Deliciously sweet and tart blueberry lemon bars are the perfect summer treat. Imagine a buttery and crumbly oatmeal crust, covered with a silky lemon curd center, topped with juicy, fresh blueberries. A healthier twist on the classic, these lemon bars are made without refined sugar, and are made all the better with one of the best summer treats of all: blueberries! These dessert bars are so addicting, you will have a hard time just eating one.

For this recipe, you will need: lemon juice, blueberries, honey, coconut sugar, oats, butter, flour (all-purpose or gluten free 1-for-1 flour), and vanilla extract.

Thank you Oregon Blueberry Growers for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.

Who doesn’t love summer?

Summer is here! Summer is here! I feel like I could shout it from the rooftops, or at least my patio. Either way, the weather has been so nice, and all I want to do is summer things. These blueberry lemon bars are the perfect summer treat!

Blueberry picking, pool time with the kids, walks by the river, and delicious sweet treats are at the top of the summer to-do list. I love fully embracing the season we are in (literally and figuratively), and summers here in Oregon are a true gem.

Oregon: What U-Pick Dreams Are Made Of

As you all may know, our family dreams of small acreage to be able to raise animals and grow our own food, but in this season of small babes and home renovations, it’s challenging to dedicate time and effort to self-sustaining all our food. We’re doing as much as we can, though! I shared our some of our homestead plans for our quarter acre here.

But since we can’t grow it all on our own, I’m so thankful for all the amazing blueberry farms here in Oregon. Blueberry picking is a great way to harvest your own food without having to take care of it yourself. You can find a listing of Oregon blueberry farms here.

Also, it’s a great way to teach kids the work that goes into the food we eat, and it doesn’t just come from the grocery store. It has to be grown, picked, and cared for.

Last year, we ended up picking about 30 or 40 pounds of fresh blueberries, and it felt like the entire stash was gone in a matter of seconds. Since we have another mouth to feed this year, I’m hoping we can pick much more and freeze much of it for winter. Besides, who can argue with more berries in the freezer?

But while we have fresh-picked blueberries, you better believe that we will be adding them to summer recipes like these blueberry lemon bars. Sweet blueberries with tart lemons are a match made in summer heaven!

Fresh Oregon blueberries add an amazing touch to this dish. They add the perfect sweetness to this tart dessert bar; like little bits of sweet jam.

Pro tips for making blueberry lemon bars:

Make this recipe gluten free by using a gluten free 1-for-1 flour. This is usually the way we make them, since my daughter is gluten free. If you have Celiac disease, be sure to use gluten free oats and a gluten free 1-for-1 flour.
Fresh blueberries work better than frozen in this recipe because they have less moisture in them.
Sift flour into the lemon curd to help reduce any clumps.
Wash and allow blueberries to air dry (or dry them with a towel) so the water doesn’t affect the curd consistency.
These bars are best served cold.

What makes this recipe healthier?

Blueberries are full of fiber, manganese, and vitamin C and K, as well as a ton of antioxidants. Antioxidants help protect your body from free radicals, and in fact, blueberries have the highest antioxidant levels of all common fruits and vegetables. Source
These dessert bars are deliciously sweet, and you’d never guess that they don’t have any refined sugar. Instead, they get their sweetness from coconut sugar and honey, which gives it a deeper darker color.
This one has lower amounts of fat and sugar compared to most lemon bar recipes, and it even contains whole grains by using oatmeal.