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Home » Cookies » Cherry Bars with Vanilla Glaze

December 13, 2018 By Sara 16 Comments

Cherry Bars with Vanilla Glaze

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These cherry bars are a soft cookie crust topped with cherry pie filling, more cookie dough and a drizzle of vanilla glaze. An easy and impressive dessert that’s perfect to feed a crowd!

I love a good pie, and these bar cookies are almost like a handheld pie, but with much less work. Cherry bars always get rave reviews and are super festive for a holiday gathering.

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Cherry bars made with almond cookie dough on a sheet pan.

I have to admit, I made these cherry bars because I found some cans of cherry pie filling in the pantry that I needed to use up. I wasn’t expecting a lot, but let me tell you, my expectations were absolutely wrong. These cherry bars are incredibly delicious and have found their way onto my regular dessert rotation.

How do you make cherry bars?

This recipe starts with a super soft and flavorful cookie dough which forms both the crust and the topping for these bars. Some of the dough is spread into the bottom of a jelly roll pan, and then two cans of cherry pie filling get spread over the top. Using an offset spatula makes spreading the dough and pie filling easy tasks.

Cherry pie filling spread over a cookie crust.

Not a fan of cherry pie filling? Try apple, blueberry or peach pie filling instead! This recipe calls for a 15″ x 10″ pan which is a somewhat unusual size. You can make the bars in a 9″ x 13″ pan instead, but the bars will be thicker and therefore take longer to cook.

More of the cookie dough goes over the top, and then the whole pan goes into the oven to bake until golden brown.

Cherry pie filling with dollops of cookie dough on top.

This recipe calls for basic ingredients that you most likely already have in the house with the exception of one: almond extract. The almond extract really makes these bars special, so I urge you to make a special trip to the store to grab some for this recipe. You won’t regret it.

A pan of baked cherry bars.

After your bars have cooled, a little glaze goes over the top. Cut your pan of cookies into squares and you’re ready to serve!

Cherry bars topped with vanilla glaze.

Cherry bars make a great potluck offering, are perfect for a holiday cookie tray, or are great for when you need dessert to feed a lot of people. Everyone that has tried these bars has asked me for the recipe, they’re really that good! Think cherry pie meets almond sugar cookie. I may or may not have even had some of the leftovers for breakfast.

Two cherry bars on a plate with a pan of bars in the background.

Cherry pie bars are perfect served as is, but a scoop of vanilla ice cream never hurts, am I right?

More fabulous dessert recipes

  • Fried Apple Pies
  • Peach Crumble Bars
  • Earthquake Cake
  • Pecan Pie Bars
  • Cherry Cheesecake Dip
Cherry bars made with almond cookie dough on a sheet pan.
Print Pin
5 from 6 votes

Cherry Bars

These cherry bars are a soft cookie crust topped with cherry pie filling, more cookie dough and a drizzle of vanilla glaze. An easy and impressive dessert that's perfect to feed a crowd!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword cherry bars
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 24
Calories 277kcal
Author Sara Welch

Ingredients

For the bars

  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 eggs
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 cans cherry pie filling
  • cooking spray

For the glaze

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 tablespoons milk

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 10" x 15" jelly roll pan with cooking spray.
  • Place the butter, sugar and salt in the bowl of a mixer. Beat until fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
  • Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
  • With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour. Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts.
  • Spread 2/3 of the dough evenly over the bottom of the pan.
  • Spread the pie filling over the dough.
  • Place teaspoon sized dollops of dough all over the surface of the pie filling.
  • Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in the pan.
  • To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, extracts and milk. Add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, if you prefer a thinner glaze.
  • Drizzle the glaze over the bars. Let the glaze harden, then cut into squares and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 277kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 47mg | Sodium: 184mg | Potassium: 82mg | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 375IU | Vitamin C: 1.8mg | Calcium: 16mg | Iron: 1mg

Filed Under: Baking, Cookies, Dessert Tagged With: Cherries

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Comments

  1. Tammie says

    June 18, 2020 at 1:09 pm

    Apparently we don’t have to heat up the canned cherries which is such a time saver but if I were to make this I would add a 1/2 – 1 tsp of cinnamon to the top of the filling. I just made a Black Forest cake last week where I made my own filling. It called for us to put 2 sm sticks of cinnamon into the mixture as it simmered. I can not tell you how great that extra flavor made the filling!! Give it a try. You won’t regret it….

    Reply
  2. Grace albers says

    December 22, 2019 at 11:44 am

    Can these be frozen for a couple days

    Reply
    • Sara says

      December 22, 2019 at 3:32 pm

      Yes that’s fine!

      Reply
  3. Tash says

    December 18, 2018 at 6:17 am

    Oh gosh, so many delicious recipes are around at the moment, I look through blogs and just want to make it all! This looks an absolute beaut of a recipe! Must make these!

    Reply
  4. Christina says

    December 16, 2018 at 8:55 pm

    5 stars
    Boom! This look really good and easy to make. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  5. Emily Leary says

    December 16, 2018 at 6:01 am

    5 stars
    These look and sound so good! They’re quick and easy to make too – an added bonus!

    Reply
  6. Monica says

    December 16, 2018 at 2:28 am

    This recipe is to die for! Omg! The cherries on top look a-ma-zing! Thanks for that – pinned and copied :*

    Reply
  7. Valerie says

    December 15, 2018 at 9:00 pm

    5 stars
    Your bars look better than some that I’ve seen in stores! I think my MOm and Dd would both love these, they’re into cherries and pastries.

    Reply
  8. Jasmine Hewitt says

    December 15, 2018 at 7:38 pm

    not a big cherry fan but these do look good!

    Reply
    • Cindy says

      October 2, 2020 at 2:23 pm

      You could always use blueberries or apples or any canned fruit you like

      Reply
  9. Shar says

    December 15, 2018 at 7:02 pm

    Oh my goodness these are so cute and look amazing too! I love cherry so these would be right up my alley 🙂

    Reply
  10. Monidipa Dutta says

    December 15, 2018 at 5:11 am

    5 stars
    My niece loves cherry. This recipe looks great. SO I will make it for her.

    Reply
  11. Danielle says

    December 14, 2018 at 3:06 pm

    5 stars
    These look so yummy! I must make these ASAP!!

    Reply
  12. Stacie says

    December 14, 2018 at 10:47 am

    5 stars
    There is no better winter dessert than something with cherry in it. I can’t wait to give these a try. They look fairly easy to make, too.

    Reply
  13. Thomas says

    December 13, 2018 at 9:23 pm

    I have frozen tart cherries from northern michigan. Should I go to a cherrie pie recipie to create the filling. Dont particularly like the thick sweet filling.

    Reply
    • Sara says

      December 13, 2018 at 10:16 pm

      This looks like a good one, you can use less sugar if you prefer it to be less sweet: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/homemade-cherry-pie-filling/

      Reply

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With 3 young kids, dinner can feel like feeding time at the zoo! I'm a mom on a mission to create easy, healthy and family friendly recipes ...Read More
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