Cherry Chocolate Chip Bars
A deliciously soft and flavorful dessert, these Cherry Chocolate Chip Bars are filled with maraschino cherries, chocolate chips and frosted with a creamy cherry buttercream!
A CHOCOLATE CHERRY DESSERT BAR
These Cherry Chocolate Chip Bars combine two flavors that are a match made in heaven. These bars are seriously irresistible and I would eat the frosting alone with just a spoon. They are light and airy with a little bit of chew which makes them even more tempting. Trust me when I say that you’ll want to make this Cherry Chocolate Chip Bar recipe!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
While almond and cherry go very well together you can absolutely swap the almond extract with vanilla extract in these.
This can make 24 smaller bars or 12 larger bars depending on how big you want to cut them.
We like semi-sweet chocolate chips for this recipe as it balances out the sweetness from the bars. You can use milk or dark chocolate chips as well. We also use mini chocolate chips for these, but if you want more of the chocolate flavor you can use regular sized. Hershey’s brand or Ghirardelli brand are my favorites.
These can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 5-6 days. These can also be frozen, place bars in a freezer container or bag separated by parchment paper and they should keep for up to 3 months, let defrost in refrigerator or on countertop.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
- all-purpose flour
- granulated sugar
- butter
- milk
- baking powder
- salt
- almond extract
- egg whites
- mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
- maraschino cherries
- powdered sugar
- vanilla extract
- maraschino cherry juice
HOW TO MAKE CHERRY CHOCOLATE CHIP BARS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan. With a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat all bar cake ingredients, besides cherries, chocolate chips, and egg whites. Start on low, scraping sides as needed, turn to medium once ingredients are combined and beat for two minutes.
Add egg whites and beat again on medium for two minutes.
Stir in cherries and chocolate chips.
Pour into greased pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, until the toothpick comes out clean in the center. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
To make frosting, beat all the frosting ingredients together with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
Spread frosting onto cooled bars. Sprinkle with additional chocolate chips desired.
Enjoy!
WANT MORE DELICIOUS RECIPES?
Cherry Chocolate Chip Bars
Ingredients
Bars:
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup butter softened
- 1 cup milk
- 3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 5 large egg whites
- 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup maraschino cherries dried and quartered
Frosting:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon maraschino cherry juice
- 1 Tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.
- With a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat all bar ingredients, besides cherries, chocolate chips, and egg whites. Start on low scraping sides as needed, turn to medium once ingredients are combined and beat for two minutes.
- Add egg whites and beat again on medium for two minutes.
- Stir in cherries and chocolate chips.
- Pour into greased pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, until the toothpick comes out clean in the center. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
- To make frosting, beat all ingredients together with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
- Spread frosting onto cooled bars. Sprinkle with additional chocolate chips desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Use any of your favorite chocolate chip flavors, we use semi-sweet.
- You can use regular sized chocolate chips over mini if you want a more chocolate flavor.
- Make sure you pat the maraschino cherries dry.
- These can be frozen, see tips above.
- Powdered sugar is the same thing as confectioners sugar.
Nutrition
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.
Can you use Maraschino cherries in juice in the bar or do they need to be the dried/candied ones?
I am thinking I would like chocolate frosting like a chocolate covered cherry candy .