/taste not be as good? I noticed you said the tart flavor helps even out the sweetness. Do you think fuji would make it too sweet?
Using Fuji would be just fine.
After eating the first 3 bars in one sitting, I decided my favorite part was the slices of apple! Everything else is really good too, but do you think I can use the same crumble ingredients, and swap out some of the blueberry for more apple?
Absolutely!
This looks like the perfect crossover from summer to fall desserts… Do you think that it could be adapted for a 9×13 pan?
Definitely. Simply double the recipe. Same oven temp, but I am unsure of the bake time.
I know this post is from last year but I wanted to let you know that to make this recipe gluten free I subbed 1 cup of oat flour and 1/2 cup tapioca starch for the wheat flour and the bars came out fabulous! I’d say they tasted more like blueberry crisp bars because if all the oats. Thanks so much for the recipe! This is definitely a keeper!
Love these squares. Thank you.
Can I use only all purpose flour for the crust and topping?
Definitely. Enjoy!
Theese were delicous. Lovley combination apple crisp and blueberry crumble put together! My family really enjoyed theese:)
Thanks for the recipe. Tried these out for my husband’s birthday, as he does not like cake, and they were awesome!