Cherry Pie Bars
All the flavor you love in the classic pie, but without the work- these cherry pie bars are the perfect chewy dessert bar. You can adjust the filling flavor to fit your fancy, and they come together in less than an hours from start to finish. No pie crust to fuss with, they’re perfect for special occasions like Valentine’s, Galentine’s, or just any time a special dessert is needed.
I’ve been holding out on you.
I made these bad boys a little over a month a go. . . I’m sorry!
I don’t know why, but I’ve been ‘saving’ them. For what I’m not sure.
I just kept thinking oh, I need a special occasion to share these.
And a month has come and gone and I still have not shared them!
So I decided I would create a special occasion.
Happy Cherry Pie Bar Tuesday!
I love me some cherry pie.
It’s always my first choice.
A good pie isn’t something you can just throw together.
It requires planning and time invested.
I had plans to make cherry pie the other day. Life had other plans.
Did I let that discourage me? Of course not.
Instead, I opted for these simple, yet oh so special cherry pie bars.
These sweet, flaky fruit bars are warm & cozy.
Like any cherry pie worth it’s reputation, this recipe calls for simple ingredients that are easy to get your hands on.
Ingredients
- butter – You can use any brand of butter you refer, but I highly recommend salted butter.
- sugar – plain white, granulated sugar- if you need to watch your sugar you can substitute something like Splenda or Stevia.
- eggs
- vanilla extract
- almond extract – this one is optional, but still recommended. Almond extract adds a nice depth of flavor and slight nuttiness to the pie batter.
- flour – all purpose flour, nothing fancy required
- salt
- cherry pie filling – the canned variety, can be found in the baking aisle of your local grocery store
How To Make
While I love the flavor of a good cherry pie, my busy lifestyle doesn’t always have time for me to invest in the traditional, from scratch version.
That’s where these easy cherry pie bars come into play.
Whatever the day’s schedule looks like, I’ve always got a couple minutes to whip up a batch of these bad boys.
Start by making the batter.
To do that cream together the butter & sugar until light and fluffy. You can do this in the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a mixing bowl using a hand mixer.
Either method is just as effective.
To the same mixing bowl, add the eggs and extracts.
Mix again until evenly combined.
Add the flour and salt to the mixture, and mix in slowly.
This will prevent the flour from poof-ing into a cloud that escapes the bowl.
Once the flour’s begun to adhere to the mixture, you can increase the mixing speed.
Beat just until evenly combined.
Lightly grease a 9×13″ baking dish with non stick cooking spray.
Spread 3/4’s of the batter evenly out into the bottom of the prepared baking dish making sure it reaches all the edges & forms an even layer.
You can use your hands or a spatula.
Either way, spray the spreader with non stick cooking spray. It will prevent this very sticky batter from sticking and help you spread it easily and effortlessly.
Open your can of pie filling, dump it out on top of the batter, and then spread it evenly over top.
Using a small teaspoon, drop the remaining batter in dollops onto the cherry pie filling.
It will spread slightly as it bakes, and this will form the crust.
Bake at 350 degrees for roughly 35 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown on top.
If you’re unsure, or want to be 100% sure, that it’s cooked through then insert a toothpick into the center of the dish. I
f it comes out clean, with the exception of the cherry pie filling, it’s cooked through.
These cherry pie bars are finished off with a simple, but perfect drizzle of glaze.
Make the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar, extract, and milk until smooth.
Pour this over top of the pie bars.
Let the bars cool completely before slicing & serving.
Do I Have To Use Cherry Pie Filling?
While cherry pie filling is recommended, it’s not the only one you can use.
Not a cherry pie fan? No worries!
Other options include:
- blueberry pie filling
- peach pie filling
- strawberry pie filling
Other Delicious Dessert Bar Recipes To Try:
Short on time?
Get your decadent dessert fix in a jiff using this easy cherry pie bars recipe.
Looking for other options?
Check these recipes out:
If you’ve tried these CHERRY PIE BARS, or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!
Cherry Pie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 can 21 oz cherry pie filling
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, ream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract and beat well. Add flour and salt to the creamed mixture and mix until combined.
- Grease a 9×13″ baking pan and spread about 3/4 of the batter in the bottom (mine was a little sticky, so I sprayed my hands with non-stick cooking spray and used my hands to spread the dough to the edges of the pan). Spread with pie filling over the batter. Drop remaining batter on top of pie filling in teaspoonful amounts (I did about 35 small spoonfuls of batter over the cherry filling to make the top crust).
- Bake for about 35 minutes or until toothpick comes clean. Combine glaze ingredients and drizzle over the bars.
Nutrition
recipe originally posted February 4, 2014
