by Alyssa RiversCherry pie in the best form possible: cherry pie bars! You can whip up a whole pan of these bars in minutes using cherry pie filling. They’re pretty, easy to make, and always a hit to serve!
Here are some more fruity desserts: strawberry shortcake, berry cheesecake salad, or strawberry pie.
Cherry Pie Bars
My favorite pie is cherry pie; I’ve never loved pumpkin pie, so cherry pie is my top choice for the holidays.
And these cherry pies have everything I love about cherry pie but in an easier bar form! It’s like biting into cherry pie AND cookies. These bars are incredible — they’re soft, chewy, flavorful, and the glaze on top is the perfect finishing touch. Serve these with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream for the ultimate dessert!
How do you make Cherry Pie Bars?
- Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat well. Beat in extracts.
- In a separate bowl combine flour and salt. Add to the creamed mixture. Mix until combined.
- Grease a 15x10x1 pan and spread 3 cups batter. Spread pie filling on top. Drop remaining batter on top of pie filling.
- Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes clean. Cool on wire rack. Combine glaze ingredients and drizzle over the bars.
Cherry Pie Bars Tips
- Use the right temperature of ingredients: when at room temperature, eggs and butter form an emulsion which traps air. While baking in the oven, that trapped air expands and produces a fluffy baked good. If possible, use room temperature eggs for this recipe. Soaking refrigerated eggs in a bowl of warm (not hot) water for about 5-10 minutes is a quick way to get eggs to room temperature.
- Measure carefully: the most important measurement is the flour. If you press a measuring cup into a bag of flour you are likely packing in way too much flour which will yield less flavorful bars
- Grease the pan: this will ensure your cherry pie bars come out nice and easily!
Can I use any pie filling?
What pan should I use?
Looking for more desserts to love?! Try these!
Cherry Pie Bars
Cherry pie in the best form possible: cherry pie bars! You can whip up a whole pan of these bars in minutes using cherry pie filling. They're pretty, easy to make, and always a hit to serve!
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 21 ounccherry pie filling 2 if you like cherries (highly recommend
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 2 Tbs milk
Instructions
- Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat well. Beat in extracts.
- In a separate bowl combine flour and salt. Add to the creamed mixture. Mix until combined.
- Grease a 15x10x1 pan or 9x13, whichever one you decide to use. Spread 3 cups batter in a 15x10x1 (Also works with 9x13- baking time will at least be 35 minuteSpread with pie filling. Drop remaining batter on top of pie filling.
- Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes clean. Cool on wire rack. Combine glaze ingredients and drizzle over the bars.
These bars must have like 1000 calories each! They look good, but wow! Could probably use less sugar since cherry pie filling is already sweet. Then I might put the topping pretty thing. but do you know how many calories these have?
For any nutritional questions I like to use myfitnesspal.com or skinnytaste.com to answer any information I am looking for. Hope that helps!
I ommitted the almond extract. And used apple pie filling instead.. added cinnamon ?
MMM! That sounds delicious! I love that you changed it and made it your own. Thanks so much for sharing! XOXO
How is a toothpick going to come out clean when you have cherry pie filling in it ? I made these and they were delicious. Taking them to a family reunion this weekend.
I want to try with sour cherries
I made this for the 4th of July. Added extra almond and cherry juice in the glaze. Turned out amazing! Thank you for all of your delicious recipes!
YAY!! That sounds great! Hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July!! XOXO
I have made these several times but I used fresh cherries. They are delicious. I have some fresh apricots and I plan on making some using the apricots. I’m sure they will be just as tasty as the cherry bars are.
MMM! That sounds delicious! Thank you for sharing and following along with me! XOXO
Did you create your own filling with the cherries or just the cherries? I want to make them with the fresh cherries. Thanks!
Can I use any pie filling or fresh fruit instead of cherry?
Any pie filling would work or fresh fruit would taste great too! XOXO
My recipe for cherry pie is 15+ years old
I misplaced it years ago
I made it In a large sheet pan and used 1 can of cherries and 1 can of blue berries
Thank you
With the rasberry pie bars can I add cream cheese chunks
AWE!! That sounds delicious! Let me know how it turns out! XOXO
I have made this recipe for years. I also change the flavor of pie filling for different times of the years or occasions. They are a family favorite(raised 5 kids on them). A doctor friend once called them “Puggie Pills”. Love them. Think Lemon is my next favorite, then Blueberry.
these cherry bars look delicious and i am going to make them and take to bingo and they will love them,
I followed the recipe, my batter was very stiff.like frosting that was refrigerated.anyone have the same problem? It is in oven now.will seee if it comes out like a rock.let me know pleaseI
I followed the recipe, my batter was very stiff.like frosting that was refrigerated.anyone have the same problem? It is in oven now.will seee if it comes out like a rock.let me know pleaseI
These pie bars look so delicious and so easy to make! Perfect snack!
I have just made these waiting for them to come out of the oven, they smell amazing
can you tell me the nutritional info on these bars, calories, sugar %, etc……?
I like to use skinnytaste.com or myfitnesspal.com for any nutritional questions.
This is an old recipe my memere called fruit squares. The favorite was always cherry or blueberry.
No glaze needed though, as the come out of oven, rub butter on top the sprinkle with powdered sugar. Also more almond extract like a full teaspoon and add another egg! Will make a much better recipe.
Could you just use a white cake mix?
You are welcome to try that. That sounds delicious and a little simple way to help with the timing. Let me know what you think! XOXO
Could you add cream cheese to this recipe
Great recipe. How do you make the glaze or do you have to buy it?
Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 Tbs milk
My attempt did not bake in the middle. I baked it longer than suggested. It looks great, but the middle did not bake. Could be that I used a glass pan. Looking for the 15 by 10 metal pan and will try again.
The flavor is awesome around the edges, but the raw batter is way too sweet.
I had the same problem. It must be the glass baking dishes fault!!! lol,lol
These tinned fruit pie fillings are vastly improved with the addition of lemon juice, lemon rind and salt as these tend to be rather bland. I also put lemon rind in the batter as well as vanilla essence. I’ll probably put lemon juice in the glaze or perhaps not. This is the second time I’ve made this recipe which was a big hit at the clinic where I practice.
I haven’t made this type of bar in a while. Would it be possible to cut down on the pound of butter? Or would that not work?
The butter is kind of like glue and sticks it all together without it crumbling. You are welcome to lower it and see how it tastes. The presentation just may not be as great! Let me know what you think!
It is a up of butter not a pound
This looks delicious and easy. Also, like the way the recipe is laid out and you can print it.
I made these last Christmas and plan to again this year.. I did cut the batter ingredients in half and I drizzled them with melted white chocolate Instead of the glaze. So yummy!
Can these bars be frozen after baked?
Yes! These are great frozen!
I made these and they’re delicious. Do you know can they be frozen?
Yes! These can be frozen.
I made these for Meals On Wheels since they cut nicely. They were a hit !
The only thing I did different was I added sliced almonds. Yum !
Did you say to use 2 cans of pie filling if baking in a jelly roll pan
Thanks
Lil
I would suggest just one can of pie filling for a jelly roll pan unless you would like it more fruity!
These bars look delicious, Alyssa!
Using sweet cherries I cooked myself into pie filling. They are in the oven now and house smells yummy.
I have a recipe that uses a layer of cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, almond extract and 1 egg. Mix it all together until smooth then spread on top of batter. I used Strawberry pie filling this time. It is so yummy with the cream cheese layer.
This looked so good!! I love Cherry Pie. There were several problems with my first try. I had way more batter and cherries than would fit in a one inch deep pan. I used a 10 × 15 × 2″ glass baking dish and the recommend 2 cans of cherries pie filling. After spreading all ingredients in the greased dish the depth was about an 1!/2 .The batter did not cook even after 45 minutes @ 350°. After it had cooled I drizzled on the icing. There was way too much icing. If possible please share some pointers to make the next batch turn out better. Also, the pieces did not remove easily from the baking dish.
Absolutely delicious!!!! Can’t wait to make them again!!!
These are in the oven as I write. I didn’t have a 15x10x1 pan so I used the 9x13x2.5. Question… I have a half sheet pan measuring: 12x17x1 and a quarter sheet pan at 9x12x1 could I have used the half sheet pan? Where did you get the 15×10 pan?
It looks like my top batter was too much and has spread to cover all the cherries, I love the way yours look so next time I will increase the bottom layer, perhaps b/c I used the 9×13? Also. interesting discovery on my part. You didn’t mention sifting the flour so I used my usual method of spooning the flour into the measuring cup and leveling off. I live in Florida, hence high humidity and semi caked flour, so I decided to run a whisk through the flour and re-measure… there was 1/3 cup of flour left after remeasuring the needed 3 cups! Now I am hoping my batch turns out! LoL. Timer dinged… So, for me, 35 minutes was not enough time, a very wet center, slightly golden edges. @ 40 min. still wet in the center and darker edges. Foiled the edges and returned to the oven for 5 more… The center has browned up to match the edges and it still needs 3 to 5 more minutes, for a total of 50 to 55 minutes…. maybe b/c too much top layer of batter? Ahhh so many unknowns, lol.
If I use peach pie filling instead of cherry, do I still need to use the almond extract? Would almond extract taste okay with the peach filling?
No, you do not have to use the almond extract unless you would like to. It still tastes great with peach filling.
Can these be made a day ahead w/o getting soggy?
Yes, these are great the day ahead!
This is my first time making these and they smell great. I am making them a day ahead, would you recommend storing these in the refrigerator?
Thanks.
Yes, that is best.
So, I did the 9×13 glass pan. I had it on for 30 mins when I went into panic mode as it just looked plain raw. So I decided to put the heat up to 375 and cook it for another half hour. I pulled it out and checked the bottom and perfectly browned. I even decided to do the toothpick thing lol. I figured that if you put the toothpick directly through the batter on the top and push to the bottom, I was able to pull out a clean toothpick. I’ll admit, I was amazed lol. I thought for sure I was just going to get a bright red toothpick, feel foolish, and keep that tidbit to myself lol but hey, it worked.
Wow! Amazing bars, they were a big hit!
My adult taste testers liked this fairly easy dessert. Ideal for a children’s party. However, I felt there was too much batter on the bottom crust. The crust was moist and shortcake-like that held together very well when cut. I creamed the ingredients very well and even without leavening, the crust had a nice, soft texture. But it seemed too heavy for my personal taste for a “bar” style dessert. I prefer a thinner, crisper bar crust. I also didn’t care for the globs of dough on top of the dessert; they seemed unattractive and appeared bland with no eye appeal. I baked the dessert longer than specified just to get some color on the topping dough globs. The amount of icing was double of what I actually used – wasted ingredients. I made it Saturday morning and served it that evening; on Monday the dessert was still fresh enough to share with the neighbors. The heavy butter crust held up.
I have made this recipe for years, after finding it in a charity cookbook gifted to me in the mid 1980’s. They called it Cherry Swirl Coffee Cake. The only difference is your addition of the almond and vanilla extract in the glaze, which I will include the next time I make this. This is such a tender, tasty recipe and is always a hit at the many, many gatherings we have taken it to. Tip – hand mix the dry ingredients and do not over mix, and bake just until starting to turn golden on top. I have also used blueberry pie filling. Thanks for sharing this lovely recipe with the world!