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These Cherry Pie Bars are just like a classic cherry pie, but in bar form! The crust of these bars is like shortbread and they are topped with a crumble topping with almonds. PLUS the topping and the crust are the same recipe to make your life easier.
Why You’ll Love Cherry Pie Bars
Bring Cherry Pie to life in a new way – as pie bars! They have a buttery shortbread crust that is reminiscent of a traditional pie crust. The cherry pie filling on top is perfect filling – the sweet taste of the filling with the buttery crust and crumble is epic. I also added almonds to the topping for crunch because almonds and cherries are besties in the food combination world.
I have a similar recipe to this in my cookbook that uses apple butter – and everyone absolutely raves about them, so I know you’ll love this recipe.
Ingredients Needed
- Butter: I used unsalted butter but if you substitute salted, just reduce added salt. You don’t need to start with room temperature butter, but if you’re doing this by hand I recommend that.
- Sugar: Granulated Sugar for a bit of sweetness.
- Almonds: I recommend buying pre-sliced or slivered almonds.
- Cherry Pie Filling: Make my homemade cherry pie filling, or buy a can of cherry pie filling.
Variations
- If you want to add a glaze on top, just mix 1/2 cup powdered sugar (confectioners’ sugar) with about 1 tablespoon heavy cream or milk (start with 2 teaspoons and add more as needed for desired consistency). Drizzle over cooled bars.
- I don’t add any vanilla or almond extracts to the crust but you can add 1/2 teaspoon if you prefer for extra flavor.
- You can swap brown sugar for granulated sugar in the crust/topping.
How to make Cherry Pie Bars
- Place the butter, sugar, salt, and all purpose flour in a food processor and pulse until the mixture comes together. You can also do this in a large bowl with a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
- Press 2/3 of the dough in the bottom of your baking dish.
- Mix the sliced almonds into the remaining batter with your fingers until crumbly.
- Spread cherry pie filling over crust.
- Sprinkle the topping over the pie filling and bake until cooked through.
Expert Tips
- I think the almonds are perfect in this recipe, but if you want to leave them out you can.
- You could also make blueberry pie bars, strawberry, or peach pie bars. You could also grab some apple pie filling and make these apple pie bars. Just keep the crust and add a different filling!
- I love the softness of the bottom crust when they’re all baked at once. However, if you like a crunchier bottom crust, you’ll want to partially bake the crust before adding the filling and topping. See recipe notes.
- Store bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freeze for up to 3 months.
Cherry Pie Bars Recipe
Almonds are the perfect addition to cherry pie bars. And they're easy to serve and perfect with some ice cream on the side.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter cold
- ½ cup (110g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ¼ cups (255g) flour
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- 1 20 ounce can cherry pie filling (or homemade)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×9-inch pan with foil or parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place the butter, sugar, salt, and flour in a food processor and pulse until the mixture comes together. You can also do this in a large bowl with a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
- Press 2/3 of the dough in the bottom of the prepared pan. Top with cherry pie filling.
- Mix the sliced almonds into the remaining dough with your fingers until crumbly. Sprinkle over pie filling.
- Bake until cooked through and light golden on top, about 30-40 minutes.
Recipe Notes
- We like a soft crust for these bars, but if you prefer a crunchier crust, bake the crust for 15-20 minutes (or until it’s just loosing it’s opaqueness) then top with pie filling and topping and continue baking until the top is baked through and light golden, about 20 additional minutes.
- Feel free to omit the almonds. You can use oats or other chopped nuts, like pecans, in their place.
- To add a glaze: mix 1/2 cup powdered sugar with about 2 teaspoons milk or cream (adding more as needed for drizzle consistency). Drizzle over cooled bars.
Recipe Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 212kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 54mg | Potassium: 69mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 297IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
These bars look fantastic! I am going to try these but without the almond and cherry. Can I replace with another fruit? Sadly allergic to both ;(
Boo!! Use any can of pie filling, and I bet any nut would work too!
Safety pins: a wrap dress’s best friend (unless of course you are planning for a fast exit 🙂 ) High crumb ratio: my best friend. 🙂
This looks like a great quick recipe for all of the upcoming bbq’s, graduations, and warm weather get-togethers!
Totally! I’m sneaking some in my purse next time I wear it! 🙂
I’ve never made pie bars before, and now I’m wondering why!! The one time I made a cherry pie from fresh cherries, it was delicious but, just as you said, was pretty messy and didn’t gel completely. I love that pie bars, unlike traditional pie, would be a perfect dessert for summer picnics, since you can easily eat them with your hands!! Yum 🙂
I totally agree – pie bars are so much “safer” to cut into! Haha LOVED your story and you told it so well I’m still laughing 🙂 Good thing the dance floor wasn’t packed haha! Love all the flavors in these bars; pinned! 🙂
Dorothy, I’m with you on hating to serve up pie. I always feel like my pieces will fall apart and not resemble an actual pie! But these bars look amazing! Almonds and chocolate? The perfect combination!
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