Best Tart Cherry Cheddar Bars Recipes

CHERRY BARS

Steps:

• Gather all the ingredients.
• Preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC). For a convection oven, reduce cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). Line a 13 x 9-inch (33 x 23 cm) baking dish with parchment paper.
• Pit cherries and toss them with 2 tsp flour.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine melted butter, vanilla and sugar. Mix on medium speed until well blended and smooth.
• Blend in flour and salt and stir until incorporated.
• Press dough evenly into bottom of prepared baking dish. Bake until crust is golden and slightly puffed, about 18 minutes.
• When the crust is done, transfer to a wire rack and cool crust in pan.
• Meanwhile, let's make the filling. Cut the butter into a few pieces and place in a saucepan over medium heat. Melt the butter completely stirring frequently with the spatula.
• As the butter heats, it will begin to foam and then bubble. After several minutes, the milk solids will start to become brown on the bottom of the pan. Make sure that milk solids do not stick to the pan. Continue stirring until the butter is evenly browned, being careful not to burn. Remove from the heat and pour browned butter into a glass bowl to cool slightly.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine eggs, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk all together.
• Add extracts and blend in flour by ⅓ at a time. Whisk all together until smooth.
• Gradually blend in browned butter and whisk mixture until completely blended.
• Arrange cherries over cooled crust.
• Carefully pour filling evenly over fruit.
• Bake at 375ºF (190ºC) for about 30 minutes, until filling is puffed and golden. A skewer inserted in the center should come out clean. Cool bars completely in pan on a wire rack.
• Carefully lift the parchment paper to remove cooled bars from the pan and place them on a cutting board. Cut them into squares using a knife.

TART CHERRY PIE BARS WITH OATMEAL CRUMBLE (VEGAN AND GLUTEN FREE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8 inch pan with parchment paper and generously spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
• Make the base + topping: In a large bowl, use a fork to mix together the oat flour, oats, coconut sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
• Add in melted butter, vanilla extract and almond extract and stir until a nice crumble forms and dough begins to clump together. Place 1 ½ cups of the mixture into the prepared pan and place the remaining mixture into the fridge (the remaining mixture will be used for the topping). Use your hands to evenly press the dough to the bottom of the pan.
• Next make your cherry pie filling: place a medium pot over medium heat. Add in tart cherries, maple syrup, almond extract, cornstarch (or arrowroot) and salt. Use a wooden spoon to press down and break down the cherries just a bit.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook for 5 more minutes until mixture is thickened up and nicely coats the back of a spoon without being too drippy. If it's too drippy stir in 1-2 teaspoons more cornstarch or arrowroot.
• Pour mixture over the crust and use a spoon to evenly spread.
• Take the remaining topping out of the fridge. By now there should be some nice crumbles that have clumped together. Sprinkle the topping over the tart cherry filling. Bake for 30 minutes or until filling is bubbly and topping is golden.
• Allow bars to cool completely on a wire rack before transferring to the fridge to chill. Bars are delicious served at room temperature or straight out of the fridge. Use a sharp knife to cut into 16 bars before serving.

THE BEST TART CHERRY PIE YOU'LL EVER EAT

Steps:

• Make the pie dough and shape the crust in a pie pan ahead of time, then store covered in the fridge. You can follow my recipe for an all butter flaky pie crust, use your favorite recipe, or a store-bought crust.
• To make the tart cherry pie filling: add frozen tart cherries, sugar, cornstarch, flour and almond extract to a large pot and place over medium heat. After 5 minutes or so, the cherries will thaw, begin to break down and the sugar will melt. Stir frequently during this time. Add in butter and amaretto and continue to stir. After another 5-10 or so minutes, the mixture will begin to thicken and start to bubble along the edges. Once the filling begins to stick slightly to the back of your spoon, remove it from the heat and set aside to cool off.
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
• While your oven preheats, make the dutch crumble topping: in a medium bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar and oats. Add in the melted butter and stir together with a fork until it begins to form into crumbles and resembles clumpy wet sand. You may need to use your hands/fingers to form into nice crumbles. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 5 minutes or until ready to use.
• Remove pie pan with pie crust from the refrigerator and place pie pan onto a large baking sheet. I do this to avoid any spillage that may happen as the pie filling bubbles and bakes. Pour cooled tart cherry pie filling into the crust, then top filling with the dutch crumble topping.
• Bake for 1 hour-1 hour 15 minutes or until the filling is very bubbly and the crumble is slightly golden brown. Check pie after 30 minutes to make sure the crust isn't burning. If it is getting too golden brown, simply cover pie edges with foil or pie shield.
• Allow pie to cool on a wire rack until completely cooled before cutting into it (this is annoying, but if you cut into it before then the pie filling won't be set). The longer the pie rests, the easier it is to serve! Can be made a few days ahead of time. Pie is best served at room temp or just slightly warm. Serves 9. Great with vanilla bean ice cream. Enjoy!

ALMOND CHERRY PEPITA BARS

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 325 degrees F. Coat an 8-inch square glass baking dish with cooking spray. Line the bottom with a piece of parchment or waxed paper leaving a 4-inch overhang on two opposite sides and spray the paper with cooking spray.
• Put 1 cup of the rice cereal in a resealable plastic bag and crush to a fine powder with the back of the measuring cup. Combine the remaining 1 cup rice cereal, pepitas, almonds and cherries in a large bowl. Heat the rice syrup and almond butter in a small saucepan until warm and bubbling and remove from heat. Stir in the almond extract and salt, and pour into the nut mixture. Fold with a spatula until it is everything is moistened and well combined. Add the crushed rice cereal and continue to fold until evenly incorporated.
• Press the mixture very firmly and evenly into the prepared pan using the overhanging pieces of parchment to prevent sticking. Bake until beginning to brown, about 25 minutes. Cool 15 minutes on a wire rack, then press again to compact the mixture. Chill until firm but not completely set , about 45 minutes. Remove the block by the paper handles and invert onto a cutting board. Gently peel off the paper. Cut the block in half, then cut each half into 6 bars for 12 total. Refrigerate until fully set.
• Store the bars individually wrapped or layered between sheets of parchment or waxed paper in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. The bars will soften up and become chewy as they come to room temperature.

TART CHERRY CHEDDAR BARS

Steps:

• Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides. Grease the foil. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
• Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon in a food processor. Add the butter and cheese and pulse until the flour is pale yellow and coarse.
• Press half the flour mixture firmly into the prepared pan. Bake just until golden, about 15 minutes. Cool slightly. Spread the preserves evenly over the crust, then sprinkle the remaining flour mixture evenly over the preserves. Bake at 325° until the top is golden, about 25 minutes. Place on a wire rack and cool completely, about 1 hour.
• When cool, use the foil "handles" to lift the bar from the pan and cut.

TART CHERRY CRISP

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. Place cherries in an ungreased 9-in. pie plate. Sprinkle with sugar. In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over cherries. , Bake, uncovered, until top is bubbly, 30-40 minutes. Serve warm.

QUICK AND EASY CHERRY BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the dough and spread the rest into the bottom of the prepared pan. Cover this layer evenly with cherry pie filling. Drop the rest of the dough by spoonfuls on top of the cherry layer and spread to cover the best you can.
• Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until top is golden. Frost with a confectioners' glaze when cool for sweeter bars. Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

CHERRY BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extracts. Gradually add flour., Spread 3 cups dough into a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Spread with pie filling. Drop remaining dough by teaspoonfuls over filling. Bake 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack., In a small bowl, mix confectioners' sugar, extracts and enough milk to reach desired consistency; drizzle over top.