Almond Cherry Bars
Hello friends! Today I bring to you a super easy recipe and video! These Almond Cherry Bars are super chewy, soft, topped with a delicious almond glaze! You will make these over and over!
This cherry bars recipe is one of my oldest recipes on the blog, and today I am updating it with new pictures, a new video, and fixing the baking time below on the instructions.
I had the baking time set to 20-30 minutes, and that was clearly wrong, since these bars take about 45 minutes to bake, and can take up to 1 hour, depending on the size pan you use, and on your oven.
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You can use a 9×9″ or 8×8″ pan to bake these bars. With the 9×9″, the bars will be just slightly shorter, and a bit thicker with the 8×8″.
These Almond Cherry Bars are perfect to pack for a picnic, or for a lunchbox.
And they will hold up pretty well for a few days stored in the fridge, but make sure to take them out and let them sit at room temperature for a while before serving. So that the butter in the dough has a chance to soften up.
I have also experimented to make these bars with part whole wheat flour, as a reader had suggested on the reviews below.
By the way, do read the reviews below and on Pinterest! They are awesome! These cherry bars are a crowd pleaser!
So when I made the bars with part whole wheat flour, they still came out pretty delicious, just a bit chewier, which is totally yum!
They also came out a bit dark as you can see on the pic below, the bars right below were made with 50% whole wheat flour, so 1 cup of all-purpose, and 1 cup of whole-wheat.
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.
If your glaze is too thin and runny, add more sifted powdered sugar to make it thicker.
Now if the glaze is too thick, add a bit more milk. And by a bit more milk, I actually mean a few drops. In glazes like these, a little liquid goes a long way, so be mindful!
Make sure to watch the video on this page and on Youtube, showing you how to make these delicious Almond Cherry Bars!
If you love soft and chewy bars, this is the dessert for you!
If you liked this recipe, here are some more recipes you may enjoy:
- Brookies
- Baked Oatmeal Cups
- Biscoff Brownies
- Chocolate Coconut Bars
- Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars
- Dulce de Leche Bars
If you make this recipe, please consider leaving a comment below, it helps my blog and also the other readers! And also tag me on instagram or share a picture on Pinterest! Nothing makes me happier than seeing you guys making my recipes that I put out with so much love! Thanks for reading!
Almond Cherry Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (9 oz, 255 grams)
- 1/2 cup almond flour (1.69 oz, 48 grams)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (5.29 oz, 150 grams)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 12 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature (6 oz, 170 grams)
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1 lemon (or lime) zested and juiced
- 3 cups pitted cherries
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
Glaze
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar sifted (2.65 oz, 75 grams)
- 1 tbsp almond milk or just regular milk
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350ºF.
- Start by mixing the flour, almond flour, sugar, sugar, baking powder, kosher salt, and lemon zest in a bowl.
- Add the butter and mix with a spatula until the butter is incorporated into the dry ingredients. You can also use your hands to make this easier. There shouldn't be any chunks of butter in the dough, it should be totally incorporated with the dry ingredients.
- Add the egg, almond extract, and lemon juice.
- Fold to combine all the ingredients, until a soft dough has formed. It will be sticky, like a cookie dough.
- In a bowl, mix the pitted cherries, with 3 tbsp of granulated sugar, and 1 tbsp of cornstarch. Set aside.
- Line the bottom of a 9×9" or 8×8" pan with parchment paper.
- Spread half of the dough on the bottom of the pan.
- Pour the cherries over dough and spread evenly.
- Spread out the other half of the dough on top of cherries. Just drop equal amounts evenly distributed over the cherries. You can use a cookie scoop to do this, as I show on the video.
- Then use your hands to help spread out the dough and flatten it. If the dough is too sticky you may flour your hands lightly.
- Bake the bars for about 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown.
- Let the bars cool down before slicing.
Glaze
- Mix the sifted powdered sugar with the milk and almond extract. Adjust the consistency by adding more powdered sugar if the glaze is too thin, or adding more milk, if the glaze is too thick. Remember that a little goes a long way when it comes to adding liquids to glazes like this one.
- Drizzle the almond glaze on top of the bars. Sprinkle some more sliced almonds on top.
Storage
- Store the bars in the fridge for up to 5 days, covered. Let them sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften up before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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!
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!!!
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!!
I love cherries, they look like the perfect thing to go in there bars!
These look so good – the flavours are so summery and they would make the perfect snack!
These almond cherry bars look so amazing! I’m sure these do disappear fast!
They sure do!! Thank you!!
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!!
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!!
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!!!
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!!
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!!
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 look so yummy! I love almonds and how easy is your almond glaze!! Can’t wait to try this!
Thank you so much, Lauren!!
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!!!
I am loving this recipe! Almond and cherry together sound delicious, and that glaze….YUM!
Thank you so much Danielle!
I had extra cherries in my fridge! Saw this recipe and decides to make it! This recipe is a definite keeper!
Followed the directions however I felt it didn’t require the glaze! Thanks for posting!
Thank you so much Tina!!! Im so glad you enjoyed it!
I haven’t made them yet, but can I add shivered almonds to the bars? It would taste nice along with the other almond extract and flour. Also had a little trouble trying to increase yield to 24 bars, with the calculations provided. Some of the amounts on the ingredients are confusing
yes you can add it
I would like to make these gluten free. I was going to use all almond flour. Thoughts?
Sorry I really have no idea if it is going to work with almond flour, as I havent experimented with it.