This recipe for Cherry Bars is so easy thanks to the canned cherry pie filling. While we all love fresh fruit desserts, sometimes you canโt beat the convenience of canned fruit filling. Itโs budget friendly and you can use it to make your favorite pies and pasty desserts, like these Cherry Bars, whenever you are craving them.
These easy Cherry Bars have a melt-in-your-mouth double shortbread crust that is made with just a handful of pantry ingredients. The key to bringing out the natural cherry flavor in the pie filling is to use both vanilla and almond extract. When distilled down to extract form, almonds have a slight cherry scent so it really makes a difference in these bars!
The sweet, powdered sugar glaze on Cherry Bars has almond extract too for even more flavor. To make sure the glaze is the right consistency, and wonโt disappear in to the bars, add a tablespoon of milk at a time until you can easily drizzle it. Drizzle a little glaze on the corner of one bar and let sit for a couple minutes. If it stays put, your glaze is good to go!
Easy Cherry Bars are a tasty summer treat! Shortbread double crust with cherry pie filling baked in a sheet pan and topped with sweet vanilla almond glaze.
Summertime is the perfect time fill your kitchen and pantry with Fruit Desserts like Strawberry Crumb Bars and these tasty, easy pie bars. Great for snacking on the go!
Just like cherry pie, these bars taste really yummy with Vanilla Ice Cream or Whipped Cream. Serve some of the fresh bars right from the oven with a scoop of ice cream. With this crowd-sized recipe, youโll have plenty of bars left over to cool and glaze after you enjoy your pie bar sundae.
Cherry Bars are great for making ahead parties, potlucks, or future snacking! This Cherry Bar recipe makes about 48 bars, or 60 mini bars, so if you arenโt feeding a crowd, freeze half of the bars for a quick snack or dessert for up to 6 months. Simply pull a couple bars from the freezer and leave at room temperature until they are defrosted and soft.
Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cans (21 ounces each) cherry pie filling
GLAZE:
1 cup confectionersโ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 to 3 tablespoons whole milk
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350ยฐ. In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extracts. Gradually add flour.
Spread 3 cups dough into a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Spread with pie filling. Drop remaining dough by teaspoonfuls over filling. Bake 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
In a small bowl, mix confectionersโ sugar, extracts and enough milk to reach desired consistency; drizzle over top.