Lemon Raspberry Crumble Bars

These lemon raspberry crumble bars combine a buttery, melt-in-the-mouth lemon shortbread with a jammy raspberry filling. They’re super easy to make (it’s a one-bowl recipe!) and you’d never know that they’re gluten free.

This recipe was initially meant to make just very simple jam bars (with a shortbread-like crust and crumble, sandwiching a raspberry jam layer) but then I couldn’t resist adding some lemon zest to the shortbread dough – yes, I do have a lemon problem, thanks for noticing – and throwing in some raspberries for an extra kick of freshness.

The result are these AMAZING lemon raspberry crumble bars: they’re the perfect mid-week dessert that you can throw together in about 20-30 minutes and then let it do its thing in the oven. They’re super simple to make, you don’t need any special equipment (no stand or hand mixer or anything like that) and they’re basically a one-bowl recipe.

And the flavour is INCREDIBLE: the combination of the buttery, melt-in-the-mouth lemon shortbread and the jammy raspberry layer with bursts of tartness from the fresh raspberries is just sheer perfection.

Here’s why you’ll love these lemon raspberry crumble bars 

• The buttery, melt-in-the-mouth (gluten free!!) lemon shortbread. It’s wonderfully rich and delicate, with just the right balance between crisp and crumbly. The shortbread is packed full of lemon zest and vanilla, and it’s not too sweet, because we need to take into account the sweetness of the jam.
• The jammy raspberry layer with bursts of tartness from the fresh raspberries. For the raspberry layer, you first spread some raspberry jam on top of the shortbread base and then scatter on some fresh raspberries – the latter add a bit of acidity to the otherwise sweet bars, and the result is a perfectly balanced dessert.
• One-bowl recipe. The shortbread dough comes together in one bowl, and then you just need to press ⅔ of it into a lined 9-inch (23cm) square baking tin, spread on the jam, scatter over the fresh raspberries and finally crumble over the remaining ⅓ of the shortbread dough. That’s it!
• Quick to make. The preparation process takes about 20-30 minutes, and then you can leave the crumble bars to do their thing in the oven. It’s a really low-effort recipe, but with the most delicious results.
• You’d never know that they’re gluten free!! I made sure to optimise the recipe so that the bars aren’t too crumbly, which can sometimes happen with gluten free recipes. Instead, they’re just crumbly enough so that they simply melt in your mouth, but they’re also sturdy enough so that you can slice them and pick them up without having to worry about them crumbling all over the place.
• And they’re egg free as well! Because the bottom crust and the crumble on top are both based on a simple shortbread dough, you don’t need to use any eggs in this recipe.

Top tips for making gluten free lemon raspberry crumble bars

Use unwaxed (ideally organic) lemons. Because you’ll be using lots of lemon zest, I recommend using organic unwaxed lemons – that will give you the best flavour and you’ll also avoid any pesticides or fungicides that the “regular” lemons are treated with.

Rub the lemon zest into the sugar. This helps to release the maximum amount of essential oils from the lemon zest, which will make your crumble bars extra fragrant.

Use fresh (not frozen) raspberries. Frozen raspberries will release too much moisture during baking, which can make your bars soggy. To get the best possible (crisp, buttery, just crumbly enough) texture, use fresh raspberries.

For best results, weigh your ingredients, especially the flour. If you’re using cups/volume measurements, it’s very easy to 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 crumble bars too dry and crumbly – so, to get the best possible texture, I recommend using a digital food scale.

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.

No need to bake the shortbread base separately before you add the raspberry layer. Typically, when you’re adding any kind of (fresh or frozen) fruit to crumble bars, it’s best to partially bake the bottom crust before adding the fruit – this prevents the crust from becoming wet or soggy from the moisture released by the fruit. But that’s not the case here.

First of all, you’ll be using only a moderate amount of raspberries (they’re not tightly packed together) and they won’t be completely covered by the crumble on top – that means that they’ll be directly exposed to the heat of the oven, so that much of the moisture will evaporate rather than being absorbed by the surrounding shortbread dough.

The jam also acts as something of a protection layer between the bottom shortbread crust and the fresh raspberries: it prevents the bottom crust from absorbing too much moisture from the raspberries. All of this means that your shortbread base will be perfectly buttery and crisp without having to par-bake it beforehand.

As a finishing touch, I like to lightly dust the crumble bars with some powdered/icing sugar and sprinkle on some extra lemon zest, but you could also drizzle them with a simple icing made from powdered/icing sugar and lemon juice.

And they’re also out-of-this-world delicious if you serve them warm with a scoop of ice cream on top – just keep in mind that if you slice them while they’re warm, they’ll be more delicate and therefore more likely to crumble.

But honestly, if you present anyone with a generous serving of warm lemon raspberry crumble bars and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, I don’t think that they’ll complain if the presentation is a bit messy. If anything, they’ll be back for seconds… and possibly thirds.

I really hope you’ll love these as much as I do.

Happy baking!