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Homemade Cherry Pie Bars

These cherry pie bars are tasty and pretty! A homemade dessert that is easy to make and slices up and serves perfectly! Use any pie filling!

A DELICIOUSLY SIMPLE HOMEMADE DESSERT

Is there anything prettier than a cherry or strawberry dessert? I love the colors, I love the flavors and they are perfect for the holidays. You can use any flavor pie filling to switch it up a bit. Blueberry is another favorite of mine. As always, I love adding a little almond extract along with anything cherry. It really enhances the cherry flavor without overwhelming it.

cherry pie bars, shown close up, three cherry bars stacked on top of each other on a white plate.

TIPS FOR MAKING CHERRY PIE BARS

  • I have made this recipe with peach, strawberry, apple and blueberry pie fillings. All of them were amazing and worked perfectly!
  • You will need a larger baking sheet for this. You might see it called a jelly roll pan. Trust me, it’ll get a ton of use once you make these bars one time. You’ll be hooked! I just know you are going to fall in love with these bars. The cherry filling plays peekaboo around the dollops of dough. They slice up and serve beautifully.
  • If you love this recipe, be sure to go have a look at my recipe for Cherry Crumble Bars!
  • These bars can be frozen.
Easy Cherry Pie Bars recipe from The Country Cook. A closeup photo of one of the bars on a white plate.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)

  • butter – I’m using unsalted here but you could certainly use salted. Just leave out the additional salt included in the recipe.
  • sugar – I have not tried this with any sugar substitutes but it should work if you are using a 1:1 ratio sugar substitution (like Splenda for baking).
  • large eggs – baked goods turn out best when all the ingredients are at room temperature so that goes for the eggs too.
  • vanilla and almond extracts – the almond extract compliments the cherry flavor so well. If you just don’t like almond extract then leave it out.
  • all-purpose flour – self rising flour won’t work in this recipe. Because self-rising flour has a leavening agent, it won’t turn out properly in this recipe where there is no leavening agent (like baking powder or baking soda needed).
  • cherry pie filling – you can use any pie filling you love with this recipe or make your own! You could also use sugar free options.
ingredients shown: cherry pie filling, flour, butter, vanilla, eggs, sugar, almond extract.

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE CHERRY PIE BARS

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy.

sugar and butter creamed together in a white mixing bowl.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extracts.

eggs added to butter and sugar mixture and mixed together with a handheld electric mixer.

Gradually add flour.

flour added to cherry pie bar batter in a large white mixing bowl.

Spread 3 cups dough into a greased 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Spread with pie filling.

cherry pie filling on top of sugar cookie batter that has been spread out in a large cookie sheet.

Drop remaining dough by teaspoonfuls over filling. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

cherry pie bar batter dotted onto cherry pie filling.

In a small bowl, mix confectioner’s sugar, extracts and enough milk to reach desired consistency; drizzle over top.

Cherry Pie Bars, fully baked with a powdered sugar icing drizzled on top.

Makes about 12 large slices. 

Cherry Pie Bars, stacked, on a small white plate.

CRAVING MORE RECIPES?

Originally published: October 2016
Updated & republished: September 2020

Cherry Pie Bars recipe

Cherry Pie Bars

These cherry pie bars are tasty and pretty! A homemade dessert that is easy to make and slices up and serves perfectly. Use any pie filling!
4.88 from 194 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 12 slices

Ingredients

For the bars:

For the glaze:

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, cream 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened to room temperature, 2 cups sugar and 1 teaspoon salt until light and fluffy.
    sugar and butter creamed together.
  • Add 4 large eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract.
    eggs added to butter and sugar.
  • Gradually add 3 cups all-purpose flour.
    flour added to cherry pie bar batter.
  • Spread 3 cups dough into a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Spread 2 (21 ounce) cans cherry pie filling evenly on top.
    cherry pie filling on top of sugar cookie batter.
  • Drop remaining dough by teaspoonfuls over filling.
    cherry pie bar batter
  • Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
  • In a small bowl, mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and about 2-3 Tablespoons milk to reach desired consistency; drizzle over top.
    Cherry Pie Bars, fully baked.

Video

YouTube video

Notes

  • Use any flavor pie filling you prefer.
  • These bars can be frozen. 
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American

Nutrition

Calories: 556kcal | Carbohydrates: 95g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 17g | Sodium: 369mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 43g

Nutritional Disclaimer

“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

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Recipe source: Taste of Home (2001)

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Recipe Rating




113 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Absolutely devine!! I couldn’t keep everyone’s hands off these to save some for me – ha! Definitely in our dessert rotation now 🙂

  2. 5 stars
    Made these for a work Christmas party, they were a huge hit! Everyone ate them up first and asked if I made more LOL

  3. I noticed that there is not any baking soda or powder in the recipe is that right?
    I am going to get the ingredients I need to make them.

    I hope to hear back from you so I can get started to make them.
    Thanks
    Eunice

  4. 5 stars
    These bars are simply delicious! Since I came across the recipe, I have been making them every year for my birthday treat using cherry pie filling from Door County, Wis. I usually make them according to the posted recipe but this year I tried using a pastry bag to add the dough on top as suggested by other reviews. Unfortunately this method just gave me blobs on top rather than the crackled appearance I had when I used it exactly the way your recipe is written (dropping with a spoon). Excellent and tasty recipe!!

  5. 5 stars
    These are amazing! I just canned some cherry pie filling so saved some to make these bars. Very easy and everyone loved them.

  6. This looks great! I’m going to top the cherry filling, before topping with crust, with small dollops of blueberry pie filling for the 4th of July!

  7. 5 stars
    I made this as directed in a jelly roll pan but I used one can of cherry pie filling instead of two. I distributed the cherries evenly around the bottom layer with clean hands. The next time I make this (and there WILL be a next time!), I will add some lemon juice to brighten up the flavor of the red filling before spreading it on the dough.

    What I really liked about this recipe: it’s very pretty and I got lots of “Ooos & ahhs” from the guests. I made it the day (24 hrs) before, drizzling it with the icing (lemon juice and powdered sugar, mixed & placed in a small zip bag, then dizzled on the cake by cutting off a tiny bit of one of the corners.

    The cake did NOT dry out and get stale at all. It was soft even 4 days later (I slipped the plate of cookies/cake into a supermarket veggie bag and loosely closed it around the plate.) To show how good this is, I was asked for the recipe by 2 other ladies at the event. Thank you for a great recipe that I can make in advance.

  8. 5 stars
    Wow, I made this for a family function and it was a hit. I read the reviews and I saw a review from Harpie saying to put the remaining batter in a ziploc bag (as a pastry bag) to squeeze the dough out onto the cherries…….it made it so much easier.

    My family absolutely loved these Cherry Bars!!

  9. 5 stars
    Easy to make, easy to eat, very tasty. Used peach pie filling and it was perfect. Used an offset spatula to spread the base.

  10. 5 stars
    Hope to have something to take to a dinner this was very easy looked wonderful and it taste even better thank you for the recipe

  11. 5 stars
    Made this for a mens get-together; they raved about it and now it’s all my husband can talk about.
    He keeps telling me it’s his new favorite dessert so I am surprising him with a pan of cherry pie bars for him for Father’s Day.
    He will be excited.
    Great recipe.

  12. 5 stars
    My family loves these. We’ve made them many different times using cherries, blueberries, or peaches. All are awesome! My cookie sheet/jelly roll pan is a little bigger than the 15×10 recommended here so I always 1 1/4 the recipe and it’s perfect. Thanks for a great recipe!