Blueberry Lemon Pie Bars

Ingredients

Shortbread Crust (for base and top)

  • 227 g unsalted butter – melted
  • 100 g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp lemon zest – plus 1 tsp for sprinkling on top later
  • 250 g all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp  vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Filling

  • 200 g cream cheese – soft at room temperature
  • 2 eggs
  • 200 g caster sugar
  • 150 g plain thick yoghurt
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • pinch of salt
  • 65 g all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups about 300g blueberries (I’ve used frozen, unthawed – fresh ones are really expensive here!)

Instructions

  • Prepare an 8×8 inch square pan by putting a parchment paper with overhang. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.
  • In a bowl, mix the melted butter, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, salt and flour. Reserve 3/4 cup of this mixture and spread the rest of the mixture onto the pan evenly. Put the reserved mixture in the fridge – it’ll be used for the crumble top later.
  • Bake the shortbread crust base for 16-18 min till slightly firm.
  • Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese using a stand mixer or hand mixer till soft and creamy. Add one egg at a time and mix well. Add the sugar, yoghurt, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and flour and mix well till no lumps.
  • Gently fold in 2½ cups of frozen blueberries into the mixture with a spatula (don’t mix too hard else your mixture will turn purple, little is okay).
  • Pour this mixture over the baked crust. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of blueberries on top of the filling. Crumble the reserved cooled shortbread mixture with your hand (or a fork) and sprinkle it on the top of the filling.
  • Bake it at 180 C for 60-65 minutes till a skewer inserted comes out almost clean.
  • Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack. Once cool, cover it and put it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (this will help in setting it for cutting into squares later).
  • Remove from the pan using the overhang and sprinkle the lemon zest over the top. Cut into squares and serve. These keep best in the fridge for 5-6 days.