Last month my sweet friend Bonnie, City Home / Country Home, posted this recipe for Cherry Bars for her 12 weeks of Christmas Cookies. She adapted the recipe from one her mother makes. It’s a not too sweet bar cookie that is topped with pie filling. The batter puffs up around the pie filling creating a pretty almost stain glass look (especially Bonnie’s beautiful cookies.)
Lucky Leaf recently sent me several of their pie fillings to review, including their Premium Cherry Pie Filling. I decided Bonnie’s recipe would be a perfect way to highlight and test out the cherry pie filling. I think it’s a great pie filling. It has a bit more of a citrus flavor than other brands I’ve used in the past, which I liked. I also liked that it has 30% more fruit, which is especially important in this recipe because you dollop a little bit in 24 squares across the batter.
This is a really easy recipe to make. It’s fun to watch the cookie puff up around the filling. I think I may have used more filling than Bonnie and hers look prettier, but I did love having a bit of fruit in each bite. Thanks Bonnie for sharing the recipe. I can see why it’s a family favorite.
I made a couple of changes to the recipe to suit our tastes. Below is my adapted recipe. I’m not crazy about almond extract, so I substituted extra vanilla. I’ve also reduced the amount and type of salt in the recipe.
Ingredients
- 8 oz. of butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large lightly beaten eggs
- 2 cups of flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 can cherry pie filling (I used Lucky Leaf Premium Cherry)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350º F. Butter a 17”x12”x1” sheet cake pan.
- Cream the butter and the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time and mix just until blended. Add vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour and salt together. Stir into the creamed mixture just until blended. Spread into the prepared pan. Mark the batter into 24 squares by pressing lightly into the top of the batter with a sharp knife.
- Spoon 1 tablespoon of fruit filling into the center of each square. Do not press it into the batter (the batter will puff up around the filling as it bakes).
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the batter is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the batter comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack.
- Cut into bars and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Notes
adapted from City Home / Country Home
This post is part of a 12 Weeks of Christmas Cookies blog hog. Be sure and check out all of the fabulous cookies the other 12 weeks of Christmas Cookies bakers baked up this week.
Some of the links in my posts may be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Thank you for supporting Barbara Bakes when you shop!
I love to bake, especially cookies, cakes, and pies. I’ll post my adventures in the kitchen, my favorite new recipes, as well as our family favorites.
Yours look pretty darn good, though!!!
Delicious looking! Great bars.
Cheers,
Rosa
These look so pretty, Barbara! My cherry-lovin’ daughter would love these, and with the almond too;) Have a great weekend! Sue:)
These are beautiful!! What a great job! I gotta try these out!
What lovely cookies. They look so fluffy.
What gorgeous cookies! And they look so easy to make.
I’m so glad you liked the cherry bars. I think it’s wonderful that we can adapt and change things to suit our tastes. I like the bigger amount of filling. In fact, we have been putting more of the filling in our bars lately. Yours look beautiful Barbara.
At first glace I thought these were puff pasty, they look delicious! I love cherries and this looks like a marvelous way to showcase them. I personally would also go with a large-ish dollop of cherries because I’d want cherries in every bite!
Those are so cool! I imagine you could use any thick type of filling – I say that because I have a container of strawberry cherry preserves in the freezer that is begging to be used.
And besides, that looks to me like it’s a faster way to make a pie!
Wow. These are beautiful!
i dont think i would have minded the extra filling!
Ohhh!! these look so good! Barbara, I am loving your creations for this years 12 weeks!!
How delicious do these look! I could totally eat 1, 2, 3……
I love this recipe, Barbara! I would have put more cherries in too.
I can’t wait to try these and watch how they puff up!
These look so good mum! I like chery with lots of fruit and citrus too-we think alike! Xxx
These look amazing! Can’t wait to meet you next week!
oh these look so pretty and perfect for the season
They all puffed up so nicely!
Your cookie bars are very festive and beautiful! Those red cherries would be so pretty on a Christmas table. Thanks for telling us about that Lucky Leaf filling, I always like to learn about new products. xo
These look so pretty and seem deceptively easy to make! I love a biscuit that doesn’t require rolling and balling and all that hard work.
Thanks!
These look so yummy. I would like the almond extract in mine. Do you like almonds, in general?
What pretty little cherry bars Barbara! These would be wonderful treats for the holidays!
Hi Barbara,
I love the cherry bars…yumm…
Dr.Sameena@
http://www.myeasytocookrecipes.blogspot.com
How lovely! They look wonderful! How does the pastry puff as it has no baking powder? I love to make these!
my mission is to make these into a gluten free variety. YUM!! so pretty too.
These cherry bars look delicious! And perfect for Xmas with their red tops.
Am sure Bonnie loved these !!!
So so gooD!!
12 weeks of Christmas jus keeps gettn better!
I prefer having slices or bars than cakes. And I think this looks simply marvellous. Thanks for the recipe, Barbara. Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend.
Cheers, kristy
Oh my….I am in HEAVEN coming upon this fabulous recipe! I just adore anything with cherries in it! Can’t wait to make these bars!
Happy Sunday Barbara!
~avril
Perfect for the holidays!
These would make a really pretty addition to a Christmas cookie tray! We are big cherry lovers around here!
WOW – these could not look more delicious.
They are so pretty. You do amazing work.
The bars are very pretty and look delicious.
So pretty, and a great addition to the Christmas cookies. I really like the look of these – thanks Barbara.
These look so amazing – I love that they are so pretty. What a great new holiday treat – can’t wait to try!
Susan http://www.ugogrrl.com
Yum! I love simple homey cakey treats like this as my homebaked goods are usually eaten for breakfast and snack (as opposed to dessert) so this one is perfect. Don’t get canned pie filling here but a good stewed fruit to top it and it would be just fabulous and just the way they like it!
I love the look of these Cherry Bars. So simple to make and I love fruit in desserts. Would be a nice treat to add to our cookie trays.
These look delicious, and I love cherries in my baking. Thanks for posting this one!
your creations are always stunning… thank you for sharing them with us and for stopping by my blog.