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These Blueberry Jam Cake Bars are quite literally a bar version of cake. They’re soft, moist, and the blueberry jam layer in the middle makes them a delicious breakfast or dessert option!
Can’t get enough of these cake bars? You’ll also love my Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake!
Blueberry Jam Breakfast Bars
I can’t hold back. I have to tell you the truth – these bars are my new favorite thing. I can’t even. I don’t know how to accurately describe their awesomeness, but I’m going to try.
Imagine a cake compacted to be a little denser (but not too dense!) and turned into a bar. I actually started with my perfect vanilla cupcake recipe and “shrank” it down into a cake bar. If you’ve made those cupcakes then you know how delicious they are. Imagine them in bar form. With blueberries. Covered in cinnamon sugar. OMG.
Now let’s talk a bit about the jam layer. It took me a while to decide what flavor jam to put in the middle. You could totally use another flavor. I must have stood in that aisle just staring at all the flavors for a solid 10 minutes. People walking by had to think I was a bit nuts. I finally decided on blueberry. It ends up making these a little bit like a blueberry muffin, which totally rocks my socks off. I personally think the particular jam/preserves you use are important. I wanted one that was more homemade-isn with little blueberries in it and I found Bonne Maman Wild Blueberry Preserves. It’s so delicious and perfect in these bars!
Why I Love This Cake Bars Recipe
The cinnamon sugar topping is the perfect way to finish these bars off. It’s like cake, met blueberry muffin, met snickerdoodle. Again – so darn good! And you could totally drizzle them with a vanilla glaze to make them even more amazing.
I seriously fell in love with these bars at first bite. The joy of the taste of cake, but so portable! I barely allowed the hubs to try them. I ate them for breakfast – and all other times of day. Soft, chewy, moist, blueberry. I still can’t even.
When they are room temperature, they are super soft and almost fall apart and melt right in your mouth. Then I refrigerated them and they firmed up and got even more chewy. I can’t decide which way I liked them better.
If you can’t tell, I’m totally into these Blueberry Jam Cake Bars. They are so easy to make too, so there really is no reason to not try them. SO good!
Other Tasty Blueberry Recipes
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake
Blueberry Crumb Cheesecake Pie
Blueberry Crumble Layer Cake
Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake
Fresh Berry Vanilla Layered Cake
Blueberry Coconut Cupcakes
Cinnamon Sugar Blueberry Banana Bread
Blueberry Jam Cake Bars
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 12-16 Bars
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Blueberry Jam Cake Bars are quite literally a bar version of cake. They’re soft, moist, and the blueberry jam layer in the middle makes them a delicious breakfast or dessert option!
Ingredients
BARS
- 2 1/4 cups (293g) all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cups (259g) sugar, divided
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, divided
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (168g), melted
- 1/4 cup (58g) sour cream, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup (164g) blueberry jam
GLAZE
- 3/4 cup (86g) powdered sugar
- 1–2 tbsp milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C) and line a 9 inch square baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
2. Combine flour, 1 cup (207g) of sugar, baking powder, salt and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon in a large mixer bowl. Set aside.
3. Whisk together melted butter and sour cream in another medium sized bowl.
4. Add vanilla extract and egg to the butter mixture and whisk until well combined.
5. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and beat until well combined.
6. Spread about half of the batter into the bottom of the prepared pan.
7. Spread the blueberry jam into an even layer on top of the batter.
8. Crumble the remaining batter and drop over the blueberry jam, forming an even layer.
9. Combine remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 1/4 cup (52g) of sugar in a small bowl, then sprinkle over the top of the batter.
10. Bake bars for 20-25 minutes, then remove from oven to cool completely.
11. If you want to add the glaze, combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the bars.
12. Cut bars into squares. They can be stored at room temperature or in the fridge. I loved them both ways.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Bar
- Calories: 263
- Sugar: 25.4 g
- Sodium: 158.3 mg
- Fat: 9.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 41.7 g
- Protein: 2.7 g
- Cholesterol: 35.9 mg
Filed Under:
Enjoy!
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I was out of sour cream and used vanilla yogurt instead. They turned out absolutely amazing
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
This recipe is so delicious! I’ve made it with blueberry, elderberry and huckleberry preserves so far. Such a hit with friends and family. Thank you so much for posting!
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoy them!
These look great!! Can they be frozen though!?
I haven’t tried freezing these to be able to say for sure. I’d think they’d be ok though.
I have made this diabetic with sweetener and sugar-free jam…it’s delicious. I’ve done blueberry, strawberry, elderberry…the possibilities are endless.
Wonderful! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipe!
So good! I will use a little less sugar in the dough and for the topping. I used Bonne Maman Strawberry, Cherry, Redcurrant and Raspberry Four Fruit Preserves. So good!
I absolutely adored this recipe when I tried it a couple months ago! I do have a question though: Can these bars be frozen? If so, how should they be stored? I have a party coming up, so I would like to be able to make these in advance if possible.
Oh God I love this. I have to admit I’m always nervous about trying new recipes but I couldn’t resist and it was totally worth it.
This recipe was to die for! Absolutely loved it. I do think though there should be a disclaimer mentioning how thick the dough is. That too concerned me and made me think I did it wrong. It was very difficult to spread. I had used aluminum foil so perhaps it would’ve spread better over parchment paper. Once it was done baking though, each bite was a true bite from heaven. The cinnamon sugar topping actually reminded me of a hint of churro when eating these bars which made them even better. These were already so good, and I didn’t even attempt the glaze. Might have to keep me from eating a whole pan of these if I put that glaze on it, haha. I also used a home-canned blueberry jam which really helped add great flavor. I think I will try that blueberry streusel coffee cake next!
is this recipe for a 9×9
Yes, it is.
I made these, and cake was really thick and it resembled bread dough when I put it in the pan. Is that how it’s supposed to be?
If I remember correctly, that sounds about right. It’s not like a cake batter because they bake into thicker bars.
That’s comforting to know, thank you! Mine turned out more like coffee cake than bars, but I’ve never had a dessert eaten so fast! Made me happy, thank you! 😀
These look awesome!
Thanks Erin! I really do think they are. 😉
Love the recipies
Amazing teatime treat! I just love such baked goodies 🙂
I’d fall in love, too. Oh, the joy of putting a great dessert into a bar! I’m a bargirl, so these are particularly appealing!