Cherry Bars
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.
Cherry Bars
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)
Instructions
- 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.
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.
This only needs to bake for 20 minutes in most ovens. And I only added 1/2 tsp. salt. Using an offset spatula helps spread
the batter evenly in the pan.
Thanks for the feedback Elizabeth.
Question why would filling sink and is completely covered. Did not press.
Hi Kathie – did you cream your butter together so it gave the cake volume?
Just made these with my own blueberry pie filling, they were good except the time to cook is way off. I did 30 minutes and they were way over cooked!!
I just tried these and followed the recipe to the “t” and the batter did not puff up at all. The pie filling just melted and spread all over the top of the batter ?. A little disappointing.
I just made these and they did not turn out. I didn’t think the dough seemed wet enough, it was incredibly difficult to spread to fill pan. After 30 minutes, the edges were dark and a toothpick came out clean so I took it out if the oven. They didn’t really rise. I’m no chemistry expert, but don’t these need baking powder or something to help with that? I didn’t miss any ingredients. Sad because I’ve been looking for this recipe.
Seems lots of our mothers made this delicious dessert, mine included. Recently lost my well worn recipe card and delighted to find your version here. We never used almond or lemon extract but I’m looking forward to trying those variations. Just a note, I made this once with blueberry pie filling and it just wasn’t the same. Something about the tart cherries in this dense, moist butter cake makes the perfect combination. We have also decorated the top with red and green sugars for the holidays.
Thanks for sharing Angela – I love the suggestion to dress it up with red and green sugars for the holidays.
Oh I’m so happy I found this recipe!! My mom used to make a similar recipe growing up but I couldn’t find it anywhere! I think she used to use almond extract and I have once made it with lemon extract, which was a delicious summer treat. She called it Cherry Open Window Cake. Thank you so much for bringing this recipe back for our family!!
Thank you!!!! I had a similar recipe that my son loved, lost copy a couple of years ago. I am so delighted to find it again. My son is in for a treat!
How fun – thanks for sharing Kathleen 🙂
My sister made these from a recipe she got from her sister-in-law. They are amazing . I was so happy to get the recipe myself from your site. I am going to make them tomorrow. I can’t wait. 🙂 I would recommend this recipe to everyone 🙂