It’s berry season and you know I’ve been running my cart all over Whole Foods picking up delicious pints of every single berry you can think of. This time of year I’m down to put berries in literally anything. They’re perfect for smoothies, fresh salads, topping yogurt bowls, and of course, making incredible desserts like these blueberry pie bars.
I first made these gluten free blueberry pie bars back in 2019 after the organic blueberries went on sale at the grocery store. Of course, I picked up pints on pints of these delicious berries, and my brain was buzzing about what I should make. Blueberry pie? Too complicated. Blueberry salad? Sound delicious. Blueberry crumble? Maybeeee.
Finally, the winning idea hit: healthier blueberry bars with an oatmeal crumble! Sounds dreamy, right? Just you wait.
These amazing blueberry bars aren’t overly sweet or filling, which makes them perfect for a quick grab-and-go add to your breakfast or even a snack. The oatmeal crumble is crunchy and full of delicious toasted oatmeal flavor.
Personally, I think they taste like a Nutri-grain bar, which I loved to eat for breakfast growing up.
Welcome to the AK Summer Series
For the rest of the summer, we’ll be dedicating each week to select summer produce! Week 1 we’re celebrating all things BLUEBERRIES, kicking it off with these wonderful bars. Stay tuned on the blog and on Instagram for each week’s produce highlight, fun videos, and more.
Ingredients in these easy blueberry pie bars
These healthy blueberry bars use super simple ingredients, come together in just 15 minutes or so, and only take about 30 minutes to bake. To make this recipe, you’ll need:
- Oat flour: to easily keep the bars gluten free. Learn how to make your own oat flour right at home here!
- Rolled oats: you’ll need old fashioned rolled oats for that amazing crumble topping. As always, use gluten free rolled oats to keep the bars gluten free, and do not use steel cut oats.
- Sweetener: we’re using brown sugar to help these bars stay true to flavor and texture. You’ll also need some pure maple syrup to naturally sweeten the filling.
- Cinnamon: for that true pie flavor in the crust and crumble.
- Baking staples: remember to use baking soda, salt & vanilla extract. You’ll also want to add a little almond extract for incredible flavor in the crust, crumble & filling.
- Butter: this helps the crumble clump together and turn a delicious golden color. Use a vegan buttery stick to keep the bars vegan and dairy free!
- Blueberries: the star of the show in these blueberry pie bars! Feel free to use fresh or frozen in this recipe.
- Cornstarch: you’ll need a little cornstarch or arrowroot starch to perfectly thicken the blueberry filling.
Simple ingredient swaps
As always I recommend sticking with the recipe as closely as possible to get the best results. There are a few easy swaps you can make in the blueberry pie bars that will stay make them amazing:
- Swap the flour: if you don’t have oat flour you can easily sub all purpose flour. Reminder: see note below for making your own oat flour at home!
- Choose your sugar: instead of brown sugar you can also use coconut sugar. Please note that you may not get the best “crumble” in the topping with coconut sugar, and you can also learn how to make your own brown sugar here.
- For the blueberries: as a reminder, you can use fresh or frozen blueberries in this recipe.
How to make your own oat flour
You can easily make your own gluten free oat flour by simply placing gluten free oats into a blender and blending/pulsing until they’re smooth and resemble a fine flour. This is probably the cheapest option. Check out my tutorial with all of my best tips & tricks. Always measure the oat flour after you blend to ensure that you’re using the proper amount called for in the recipe.
The best blueberry pie bars in 3 simple step
- Make the crust & crumble. First, you’ll mix the oats, oat flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda & salt in a mixing bowl. Then stir in melted vegan butter or regular butter, vanilla extract and almond extract. Press a little more than half of the mixture into an 8×8 inch pan lined with parchment paper, then set the rest of the crumble in the fridge for later.
- Make the filling. make your blueberry pie filling, which is naturally sweetened with pure maple syrup and blueberries. Place a medium pot over medium heat. Add in blueberries, maple syrup, almond extract, cornstarch (or arrowroot) and salt. Use a wooden spoon to press down and break down the blueberries just a bit. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the filling thickens. Pour over the crust in your baking dish.
- Assemble & bake. Sprinkle the remaining crust mixture all over the top of the blueberries and then bake for 30-40 minutes until filling is bubbly and the oatmeal crumble is slightly golden brown. YUM. Cool completely and then cut into bars.
Can I use a different fruit?
Sure! Because this blueberry pie bar recipe is so versatile, you can easily mix it up with other berries like raspberries, strawberries, or even blackberries. Be sure to try these amazing pie & crumble bars as well:
- Strawberry Crumble Bars
- Tart Cherry Pie Bars with Oatmeal Crumble (vegan + gluten free)
- Raspberry Bars with Oatmeal Cookie Crumble
Jazz up your blueberry pie bars
These gluten free blueberry are, of course, delicious on their own, but I have 2 fun ways for you to jazz up the flavor a bit:
- Add lemon: mix in some lemon zest from 1 lemon for an extra bright, fresh flavor in the filling.
- Drizzle a glaze: melt a little white chocolate and drizzle it over the bars for an even more decadent treat. You could also do this with a lovely lemon glaze from this cookie recipe! YUM.
Storing tips
- In the fridge: I recommend storing these bars covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- In the freezer: yes, these blueberry pie bars are freezer-friendly! Once they’re completely cooled, simply place them in an airtight container and pop them in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy one, just let it thaw a bit in the fridge before eating.
More blueberry recipes you’ll love
- Healthy Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins (gluten free & dairy free)
- Maple Blueberry Turkey Sausage Breakfast Patties
- Good Morning Healthy Blueberry Zucchini Muffins
- Peanut Butter Blueberry Overnight Oats
- Paleo Lemon Blueberry Bread
Get all of my fresh berry recipes here!
If you make these blueberry bars, please let me know by leaving a comment and rating the recipe below. I’d love to hear from you and it helps encourage others to make the recipe too! xo.
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Blueberry Pie Bars with Oatmeal Crumble (vegan and gluten free!)
Ingredients
- For the crust and crumble:
- 1 ½ cups gluten free oat flour (or sub all purpose flour)
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, gluten free if desired
- ½ cup packed brown sugar (or sub coconut sugar but you may not get the best 'crumble')
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons butter or vegan buttery stick, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
- For the filling:
- 2 1/2 heaping cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot starch
- ⅛ teaspoon almond extract
- Optional to make the with a hint of lemon flavor: zest from 1 lemon
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8 inch pan with parchment paper and generously spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Make the base + topping: In a large bowl, use a fork to mix together the oat flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Add in melted butter, vanilla extract and almond extract and stir until a nice crumble forms and dough begins to clump together.
- Place 1 3/4 cups of the mixture into the prepared pan and place the remaining mixture into the fridge (the remaining mixture will be used for the topping). Use your hands to evenly press the dough to the bottom of the pan.
- Next make your blueberry pie filling: place a medium pot over medium heat. Add in blueberries, maple syrup, almond extract, cornstarch (or arrowroot) and salt. Use a wooden spoon to press down and break down the blueberries just a bit.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook for 3-5 more minutes until mixture is thickened up and nicely coats the back of a spoon.
- Pour mixture over the crust and use a spoon to evenly spread.
- Take the remaining topping out of the fridge. By now there should be some nice crumbles that have clumped together. Sprinkle the topping over the blueberry filling.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until filling is bubbly and topping is golden.
- Allow bars to cool completely on a wire rack before transferring to the fridge to chill. Bars are delicious served at room temperature or straight out of the fridge. Use a sharp knife to cut into 16 bars before serving.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on May 22, 2019, republished on March 10th, 2020, republished on May 12th, 2022, and republished on July 10th, 2023.
The only reason I did not give this 5 stars is because the recipe as-is does not make enough crumble topping to coat the top like in the pictures. Next time I will make 1.5 the amount of topping. Other than that it was super yummy and pretty.
It won’t cover all of the bars but it will cover most of it! 🙂 as long as you are using proper pan size and measuring correctly!
It’s a good recipe ! But for me, the taste of almond extract is a bit overpowering. I would recommend to maybe only use it in the crumble OR the blueberry mix.
Feel free to reduce or omit it in either next time!
delicious and easy to make! Everyone loved these. Used frozen blueberries and strawberries.
So happy to hear that!
Tasty, but did not set up right, as others mentioned. It needed more butter for the crumble to get to a golden crisp (not powdery stare).
Thanks for the feedback! Did you measure by volume or weight?
These are so delicious! I was looking for something to call dessert that was a little on the healthy side. These are so good for dessert, breakfast, or snack. I used the Costco frozen wild blueberries and was a little worried their small size might be more volume than the proportions for the recipe, but they worked great. I doubled the recipe and am glad I did.
I will do a vanilla glaze another time, but they are delicious as is. Would be so good with some vanilla ice cream, or coffee ice cream, or any ice cream LOL.
I was not sure if the division of the crumb mix for the bottom should be packed into the measuring cup. I did that, but next time will err on the side of a little less packed so I have a little bit more for the topping. I only had enough to fully, but lightly, cover the top. It was still fine, but I think would be better if I don’t hard pack down when measuring.
I would also love to know if it is possible to lighten up on the butter somehow to make them a little more healthy (says the person who wants to serve with ice cream).
I forgot to mention a couple other things, Step 2 calls for adding coconut sugar, but recipe says brown sugar, so I had to page up and confirm I hadn’t missed something.
Also, using my fingers to press the dough into the pan got a bit messy, as the dough was sticking to my fingers and making it a little difficult to get an even coverage. I ended up using the bottom of the metal measuring cup to press it down and that worked very well.
Would also be nice if there was a button for switching the ingredients for 2x, 3x the recipe.
So glad you loved these! Thank you for the catch on the brown/coconut sugar – I’ll be sure to adjust. I’m afraid that the crumble might end up dry with less butter, but let me know if you experiment. Noted on the ingredient increases, too – we’ll keep that in mind as we redesign our site!
These are amazing! I’m a long-time vegetarian turned vegan and have a friend that’s both vegan and gluten-free so am always looking for good recipes that serve both. This one is perfect! Made with frozen blueberries, homemade oat flour/brown sugar/plant butter, and lemon juice and zest for a little zing. Making the sour cherry bars now and can’t wait to try even more variations! Thank you for a really easy, super delicious, and totally foolproof recipe!
So happy to hear that! Such a great dessert 🙂
Hi! Our family has been cooking recipes from your platform for almost ten years! We come back to them over and over again.
Is there a way to make this recipe ahead of time and not bake until the day of serving? We’ve got four kids and a tight schedule…but still want to serve our guests the best!
I’m so glad! You could make the filling and crust ahead of time and store them in the fridge until you’re ready to bake 🙂
I’m so discouraged! I made this doing the GF variant – and otherwise followed it exactly – and my crust is a sandy crumbly mess. Is there any possible way to fix it once it’s baked?? I made a double batch – and I can throw all this away. Thank you
I’m so sorry to hear that! Was the “dough” for the crust feeling dry and crumbly? Or did it easily clump together? Unfortunately, once it’s baked I’m not sure the best way to re-shape it into bars, but you can absolutely enjoy it like a blueberry crumble instead of bars (it will still taste delicious!)
Can I use coconut oil instead of vegan butter to make them dairy free?
Vegan butter will keep them dairy free! I haven’t tried using coconut oil, but I’m guessing it would work. I would probably reduce the coconut oil by 1 tablespoon total.
I made this dessert for church, and everyone (vegan or not) loved these. If you happen to have a tad too much flour in your topping, just add a little coconut oil and stir, and you’ll get some good crumbles. I put the pan in the fridge overnight, and the bars solidified enough to be able to easily remove the dessert from the pan and cut into squares the next morning. I love that these bars retain their moisture.
Thank you for sharing! Will make again!
Great tip! So happy they were a hit 🙂
Getting ready to make these, but wondering if I can use (or two) of blueberry pie filling rather than making that part homemade?
Hmmm I haven’t tried it so I’m not 100% sure how they’ll bake up! Let me know if you try it 🙂
Easy and delicious! We just finished the first batch and I’m making another! I had to adjust the amounts a bit for crust and crumble (less crust, more crumble) but it worked out perfectly. I wouldn’t change a thing.
So happy to hear that!
These were AMAZING! I made a few adjustments- used about 4 heaping cups of blueberries (I like a lot of filling!), increased corn starting about 1.5 TBSP, spelt flour instead of white, and coconut oil for the fat because that’s what I had on hand. I also added the juice of about 1/2 a lemon because it needed to be used up. I will be making these over and over again. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I’m glad those swaps worked out well! Such a great treat 🙂
Tasted great, needed a binding agent, wasn’t firm enough to cut. It was more of a blueberry crisps. Had to eat it with a spoon.
So strange! Did you press the crust firmly and evenly into the pan? I’m glad it was still delicious!
This was a delicious and easy recipe. I added 1/4 tsp Penzey’s lemon peel powder to blueberries and almond slivers to the crumble after I made the crust. Definitely will make again!
Love that! Glad you enjoyed!
These are so delicious! I never have almond extract on hand, so I leave it out. Have made these for many occasions and love that they’re allergy-friendly but nobody can tell the difference.
Perfect! So glad they’re a hit!
Hi – I’ve made this recipe with blueberries, and it was great. I have some sour cherries in the freezer: Do you think they’d work with the recipe as is, or would I need to increase the amount of maple syrup in the filling, or make some other tweak?
I think that should work, otherwise feel free to use them in my Tart Cherry Pie Bars!
Has anyone tried with coconut sugar instead of brown sugar? I have made them with brown sugar and they are AMAZING but was going to try coconut sugar (health, you know) but nervous to lose the delicious crumble! (Also, made them with apples instead of blueberries a few times and they were still incredible!) Thanks! ❤️
Coconut sugar should work but yes, the crumble might not stick together as well. Let me know if you try it!
Great recipe! Used almond flour instead of oat and had to double the the crust and crumble recipe to have enough. Also used fresh blueberries and worked fine. Super easy and quick to make!
I’m glad that all worked out well! Perfect treat 🙂
I made these yesterday and I did a couple of alterations. I used muffin tins instead of the 9×9 pan. I also added an egg to the crust/crumble and a little cornstarch to my high quality store bought blueberry jam. Additionally, I topped them with a simple sugar, milk and vanilla glaze. This along with a hard boiled egg or two would be a great breakfast to grab and run. This recipe was simple and flexible so I’ll be making these again and again.
Thanks for sharing.
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Easy and fun to make, not too sweet, love this! Worked great with Earth Balance vegan butter. I would definitely recommend the optional lemon zest in the jam.
Perfect! Glad you loved them!
So delicious! I used frozen blueberries (just had to cook a bit longer in the pan), and GF flour instead of oat flour. Will definitely make these again! They’d be so good with other berries, too!
Can you freeze these?
yes, these blueberry pie bars are freezer-friendly! Once they’re completely cooled, simply place them in an airtight container and pop them in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy one, just let it thaw a bit in the fridge before eating.
Easy to put together. Tasty and freezes well. Better fresh. Some GF recipes you have to be so precise to have them come out well, this one is flexible and can add other flours or flavors and still get good results. A go to for using fresh or frozen berries.
Aw yay! I am so excited to hear that you are enjoying this recipe, Heather!
Blueberry jam worked well but the other layer was dry- will Need to add more butter I think next time
So sorry this didn’t turn out for you, did you change anything about the recipe?
Thumbs up all round the table! Didn’t have any oat flour so subbed with spelt flour mixed with some almond flour and it worked wonderfully.
Definite must with the lemon zest with the blueberries, also used honey with a little lemon juice instead of maple syrup.
Will be trying it with cherries next time !
Oh such a great idea for the cherries, glad this recipe is a hit for the whole family!