Cherry Bars
Cherry Bars! If you love cherry pie, then you’ll love these cherry pie bars made in a fraction of the time. With a simple oat crust and a jammy fresh cherry filling, these cherry bars are a must during the summer!
Where are my pie fans at? I love a good homemade pie, but rarely have the effort to put one together. Enter cherry pie bars! Just as delicious as cherry pie, but with a fraction of the work.
If you love pie bars, then you’ve gotta try these. Like my peach pie bars and apple pie bars, these cherry pie bars are a similar take on the classic. Make a simple oat crust, top with homemade cherry filling, then crumble more crust on top before baking until golden brown.
Enjoy as is, or top with a dollop of ice cream for a fantastic summer dessert.
Everything You Need to Make These Cherry Bars:
Why We Love These Bars
For starters– they contain a yummy homemade crumble crust and fresh cherries. What’s not to love about these bars?
As a baker, I love that these bars come together in a fraction of the time it takes to roll out pie dough. You can make the dough in a food processor (affiliate) or in a large mixing bowl. Then you’ll press two-thirds of the dough into a prepared pan, top with homemade cherry jam and then the rest of the dough. That’s it.
These are great to take to summer BBQs, gatherings with friends or just a weeknight dessert. Enjoy them as is or warm with a dollop of ice cream.
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make these cherry pie bars. See recipe card below for the full recipe.
- Flour
- Rolled Oats
- Brown Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Butter
- Almond extract
- Cherries
- Cornstarch
- Orange or lemon
How to Make Cherry Bars
Make the crust dough
Whisk together flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon and salt.
Add the butter
Add the melted butter and stir until well combined and the mixture resembles wet sand.
Make the cherry jam
Add the cherries, sugar, cornstarch, water and juice and zest to a medium saucepan. You will not need water if you are using thawed from frozen cherries. Cook over medium-low heat until the mixture is thick and jam-like.
Bake Half the Crust
Press 2/3 of the dough into a square pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
Finish and Bake
Top with the cherry jam and cover with the rest of the crust. Bake for 45 minutes until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbly.
Tips for Success
I call for both whole wheat flour and regular flour in these cherry pie bars to make them a bit more wholesome. However, if you want to use all regular flour, then you can. I don’t recommend using all whole wheat flour as they will be too dense.
You can use frozen cherries if you’d like, thaw before using. If using frozen cherries, then you won’t need to add in additional water.
I think the jam is sweet enough as is, but if you want a sweeter filling, then you can add in more sugar. The orange or lemon juice and zest help to balance the cherry filling, but OK to omit if desired. I love the pairing of almond extract and cherries, but you can substitute vanilla extract in place of the almond extract if desired.
Lastly, these cherry bars can easily be vegan. These were tested with both Earth Balance and Miyokos vegan butter, and both work. If using Earth Balance, then reduce salt to 1/4 teaspoon as it’s already salted. You can always add in more salt to the batter if you’d like after tasting.
Can I use a different kind of pie filling?
Yes, this same recipe can be used to make different kinds of bars. I have recipes for peach bars and for apple bars on my website.
You could sub in strawberries for the cherries. Blueberries and raspberries would also work. I have not tested them with canned cherry pie filling as I think it tends to be too cloying, but that will also work in these bars.
If you want a sweeter pie bar, then I recommend drizzling on a glaze after cooling or serving with ice cream. These cherry pie bars taste so good with vanilla ice cream!
How to Store Cherry Pie Bars
These easy cherry pie bars will keep for 3-4 days in the fridge. I prefer to bring them to room temperature before eating.
You can freeze these bars as well. To freeze, place in an airtight container and place in the freezer for 2-3 months. Thaw before eating.
More Cherry Recipes
- Vegan Cherry Cobbler
- Whipped Ricotta with Roasted Sweet Cherries
- Sweet Cherry Lime Popsicles
- Cherry Caprese Pasta Salad
- Lavender Cherry Overnight Oats
If you make these cherry bars, make sure to come back to leave a rating and a comment. Your feedback helps other readers, and seeing you make my recipes makes my day!
Cherry Pie Bars
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour*
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons butter, melted**
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 3 cups fresh or frozen cherries, pitted and chopped
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup water, if using fresh cherries
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon orange or lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons fresh orange or lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-inch pan with a parchment paper overhang to easily lift the bars: place one piece of parchment paper into the pan, then another on the opposite side. See the photos above for how this looks. This allows you to remove the bars and cut them easily. If you don’t want to do this, grease your pan well to allow easy removal.
- Whisk together flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Add the melted butter and almond extract and stir until well combined and the mixture resembles wet sand.
- Press 2/3 of the mixture (about 2 cups) into the prepared baking dish and press down in an even layer. I use the flat edge of a measuring cup to pack the dough. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove and slightly cool.
- While the layer is baking, make the jam. Add the cherries, sugar, cornstarch, water (you will likely not need water if using thawed from frozen cherries), and juice and zest to a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat until the mixture is thick and jam-like.
- Place the filling over the prepared crust, then top with the remaining crust. You can do this as clumps to show some of the cherry pie filling or in an even layer. Make sure it’s pressed down well so it doesn’t crumble.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and the filling is bubbly. Remove and let cool completely, then slice into 9-12 bars and serve.
I’m confused about the last two ingredients the way it is written:
1 tablespoon orange or lemon zest
2 teaspoons “fresh” orange or lemon zest
Am I supposed to use a “total” of 1 tablespoon PLUS 2 teaspoons of lemon or orange zest?
(I thought all zest is “fresh”. I apologize for my confusion.
Ah! I wrote zest and meant to write juice– it’s 1 tablespoon juice, 2 teaspoons zest. You can technically use regular orange juice, but the zest really helps so I say grab a fresh lemon or orange and zest and juice. Sorry for the confusion!