Easy Cherry Pie Bars
When fresh sweet cherry season rolls around, I get so many requests from friends and neighbors for my supersized Cherry Pie Bars. Their delicious sweet cherry filling and a buttery shortbread crust will have everyone reaching for more!
Easy Cherry Pie Bars
I love a good cherry pie. But having cherry pie that you can grab and keep on going is even better! This recipe is so simple & very quick to make.
You’ll have them prepped and made in under an hour! One of my favorite parts about this recipe is the cherry pie filling from the can.
Yep! No reason to get fancy here when the stuff in the can is insanely delicious. And then combined with the buttery crumbly cookie crust, this recipe just screams summer!
These always makes an appearance at our 4th of July potluck and never fail to disappear first from the dessert table. Just like these sugar cookie bars and these chocolate chip cheesecake bars.
Ingredients Needed
Butter – Unsalted butter at room temperature.
Flour – Us all purpose flour, not self rising flour.
Extracts – Be sure to use both vanilla extract and almond extract. The almond pairs well with the cherries!
Cherry pie filling – Homemade cherry pie filling is the best but if you don’t have any, I love Comstock brand the best.
Pantry staples – White granulated sugar, large eggs, powdered sugar, milk.
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How to Make Cherry Pie Bars
First: Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a baking pan (15x10x1 – Jelly Roll Pan) with nonstick spray or parchment paper.
Second: Make cookie base by creaming together butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add eggs one at a time. Beat in extracts and flour and mix until combined.
Third: Spread 3 cups of cookie base evenly on the pan, reserving the remaining. Add the cherry pie filling over the crust in an even layer.
Drop the remaining dough in tablespoon dollops over the pie filling.
Fourth: Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
While cooling, combine the glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Cool completely. Drizzle with the glaze, cut, and serve!
For the full recipe and detailed baking instructions, please see the recipe card at the end of this post.
How long do they last?
Store bars at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-4 days. I recommend folding up a paper towel and placing it inside the container with the bars to soak up any moisture.
They can also be stored in the fridge for up to one week in an airtight container.
Can I freeze them?
Yes, you can. Bake and cool the bars completely. Store in a freezer safe container or wrap tightlyin plastic wrap (a few layers) and freeze for up to 4 month.
Bring to room temperature before enjoying:)
Can I use a different pie filling?
Rather than fuss with pitting pounds of sour cherries as you would for a traditional pie, this easy recipe calls for a convenient can of cherry pie filling lending tart cherry flavor.
I grab a can and use it to make this cherry pretzel salad dip or this old fashioned cherries in the snow when I have friends over.
Cherry is my absolute favorite, as you can tell with these puff pastry with canned pie filling turnovers and this cherry dump cake, but feel free to use apple, peach, blueberry, or even pumpkin pie filling!
What is the best pan to use?
My favorite pan to use is this Jelly Roll Pan. If you don’t have one that big you can use two smaller pans.
Or you can even make just half the recipe and use a 9×13 baking dish.
Tips for No Leftovers
- Try this recipe with apple, blueberry, peach, and even pumpkin pie filling!
- I don’t recommend using fresh cherries by themselves. You can always use your fresh cherries to make a quick batch of homemade pie filling.
- You will need a large baking pan also known as a jelly roll pan (15x10x1).
- Make sure ingredients (eggs, butter) are at room temperature so they cream together properly.
- Use the spoon and level method of measuring flour. scooping the flour out of the bag with the measuring cup will add too much flour.
- Grease the pan liberally or the bars will stick and that is no good!
If you love this recipe as much as I do, please write a five-star review in the comment section below (or on Pinterest with the “tried it” button – you can now add pictures into reviews, too!), and be sure to help me share on facebook!
Is your mouth watering yet? Are you ready to dive headfirst into this recipe? Make sure you whip these up cherry pie cookie bars for your next backyard BBQ!
Cherry Pie Bars
Ingredients
Cookie Base
- 1 cup 2 sticks butter (softened)
- 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cans 21 ounces cherry pie filling
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract clear
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 15x10x1 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Beat in vanilla and almond extract just until combined.
- Add salt to flour and whisk lightly to mix. Gradually add flour mixture to batter and beat until well combined.
- Spread 3 cups of batter evenly into prepared baking pan saving the remaining batter for the top.
- Spread pie filling evenly over batter. Drop remaining batter by tablespoon over the top of the cherry pie filling.
- Bake 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack.
- While cooing, combine the ingredients for glaze until smooth. Drizzle over bars.
- Cut and serve or store in airtight container until ready to serve. Enjoy!
Notes
- Try this recipe with apple, blueberry, peach, and even pumpkin pie filling!
- I don't recommend using fresh cherries by themselves. You can always use your fresh cherries to make a quick batch of homemade pie filling.
- You will need a large baking pan also known as a jelly roll pan (15x10x1).
- Make sure ingredients (eggs, butter) are at room temperature so they cream together properly.
- Use the spoon and level method of measuring flour. scooping the flour out of the bag with the measuring cup will add too much flour.
- Grease the pan liberally or the bars will stick and that is no good!
- Glaze – to make the glaze white, usual clear vanilla extract. Regular vanilla extract can also be used, the glaze will just be a little darker.
Nutrition
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