April 7, 2013

Cherry Pie Bars

These are really good. 



Also, they're pretty easy. I made them as a thank you gift and they were perfect for cutting up and sharing. The crust and topping are very reminiscent of sugar cookie with a kick of almond extract. I think of it as a blend of coffee cake and cookie which is basically saying - tastes like awesome in your mouth.


I made them with cherry pie filling, but I'm sure blueberry, strawberry, any-berry would be just as fantastic. 

Also made some in the shape of an actual pie and gave it the old instagram filter. These were served as slices. 

Cherry Pie Bars
Adapted from: therecipecritic

1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (the perfect flavor!)
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 (21 ounce) cans cherry pie filling

For the Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons milk

Preheat your oven to 350F. Butter a 15 inch x 10 inch pan. You can use smaller pans, but keep an eye on the cooking time as it will be longer. 

Cream together butter and sugar. Once well incorporated, add in your extracts and egg and enjoy the smell. Stir in your flour and salt until well mixed. See? Easy! Spread about 3 cups of this sugar cookie like mixture into the bottom of your pan - I found that fingers worked best. Then, spread your pie filling over this layer. 

Take your remaining dough and break off little chunks all over the top of your pie filling. Again, fingers work best. You don't need to completely cover the pie filling as some filling showing through makes for a beautiful product. 

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until your topping is just started to take on a golden brown color. Let cool.

Assemble the glaze by mixing all of the ingredients together. Drizzle onto your bars and you're done! Time to cut for sharing, eating, and enjoying!

Sam



7 comments:

  1. Just made these with homemade canned cherries, crust is perfect tasting. I found it really messy and hard to spread out, lightly wetted my hands, worked great. A keeper recipe for sure! Thanks for sharing.

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  2. This made my day crystalsea! I love that you tried the recipe - thanks for letting me know, I'm so glad they turned out okay. I made these twice myself. I was a huge fan of the crust :) Thanks for commenting!

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  3. My bars are in the oven now. Are you sure it didn't need more flour or less eggs mine was so sticky! I hope they turn out.

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  4. The top part is indeed sticky - hence the "fingers work best". I haven't tried altering the flour:egg ratio as I love the way the texture turns out when baked. Hope your turned out delicious!

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  5. We can’t handle this recipe right now. We. JUST. CAN’T.

    It’s the key-lime pie guy again. This is honestly one of the best desserts my roommate and I have EVER tasted. I can’t. CANNOT. even describe the delectable smell that filled the apartment. SO DELICIOUS.

    And, embarrassingly – actually, shamefully – we had to get another can of cherry pie filling. Like elephant seals, we devoured one can of the cherry pie filling by itself. Not even Golum from Lord of the Rings would have tried to take his "precious" cherry pie filling from us. And, needless to say, when we did the walk of shame to the grocery store to pick up some more cherry pie filling, we probably looked like terrifying drag queens except we used the cherry pie filling as blush and the flour as foundation. Not a pretty sight, to say the least.

    Anyway, when we got back to the apartment, we were able to make these pretty quickly! Any dessert that can be completed in less than an hour is a recipe for us.

    We added a tiny bit more flour than the recipe called for, but it would have been delicious either way. And that was a very good choice to add the almond extract - added a very unique flavor and WONDERFUL smell!

    And then...came the taste test. "It's like awesome in your mouth" is an understatement. It was like winning an Oscar...except my taste buds were taking so long to accept the award that the orchestra was pushing them offstage. SO. GOOD.

    We're going to try to make the bars next time with raspberries, and we'll let you know how it goes!

    Keep up the great work, and happy holidays to everyone!

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  6. you guys are so awesome!! I am SO glad you're continuing to enjoy all of the recipes. I am so flattered by your constant referral to this blog :). Thanks again for bringing a big old smile to my face! Happy Holidays!

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  7. Ingredient list says 4 eggs? But in instructions it says add egg. Which is correct?

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