These paleo and vegan blueberry crumb bars are gooey sweet and totally addicting! They’re a great treat to have around for a heathy snack or dessert. Easy to make, gluten-free, grain free, vegan, and total comfort food!
Blueberries are my favorite fruit to bake with, hands down.
Not to minimize my love for any of the other incredible fruits (apples, you are SO special too), but there’s just something about those blueberries! Year round, they can do no wrong in my book.
Whether it’s blueberry muffins, blueberry banana bread, a cobbler, cookies, or pancakes, the juiciness and flavor of baking or cooking with blueberries just can’t be beat, in my opinion.
And now, with these Paleo and vegan blueberry crumb bars, I think we just might have a new blueberry infatuation.
All that said, these blueberry crumb bars drove me a little bit crazy as I tested them. I originally thought I could make the crust/crumble nearly identical to my lemon raspberry bars, but the juiciness of the blueberry filling made that crust a problem.
Although it tasted delicious, I tested it twice and both times, the crust became soggy after cooling. Not what I want from a crumb bar, you know?!
Don’t worry – none of these bars went to waste – even the soggy ones were seriously tasty and worth saving. But, I knew I needed to go in a different direction with the crust after the second batch.
The third batch was the charm, AKA the batch with a crust that could handle the weight of the juicy blueberry filling and a crumble that didn’t sink into the filling.
Nothing less than perfection, the way I see it!
This grain free and vegan crust/crumble mixture will appear dry and crumbly when you mix it – but it has the capability to be both a crust when pressed into the bottom of the baking pan, and a crumble to top the bars off.
The blueberry filling is super simple – just blueberries, coconut or maple sugar, a bit of lemon juice, and arrowroot starch to thicken (tapioca can be used too).
I recommend making the filling a bit ahead of time if you can so it has time to cool a bit before baking. However, it will also work it you make it just before baking – the bars might be slightly messier/gooier though – no biggie if you ask me.
I hope you’re ready to try these gooey, sweet, and addicting blueberry crumb bars! They’ll be perfect for your next gathering or even just to make ahead of time for after school snacks.
Either way, once you make them, they’ll most likely become a regular thing in your house! Get the apron on (blueberries are messy, I learn that over and over again the hard way!) and let’s bake!
Blueberry Crumb Bars {Paleo, Vegan}
Blueberry Crumb Bars {Paleo, Vegan}
These paleo and vegan blueberry crumb bars are gooey sweet and totally addicting! They’re a great treat to have around for a heathy snack or dessert. Easy to make and total comfort food!
Ingredients
Crust and Crumble:
- 1/4 cup smooth almond butter or cashew butter
- 3 tbsp organic coconut oil refined, melted and cooled to almost room temp
- 1/4 cup maple sugar or coconut sugar
- 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
- Grated zest of one lemon
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 2/3 cups blanched almond flour
- 1/3 coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
Blueberry filling:
- 3 cups fresh blueberries
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp maple or coconut sugar
- 1 Tbsp arrowroot starch or tapioca
Instructions
Make the Filling:
-
Place blueberries in a medium saucepan over med heat, add the lemon juice, sugar, and starch, then stir to combine. Bring to a boil, stirring to avoid burning, then lower the heat to a strong simmer. Continue to simmer a few minutes until thickened.
-
Remove from heat, transfer to a separate bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.
Make the Crust/Crumble:
-
Combine the dry ingredients (EXCEPT the sugar) in a medium bowl and set aside.
-
In a large bowl, Whisk together the nut butter, coconut oil, sugar, maple syrup, lemon juice, zest, and vanilla extract. Stir the dry mixture into the wet until a crumbly dough forms
-
Line an 8x8” baking pan with parchment paper along bottom and sides and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
-
Press 2/3 of the dough into the bottom of the pan to form the crust. Chill remaining dough in the fridge while crust pre-bakes.
-
Bake bottom crust in the preheated oven for 10 mins until set. Once done, top the crust with the blueberry mixture.
-
Take the remaining chilled dough and crumble over the filling evenly.
-
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes until topping is golden brown and set.
-
Cool on a wire rack in the pan to bring to room temp, before cutting into squares. You can also chill prior to cutting to make things easier. Serve at room temp and store leftovers covered in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Shop Products and Ingredients:
Want More Paleo + Vegan Treats? Try One of These!
Almond Butter and Jelly Cookie Bars
Banana Blueberry Breakfast Cookies
Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Paleo Running Momma!
This turned out great. I had strawberries so I did 2 blueberries 1 strawberry.
Sorry, forgot to give stars.
I made this for the first time and it came out extremely dry. I’m not entirely sure why as I followed the recipe to a tee. Any ideas?
These blueberry crumb bars are delicious…I have made them a few times and they do not last long in my house! They are my go-to dessert to make after going blueberry picking!
I just made this and it’s absolutely delicious – but mine is a little too crumbly and just falls apart when I cut it :(. Is there any way to reverse it or fix it after the fact? Thanks so much!!
I want to make them in 9×13 pan do you think i will be ok if double the recipe?
Is there anyway to make these the night before and then bake the next morning?
Outstanding! I used 1 cups blackberries and 1 cup blueberries and subbed Monk Fruit for the sugar…Oh so good!!
This was a huge hit with my husband! The crust/crumble is easy to make and work with. I used half blueberries and half fresh figs for the filling since I needed to use up the figs and the combination was delicious.
Hello! I know it’s not paleo, but would peanut butter work as a substitute for the almond butter?
I’m making these for the second time as we speak. These were AMAZING!!! So moist and the lemon in the crust was such a nice touch. Yum yum yum!!