This is a recipe I have always loved.

My Mom however, is cringing in her seat because she absolutely HATES these bars. As I have mentioned before she is not a fan of almond extract/cherry flavoring…therefore these bars were never an item featured in our home. I had to find them elsewhere. That’s not to say we were ever lacking when it came to pastries, breads or desserts. She was always baking something up in the kitchen!

I prefer to make these as a brunch/breakfast item but you could absolutely serve them as dessert. They are sweet and light and great with coffee or tea!

 

Recipe: Cherry Bars

Serves 10-20 (depending on bar size) 

Ingredients:

1 Cup Butter, Softened

2 Cups Sugar

1 Teaspoon Salt

4 Eggs

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/4 Teaspoon Almond Extract

3 Cups All-Purpose Flour

2 Cans (21 oz. each) Cherry Pie Filling (I only used 1).

Glaze:

1 Cup Confectioners Sugar

1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/2 Teaspoon Almond Extract

2 Tablespoons Milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 320 Degrees. Grease a 15x10x1 Inch jelly roll pan and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then Add eggs, one at a time, scraping sides and mixing well with each addition. Add extracts with last egg and mix well.

Once egg mixture is well combined, add flour gradually until incorporated.

Add about 3 cups of batter to jelly roll pan and spread to coat the bottom.

Spread cherry pie filling over the batter and top with the remaining dough. There is no easy way to do this, I just used a spoon and my fingers to add globs of batter over the top.

Place into oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely before glazing.

For the glaze, combine all ingredients and stir to incorporate. Pour over cooled cake and serve!