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I love making pie, but I hate cutting and serving it. Is it going to gel properly? Is it going to slice up nice and pretty? For this reason, I love making pie bars. They’re easier to make and much, much easier to serve.

Take cherry pie, for example. It’s one of the messiest, gooiest, hard-to-serve pies out there. Make cherry pie bars and you take all the stress out of it.

Add chocolate and almond and you have perfection!

Almonds and Chocolate Chips with cherry on top and sitting on teal and red polka dot towel

I have a funny story to tell you. Embarrassing funny – for me.

Our elementary school had a fundraiser last Friday night. It was an adults-only evening with food and cocktails and music and dancing. A bunch of us girlfriends decided to go together and leave our husbands at home to deal with the kids. Girls night out!

Armed with drink tickets and dressed up in heels, we were impatient for the dancing to begin. I mean, we live in the suburbs, have kids, work, and have extracurricular activities. A night of dancing? Unheard of.

The 7 of us were pretty much the only ones on the dance floor, jiggling ourselves away to the beat. It was awkward for a few songs, having the rest of the room stare at us. But we didn’t care, we were moving to the music and freaking to “Talk Dirty To Me”

{What can I say, we’re classy ladies.}

That wasn’t the embarrassing part, BTW.

The embarrassment came when I spotted one of my friends open her eyes wide at me from across the dance floor, followed quickly by her dashing to my side. Turns out an Anthropologie wrap dress is not conducive to dancing. Plastic snaps don’t like hip-hop.

Thank goodness for ruffles, to hide my “girls” when the snap popped. Then it happened 3 more times over the course of the evening.

That party got real fun, real fast.

Anyway. Luckily the room wasn’t full. We’ll just pretend no one saw anything.

Ahem.

Almond Chocolate Cherry Crumble Bars collage

So, let’s talk about pie bars. They’re my favorite way to eat pie. They’re easier to make than a traditional pie, they’re easier to cut, and they’re easier to serve.

Plus the crust/crumb ratio to filling is better in my favor. I want a lot of crust and crumble!

I’ve made bars similar to this before, with blueberry and apple butter. This time, when I was cleaning out my pantry, I found a can of cherry pie filling that needed to get used. Because I’m me, just plain cherry wouldn’t work, so I added chocolate chips and almonds.

Cherry + chocolate + almonds = The Perfect Trilogy

These are super simple to make. You just have to press the crust into the bottom of a 9×13″ pan. I added almonds to my butter crust and to the crumble. They add a yummy crunch and flavor to the bars. (I’m also IN LOVE with adding almonds to shortbread bars.) Spread the pie filling over the crust, sprinkle with chocolate chips, and top with lots and lots of crumble.

I like to bake these in a pan that’s been lined with foil and cooking spray, so I can lift the whole batch out of the pan for easy slicing. That’s totally optional, and I only do it because (1) I want pretty cuts for pictures and (2) I don’t like washing my pans.

Foil = simple rinse of pan. Works for me!

Serve these pie bars alone, or with some ice cream or whipped cream. They’re the perfect dessert for a summer party.

Play music at the party, get the guests dancing, and they’ll eat more.

Almonds and Chocolate Chips with cherry on top sitting on teal and red polka dot towel

Just watch out for those wrap dresses…

Almonds and Chocolate Chips with cherry on top and sitting on teal and red polka dot towel

Almond Chocolate Cherry Pie Bars

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Almonds and chocolate chips are the perfect addition to cherry pie bars. And they're easy to serve and perfect with some ice cream on the side. Almond Chocolate Cherry Crumble Bars - these EASY pie bars are crumbly and full of almonds, maraschino cherries and CHOCOLATE!
Yield 24 bars

Ingredients
 

For the Crust

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup sliced almonds
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar

For the Filling

  • 1 can cherry pie filling
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

For the Crumble

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup sliced almonds
  • 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
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Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 9x13” pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.
  • Make the crust: add butter, flour, salt, and sugar to a large bowl. Mix with a hand mixer until it becomes crumbly. (You may need to use your fingers to break up any larger chunks of butter.) Press into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
  • While the crust is baking, mix the crumble. Place all the crumble ingredients in the same bowl you used for the crust and mix with your mixer until crumbly.
  • Again, you may need to use your hands to work in the larger chunks of butter.
  • After 15 minutes, remove crust from the oven. Spread the cherry pie filling over the crust in an even layer. Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips. Sprinkle the crumble evenly over the filling and press gently to compact. Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, until topping starts to turn golden.
  • Cool completely before removing from pan. Cut into squares. Serve alone, or with whipped cream or ice cream. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate

If this recipe caught your eye, be sure to check out Drunken Cherries, Cherry Almond Braid, Apple Pie Bars, and Cherry Oatmeal Crumble Bars.

Cherry Coke Poke Cake

cherry coke poke cake sitting on white plate with Coca Cola bottle in the background

Cherry Ice Cream Pie

cherry ice cream pie slice sitting on see through pink plate

Blueberry Slab Pie

Blueberry Slab Pie with text on bottom

Sweets from friends:
Blackberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars by Mom on Timeout
Cherry Cheesecake Fluff Salad by Something Swanky
Skinny Blueberry Crumble Bars by Yummy Healthy Easy

Last Updated on May 13, 2020



Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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43 Comments

  1. Your evening of dancing sounded like fun…even if you did pop a few snaps 🙂 I love pie, and, even more, I love pie that’s easy to cut and portable. Pinning!

  2. I’m even more in love with these now Dorothy! Just totally gorgeous! Pinned, of course 😉

  3. These sounds yummy! Also, you should always carry a couple of small safety pins in your purse for emergencies (yours or someone else’s). 🙂
    xoxo

  4. Pie bars are one of my favorite treats to bake and eat. I love that there are so many ways to change them up, and these cherry-chocolate-almond ones look super yummy!

  5. I love making pie bars! So munch easier to deal with than a regular pie!

  6. The combination of chocolate and cherries makes my mouth water. I absolutely love them together! The “talk dirty to me” song gets me every time lol.

  7. Dorothy, these are beautiful! And I totally agree about cutting pie. It causes me anxiety! Layer cakes too. This is probably why there are none on my blog, I don’t want the stress of the perfect cut weighing on my shoulders. Loved your story by the way 🙂 always good to be able to laugh at ourselves. Sounds like you had a great time out with the ladies!