Blueberry Lemon Pie Bars

I have been loving the whole “pie in bar form” this summer. It really just does make sharing much easier! Not to say I won’t be venturing into the pie-in-a-pie-dish soon (especially so I can cross a couple things off of my list), but for parties with lots of people enjoying dessert: pie bars are the way to go!

Blueberry Lemon Pie Bars
Prep time
30 minutes
Cook time
1 hour
Total time
1 hour 30 minutes

Creamy and sweet pie bursting with blueberries and citrusy lemon on top of shortbread crust. In portable bar form
Yield: 16 bars

Ingredients

SHORTBREAD CRUST
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
½ cup granulated sugar (plus more for sprinkling)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
the zest of one lemon, divided
2 cups all-purpose flour
FILLING
8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1-5.3 ounce container lemon flavored Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons lemon juice
pinch of salt
½ cup all-purpose flour
3 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen-- if using frozen, do not thaw)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line an 8″ x 8″ or 9″ x 9″ baking pan with foil. Leave an overhang on the sides. Set aside.
SHORTBREAD CRUST
Stir the melted butter, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, salt, and half of the lemon zest together in a medium bowl. Add the flour and stir until combined.
Reserve ¾ cup of the shortbread crust and place in the refrigerator or freezer until needed.
Press remaining crust evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 18 minutes while you prepare the filling.
FILLING
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a medium sized bowl with a hand mixer, beat cream cheese on high until smooth. Beat in eggs, scraping down the sides as necessary. Add sugar, lemon flavored Greek yogurt, remaining lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt and beat again. Add flour and beat one more time until just combined. Gently fold in blueberries with a spoon or spatula.
Pour filling into prepared crust and add a few blueberries on top of filling. Remove reserved crust from refrigerator and crumble over top of the filling (you may need to separate into crumbs with a knife or fork). Sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired. Bake bars for 55-60 minutes minutes, or until toothpick placed in center of pan comes out mostly clean. Allow pan to cool at room temperature on a wire rack. When completely cool, chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
When bars are completely chilled, lift out of the pan using foil overhang and cut into squares. Top with lemon zest before serving. Bars can be stored covered in the refrigerator up to 5 days.
Notes
Shortbread crust from Sally's Baking Addiction