These are my Almond Cherry Bars!
A sweet treat to make life better!!
I was actually debating if I should make them with blueberries, or cherries. But now I think I should make both!
The cookie part itself is super delicious!
Impossible to resist.
I baked the bars in a 9×9″ pan. You can use a 8×8″ if you want to.
I cut my bars into 9 pieces. After the pictures were taken and I went to take my bars to my friends at work, I cut them in half.
These Almond Cherry Bars are perfect to pack for a picnic, or for a lunchbox.
My son Luke certainly loved them. When I was trying to take pictures of these bars (which was super hard btw!), Luke wouldn’t stop saying: cake, cake, cake!! As he tried to reach for them in the middle of my shooting.
When he could finally have a bar, he sat there, happily eating his bar, swinging his feet and saying: cake, cake!
So cute!
In my instructions, I do ask to put the bars in the freezer before baking them.
That’s because, with any cookies that are butter based, it’s always best that they enter the oven as they are cold. This way, the butter won’t immediately start to melt as soon as it enters the oven, giving your cookies a better structure.
For the delicious glaze on top of these Almond Cherry Bars, I used an almond glaze. Simply sifted powdered sugar, mixed with almond milk (you can use regular), and almond extract.
What I loved the most about these bars is how SOFT and CHEWY they are.
These Almond Cherry Bars are some seriously soft bars!! So chewy, and delicious!
I was addicted to them!
I have to try to make it with blueberries soon, when it’s blueberry picking season.
We usually go berry picking every week, when it’s in season. It’s our little family thing! And then I end up baking a bunch, making smoothies, eating fresh fruit, and freezing some berries too.
It’s a very exciting time of the year!
Give these Almond Cherry Bars a try, share them with your friends! They will love you for it!
Have a great day everyone!!
If you want more ideas of treats to share with your friends, here are some of my suggestions:
Lime Thumbprint Cookies
Orange Cranberry Madeleines
Cardamom Walnut Pastries
Almond Cherry Bars
These Almond Cherry Bars are chewy, soft, and delicious! The most perfect almond and cherry flavors come together in this delightful treat! Enjoy with your coffee, or tea! Perfect for bake sales, afternoon tea time, breakfast, to pack in your lunch!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 egg
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 lime zested and juiced
- 3 cups pitted cherries
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoons cornstarch
Glaze
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar sifted
- 1 tablespoon almond milk or just regular milk
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
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Start by mixing sugar, flour, almond flour, baking powder, kosher salt, and lime zest in a bowl.
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Add butter and mix with a spatula until the butter is incorporated into the dry ingredients.
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Add egg, almond extract, and lime juice.
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Fold to combine all the ingredients.
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In a bowl, mix pitted cherries, with 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar, and 3 teaspoons of cornstarch. Set aside.
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I used a 9x9” pan for this. You can use a 8x8” too.
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Butter the bottom of the pan, layer it with some parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper lightly.
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Spread half of the dough on the bottom of the pan.
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Pour cherries over dough.
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Now, you can just spread out the other half of the dough on top of cherries. Just drop equal amounts evenly through the whole surface of the cookie bar. What I like to do it use a cookie scoop and just scoop amounts of dough on top of cherries.
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Place tray in the freezer while you pre-heat the oven. This is because you want to keep the butter in the dough very cold, so it doesn’t start melting as soon as it enters the oven.
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Pre-heat oven to 350F.
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Bake bars for 20-30 minutes, until top is golden brown.
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Let it rest and cool down for at least an hour.
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Slice it into bars. Drizzle almond glaze on top. Sprinkle some more sliced almonds on top.
Glaze
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Mix sifted powdered sugar with milk and extract. Adjust consistency by adding more powdered sugar if glaze is too thin, or adding more milk, if the glaze is too thick.
I am loving this recipe! Almond and cherry together sound delicious, and that glaze….YUM!
Thank you so much Danielle!
I have everything in my pantry to make these. You really make the best desserts and I love all of your recipes. I am going to try these today I love cherry anything!
Thank you so much Claudia!!! I am so happy you like my recipes!!!
These look so yummy! I love almonds and how easy is your almond glaze!! Can’t wait to try this!
Thank you so much, Lauren!!
You are right, you should make both cherry and blueberry too. With almonds on the top they are absolutely irresistible.
I thought the almonds were a delicious touch to my Cherry Bars. Thank you!
These almond cherry bars are so pretty… What I wouldn’t give for a couple with my coffee right now!
Ohh these cherry bars are delicious with coffee! Thank you Tara!!
I am so into fruit bars lately and I must say that I’m most partial to cherry! These bars look oh so yummy! Pinning now…and thanks for the easy recipe!
Thank you so much Traci! I am glad you liked my Cherry Bars!!
I’m so tempted by your recipe! I’ve been meaning to go cherry picking for a while now, and now I have sufficient motivation to do so!
Omg cherry picking sounds awesome! I wish there was cherry picking near me!!!
With cherry season in full swing…I can see why you picked cherries. I LOVE blueberries…so I would love to give this recipe a try with them too.
Thank you so much Gloria!!
These almond cherry bars look so delicious and perfect for the summer! Almonds and cherries is such a delicious combo – both flavor-wise and color-wise. YUM!
Thank you Natalie!!
These almond cherry bars look so amazing! I’m sure these do disappear fast!
They sure do!! Thank you!!
These look so good – the flavours are so summery and they would make the perfect snack!
I love cherries, they look like the perfect thing to go in there bars!
You had me at chewy!! These look delicious and are the perfect combination for a tasty tea time treat. Love that glaze too, can’t wait to make these x
Thanks Michelle!!
Just to clarify before I make these. You stated add some more almonds on top. Were there almonds somewhere else in the recipe? Do you add almonds on top before you bake as well? Thanks!
Hello! Thanks for your question, Kim!! Yes there are ground almonds in the recipe, or almond flour as you will. 1/2 cup of it in the cookie dough. Then, for the top, I used about 1/2 cup of sliced almonds after I drizzled the glaze on top of the bars after they are baked! I will fix the recipe to list this 1/2 cup of sliced almonds that go on top after baked and glazed! Thank you for bringing to my attention!! Have a great day and I hope you love this recipe!!!
Ok so I missed cherry season but I couldn’t resist still
making these. I made them with frozen dark sweet cherries and they were a success. Just make sure you thaw and drain the liquid. I also chopped the cherries quite small because I don’t like a hunk of cherry in a bar. I’ve turned everyone who is “not a cherry fan” into a cherry fan :0)
Nice, Michelle! Then you did a great job making these!! I am glad everyone loved it!! Sounds great with the frozen dark sweet cherries! Have a great day!! Thank you for making my recipe!