Homemade Cherry Pie Bars

A fun and easy way to serve cherry pie...without making pie!

Course Pastry and Pie

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1

Servings Bars

Calories 676kcal

Author Creative Culinary

Ingredients

For the Filling

2 ½ pounds fresh sweet cherries about 8 cups, pitted and halved
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon cornstarch

For the Crust

2 sticks 8 ounces cold, unsalted butter, cubed
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs yolks
2 teaspoons almond extract
1 tablespoon unsalted butter melted and cooled

For the Cream Cheese Drizzle

3 oz cream cheese softened
¾ cup powdered sugar
3 Tbsp butter softened
½ tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp butter softened
½ tsp vanilla

Instructions

Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350°F. Coat a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter and set aside.
To Make the Cherry Filling
Place the cherries, sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a large bowl and stir to combine; set aside.
To Make the Dough
Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and pulse to combine.
Add the egg yolks, almond extract, and butter. Pulse in 5-second intervals just until the dough comes together, about 1 minute total. The dough will be soft and slightly crumbly.
Transfer 2/3 of the dough to the pan; use a fork or your fingers to press the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan.
To Finish the Cherry Pie Bars
Add the cherry mixture to the pan on top of the dough and spread into an even layer.
Crumble the remaining dough on top of the cherries; evenly spacing it over the top of the fruit. (The cherries will not be completely covered.) Drizzle the dough with the melted butter and bake until the top is golden and the cherries are bubbling, 35 to 40 minutes.
Cool completely in the pan.
To Make the Cream Cheese Icing
Put all of the ingredients into a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until smooth.
Drizzle over the top of the bars and allow to cool completely before cutting into bars to serve.

Notes

When cherries are available fresh they are the best in this dessert but don't let seasonal changes keep you from preparing these bars with canned cherries; they're still fantastic!

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