These gluten free blueberry cheesecake bars combine a crisp, buttery lemon shortbread with a creamy vanilla cheesecake layer and sweet, juicy blueberries. They’re super easy to make and you’d never know they’re gluten free. Using fresh (rather than frozen) berries and pre-baking the shortbread crust ensures that the bars have the perfect texture.
It’s important that you bake the shortbread crust separately until golden brown before you pour over the cheesecake filling: that way, you’ll ensure that the bottom crust stays beautifully crisp. After you’ve added on the cheesecake layer, you need to scatter the blueberries on top and, finally, crumble the remaining shortbread dough over that.
Once baked, the blueberry cheesecake bars need to cool completely in the baking pan and then chill in the fridge for *at least* 2 hours (or ideally overnight). That’s probably the most difficult part of this whole recipe – they look and smell SO GOOD, it’s rather torturous to have to wait a couple of hours before you can actually eat them. But trust me, it’s 100% worth the wait, and the flavours are even more pronounced when the bars are chilled.
And you’d never know that these are gluten free!! I know I say this for pretty much every single one of my recipes but it’s really true. Both the texture and the flavour of these blueberry bars are absolutely spot on, and everyone (including non-gluten-free folks) will go crazy over them.
Top tips for making gluten free blueberry cheesecake bars
- Use fresh (not frozen) blueberries. Frozen blueberries release too much moisture during baking, which can make the bars too soggy. Fresh blueberries work much better in this recipe.
- No raising agents. I don’t use any chemical raising agents (baking powder or baking soda) in my shortbread dough because that can make it too delicate and crumbly.
- If you don’t have almond flour, use finely ground almond meal or grind your own almonds. These are all pretty much interchangeable in this recipe, so just use whichever you have on hand (so long as it’s finely ground, it’ll work great).
- Bake the bottom shortbread crust separately until golden brown before you add the cheesecake layer on top. This will ensure that the bottom crust stays beautifully crisp with no sogginess (otherwise, the moisture from the cheesecake filling could make it too soft and soggy).
- Bake the assembled bars until the crumble topping is golden brown and the filling is only very slightly wobbly when you share the baking pan. That usually takes about 40-45 minutes at 350ºF (180ºC). If the filling is too jiggly, it won’t set properly and could end up too soft (which makes cutting the bars very difficult and messy).
- For best results, weigh your ingredients, especially the flour. If you’re using cups/volume measurements, it’s very easy to accidentally over-measure your flour (especially because different brands of gluten free flour blends can vary A LOT in terms of density). Too much flour can make these cheesecake bars too dry and crumbly – so, to get the best possible texture, I recommend using a digital food scale.
- Cool the bars completely to room temperature and then chill them in the fridge for at least 2 hours before you cut into them. This is very important if you want to be able to cut neat slices – without the cooling and chilling, the cheesecake layer will be too soft and the shortbread crust and crumble topping too delicate and crumbly. In fact, the bars will be even better after an overnight chill in the fridge, which allows the moisture to redistribute and the flavours to meld and mingle.
- And that’s it! This covers everything you need to know about these AMAZING gluten free blueberry cheesecake bars. They’re almost like a cross between a blueberry cheesecake and a blueberry crumble – and I simply can’t get enough of them.
Gluten Free Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
These gluten free blueberry cheesecake bars combine a crisp, buttery lemon shortbread with a creamy vanilla cheesecake layer and sweet, juicy blueberries. They’re super easy to make and you’d never know they’re gluten free. Using fresh (rather than frozen) berries and pre-baking the shortbread crust ensures that the bars have the perfect texture.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook/Bake Time 1 hour
Chill Time 2 hours
Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes
Servings12
Ingredients
Gluten free lemon shortbread:
- ▢125 g (½ cup + 2 tbsp) caster/superfine or granulated sugar
- ▢zest of 1 lemon (Ideally, use organic unwaxed lemons.)
- ▢140 g (1¼ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- ▢1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
- ▢240 g (2 cups) plain gluten free flour blend (I used Doves Farm Freee gluten free plain white flour that doesn’t have any xanthan gum added. You can also mix your own gluten free flour blend using this recipe. Note that for this homemade blend, 1 cup = 150g, so ideally use a digital food scale and the weight measurements for best results.)
- ▢65 g (⅔ cup) almond flour (or almond meal or finely ground almonds)
- ▢½ tsp xanthan gum (Omit if your gluten free flour blend already contains xanthan gum.)
- ▢¼ tsp salt
Cheesecake filling:
- ▢450 g (2 cups, 16oz) full-fat cream cheese, room temperature
- ▢60 g (¼ cup) full-fat plain or Greek-style yoghurt, room temperature
- ▢100 g (½ cup) caster/superfine or granulated sugar
- ▢10 g (1½ tbsp) cornstarch (US)/cornflour (UK)
- ▢2 US large/UK medium eggs, room temperature
- ▢1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
You’ll also need:
- ▢350 g (about 2½ cups) fresh blueberries
Instructions
Gluten free lemon shortbread:
- Adjust the oven rack to the middle position, pre-heat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC) and line a 9-inch (23cm) square baking pan with parchment/baking paper.Tip: When lining the baking pan, I recommend leaving some parchment/baking paper overhang, as that will help with removing the bars from the pan later on.
- Add the sugar and lemon zest to a large bowl, and use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar.Tip: This helps to release more essential oils from the zest, and it will make your bars even more fragrant.
- Add the softened butter and vanilla, and mix well with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until combined.Tip: Don’t cream or aerate the mixture, as that can make the shortbread too delicate and crumbly (note the absence of any raising agents for the same reason).
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour blend, almond flour, xanthan gum and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture and mix well until it starts clumping together. Then, give it a knead until you get a homogeneous cookie dough.Tip: Because it’s gluten free, you don’t need to worry about over-working the shortbread dough!
- Press about ⅔ of the shortbread cookie dough (about 380g) into the lined baking pan. Smooth it out into an even layer, this is easiest done with a small offset spatula. Set the remaining ⅓ of the cookie dough aside until needed.
- Bake the bottom shortbread crust at 350ºF (180ºC) for about 20 minutes or until evenly golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool until warm while you prepare the cheesecake filling. Keep the oven at 350ºF (180ºC).
Cheesecake filling:
- In a large bowl using a balloon whisk, mix the cream cheese and yoghurt together until smooth.Tip: Make sure to MIX rather than whisk or aerate – you don’t want to incorporate too much air into the mixture. If you don’t want to do this by hand, use a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on the lowest speed setting. (I don’t recommend using a hand mixer.)
- Mix together sugar and cornstarch (US)/cornflour (UK), and add them to the cream cheese mixture. Mix well until combined.
- Add the eggs and vanilla, and mix well until smooth.
Assembling & baking the blueberry cheesecake bars:
- Pour the cheesecake filling over the warm shortbread crust and smooth it out into an even layer.
- Scatter the blueberries evenly over the cheesecake filling, then crumble the remaining ⅓ of the shortbread cookie dough on top, making sure that you get a fairly even coverage with some of the filling and blueberries peeking through.
- Bake at 350ºF (180ºC) for about 40-45 minutes or until the crumble topping is golden brown and the filling is only very slightly wobbly when you shake the baking pan.Tip: If the filling is too jiggly, it won’t set properly and could end up too soft (which will make cutting the bars a rather messy business).
- Allow the bars to cool completely to room temperature in the baking pan and then chill them in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Once chilled, use the overhanging parchment/baking paper to remove them out of the pan, slice and serve. You can dust them with some powdered/icing sugar, if you wish.The blueberry cheesecake bars will be even better after an overnight chill in the fridge.
Storage:
- The gluten free blueberry cheesecake bars keep well in a closed container in the fridge for about 3-4 days.
