Description
One-bowl **easy cherry bars** with a soft cookie base, canned cherry pie filling, and a quick almond (or vanilla) glaze. Bakes in 35 minutes and slices into 16 tidy holiday squares.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract (optional)
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp fine salt
- 1 can (21 oz/595 g) cherry pie filling
- Glaze: ¾ cup (90 g) powdered sugar; 1–2 Tbsp milk; ¼ tsp almond extract (optional)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 9×9-inch pan with parchment. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy; beat in eggs, vanilla, and almond extract. Mix in flour, baking powder, and salt just until combined. Reserve 1 cup batter; press the rest into the pan.
- Spread cherry pie filling over the base. Dollop reserved batter over cherries.
- Bake 32–35 minutes until light golden and set. Cool 30 minutes. Whisk glaze and drizzle. Cool fully, then cut into 16 bars.
Notes
Dairy-free: use baking-style plant butter and almond milk. Gluten-free: use a 1:1 GF baking blend (with xanthan) and rest batter 5 minutes. Tested twice; best texture at 32–35 minutes.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 210
- Sugar: 20 g
- Sodium: 90 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Carbohydrates: 31 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 40 mg
Keywords: easy cherry bars, cherry dessert squares, cherry pie filling bars, almond glaze bars, one-bowl dessert, holiday dessert bars, cookie bars, quick dessert bars, dairy-free option, gluten-free option