Easy Cherry Pie Bars
Buttery shortbread crust, sweet cherry filling, and a cream cheese glaze. No eggs and no rolling dough, so they come together in about an hour.
Servings: 16 Bars
Cost: $10
Ingredients
Cherry Pie Bars
- 21 ounces cherry pie filling I use Lucky Leaf
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 1/8 tsp cloves
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Cream Cheese Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 4 ounces cream cheese super soft, room temp.
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1/2 tsp orange zest
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish.
- In an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
- Add the vanilla extract and orange zest and mix to combine.
- Add the flour, salt, baking powder, and cloves. Blend on low until incorporated.
- Divide the dough in half. Press one half evenly into the bottom of the baking dish. Place the other half in the refrigerator to chill.
- Bake the bottom crust for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven.
- Spread the cherry pie filling evenly over the warm crust.
- Crumble the chilled dough over the filling, leaving gaps so the cherries show through.
- Bake for another 25 to 30 minutes. Baking times vary, so go by color. The top should be lightly golden.
- Cool the bars completely before glazing.
- Whip all the glaze ingredients together in an electric mixer until smooth, then drizzle over the cooled bars.
- Add a few extra cherries from the filling over the top if you'd like.
Video
Notes
- Use room temperature butter and cream cheese for the smoothest results.
- Chill half the dough so it crumbles instead of smears.
- Line the dish with parchment with an overhang for easy lifting and clean slicing.
- Cool the bars completely before glazing or the glaze will slide off.
- Stick to one 21-ounce can of filling. More than that and the bottom crust goes soft.
- Swap in blueberry, apple, peach, or strawberry filling using the same dough and bake time.
Nutrition
Calories: 385kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 69mg | Potassium: 108mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 707IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 1mg
