Cherry Bars

Yummy cherry-topped buttery bars are the perfect dessert and are easy to make too!

Need A Quick Dessert?

If you need a dessert on the double-up, these cherry bars may just be your answer. The bars taste great. The crust is rich and buttery and the tartness of the cherries complement and offset the richness.

You probably have everything you need to make this right on your shelf and refrigerator! But if you don’t have cherry pie filling, then any other fruit flavor will do!

There’s also no complicated shaping or decorating. All you do is pat the dough in the pan, bake it a bit, then spread the pie filling on top and drop mounds of the reserved dough on top. The nuts are optional and so is the icing if push came to shove, but the icing does make it taste great if you flavor it with almond!

Full Of Color

These bars look great if made with cherries. The red against the white gives a striking pop of color. Plus cherry pie filling is a bit more tart than other flavors, so it offsets the sweetness somewhat.

This would also be fantastic with strawberry pie filling–or even rhubarb! There are so many possibilities with this dessert. All you have to do is alter the pie filling flavor.

Adding some streusel crumbs would add another dimension to these cherry bars as well. Let your imagination run wild!

The Recipe

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Cherry Bars

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time42 mins

Total Time57 mins

Servings: 12 -18

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 21 ounce cans cherry pie filling see NOTES
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds optional
• Icing:
• 1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
• 3 - 4 teaspoons milk

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large mixing bowl beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds.
• Add sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.
• Beat in eggs, one at a time, and vanilla until combined.
• Mix in the flour.
• Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the dough.
• Spread remaining dough in the bottom of an ungreased 15x10x1-inch baking pan.
• Bake for 12 minutes.
• Spread pie filling over crust in pan. Spoon reserved dough into small mounds on top of pie filling. Sprinkle with nuts, if using.
• Bake about 30 minutes more or until top is light brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
• Drizzle top with icing. Cool completely.
• To make icing, mix the confectioner's sugar and extract in a small bowl. Add just enough of the milk to make a smooth icing that will drizzle.

Notes

Any fruit flavored pie filling can be substituted

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*Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens