Chocolate Chip Cherry Bars — Not sure what to make with cherries? These cherry bars use my favorite blondie base and turn out perfectly every single time! These bars are seriously so good and are a reader favorite!
Ooey Gooey Chocolate Cherry Bars
This cherry dessert recipe has been a reader favorite since July 2012. Here it is again for the newcomers.
Have you been buying your weight in summer fruit every time you go to the grocery store or pass a farmers market? Okay, well I have. Especially cherries.
I love cherries. They are just so perfect. Their sweetness, their hearty flesh, the chewiness. The only thing not perfect about them are their little pits. Pits are a PITA.
I do have a cherry pitter, but I find it just splatters cherry juice everywhere and doesn’t always poke out the pit. More misfires than proper pokes. If the cherry pit is slightly off-center, the gadget just stabs the cherry down the middle, misses the pit, and said cherry juice splatters even more, so I tend to just slice the cherries with a paring knife and am pretty fast with that.
I’m also pretty fast with polishing off a one-pound bag of fresh cherries. But between the watermelon, nectarines, blueberries, grapes, standard issue bananas and apples, and then the cherries, even I was running out room. In both my stomach and crisper drawer.
So I decided to make chocolate chip cherry bars. The beauty of this cherry dessert recipe is that it’s fast, one-bowl, and no mixer is required.
I almost used white chocolate chips but then thought, no, semi-sweet chocolate and cherries just go together. After all, dark chocolate-covered cherries are the confections that overpriced Valentine’s Day candy assortment boxes are made of.
Because of the fruit and the fruit juices released while baking, to say they’re moist and juicy is an understatement.
There’s no granulated sugar in them; just brown sugar. In cookie baking, a higher ratio of brown to white sugar keeps cookies extra soft and moist, and it does the same thing for blondies. It also imparts a caramely-buttery richness that I adore.
The chocolate chips melted everywhere. Can you say hot, juicy, beautiful mess? Cherries and summer fruit never tasted so good.
What’s in These Chocolate Cherry Bars?
For these amazing chocolate chip cherry bars, you’ll need:Â
- Unsalted butter
- Light brown sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Fresh cherries
Seriously, that’s all you need to make this easy cherry dessert!
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cherry Bars
- Melt a stick of butter in a big mixing bowl in the microwave.
- Then stir in the brown sugar, an egg, vanilla, and flour.
- Fold in the cherries (and maybe a few raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, or blueberries) and chocolate chips and you’re ready to bake.
- You’ll know these chocolate cherry bars are ready to come out of the oven when the edges start to pull away from the pan and the center is set. Depending on how gooey you like your blondies, you may want to bake these for a little more or less time than the recipe calls for.Â
- Cool them properly and well before digging in!
Can This Recipe Be Doubled?
Most likely, yes! I’ve only made this cherry recipe as written, but you should be fine to double the ingredients and bake in a 9×13-inch pan.
Should I Use Fresh or Frozen Cherries?
Although I have experimented and made these bars with frozen cherries and although they theoretically work, frozen cherries tend to release too much juice into the batter and the resulting bars tend to be extremely soft.
For much more of a guarantee that the bars will work for you and set up without worry, I recommend fresh cherries.
Can I Make These Bars with Dried Cherries?
If you have dried cherries on hand, I recommend making my Cranberry Chocolate Chip Blondies (just use dried cherries instead of cranberries, it’ll definitely work!). It’s pretty much the same recipe, but I know for sure that one works well with dried fruit.Â
Can I Add Other Fruits?
If you want to use a combination of fresh cherries and other stone fruits like plums, nectarines, peaches, apricots, pluots, or similar, they will work just fine.
You can also try berries such as blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries.
How to Store Chocolate Chip Cherry Bars
These chocolate cherry bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Can the Bars Be Frozen?
Yes! You can freeze these chocolate chip cherry bars for up to 3 months. Let them cool completely on your counter, then slice and store in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container.
When you’re ready to enjoy them, either reheat them in the oven until the chocolate starts to get gooey, or set them on your counter to thaw.
Tips for Making Cherry Bars
You can doctor these up with white chocolate chips or coconut flakes, or add most any other type of fruit from peaches to blackberries, fresh or frozen. I’ve tried many combos of fresh, frozen, half-and-half, and things always work out with this blondie base.
Note that baking times will vary based on the types of fruit used and the moisture content of the fruit; and how gooey you like your blondies.
A toothpick inserted into the middle may not come out clean due to the chocolate chips or juicy fruit. So use your best judgement when taking these babies out of the oven!
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Chocolate Chip Cherry Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt, optional
- ¾ to 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup cherries, fresh or frozen*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 60 seconds.
- To the melted butter, add the brown sugar and stir to combine.
- Add the egg, vanilla, and stir to combine. Add the flour, salt, and stir until just combined, taking care not to over mix or the blondies will be tough.
- Fold in chocolate chips, fruit (I don’t halve the cherries: I like them chunky and big), and pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula or offset knife if necessary.
- Bake for 27 to 32 minutes, or until edges begin to slightly pull away from sides of pan and center is set.**
- Allow bars to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving. Blondies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 3 months.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Cherry Desserts:
You can find all of my CHERRY RECIPES HERE. Some of my favorite cherry desserts are below.
Cherry Cream Pie — An old-fashioned pie with homemade scratch crust topped with NO-BAKE layers of sweetened cream cheese along with juicy cherry pie filling!! If you like cherry pie, you’re going to LOVE this amped up version!!
Soft Cherry Bread with Cherry-Almond Glaze — An EASY quick bread recipe that’s perfect for Valentine’s Day, Easter, or Mother’s Day! Because you can never have too much pink!
Mini Cherry Oreo Cheesecakes – EASY mini cheesecakes loaded with cherries and an Oreo cookie crust!
Triple Chocolate Cherry Cake — This cake is loaded with juicy cherries and topped with an easy homemade chocolate frosting. I used a few shortcuts in this recipe to save time, but this cake tastes completely homemade!
Glazed Cherry Pie Bars — The bars are like cherry pie, but easier. There’s a buttery, soft, tender crust topped with cherry pie filling before being baked and glazed.
Glazed Cherry Bonbon Cookies — Soft, buttery, pink cookies with the surprise of a juicy, sweet maraschino cherry in the middle that also helps keep the cookies moist.
Cherry & Cream Cheese Turnovers — The turnovers are so good that people will think you bought them from a local bakery, but they’re so easy, ready in 20 minutes, and you’ll never need to settle for storebought turnovers again.
Originally published on July 24, 2012 and republished on June 19, 2020 with updated text.
Love this recipe and I have made them a couple of times now since my neighbor gave me a bag of frozen pitted cherries from Michigan! Yay me! We like a little crunch so I topped them with an oatmeal strudel of oatmeal, flour, brown sugar and butter. They are so delicious and I’m getting ready to make a batch now for my fellow tailgating friends this Sunday! Go Colts!!!
Thanks for trying the recipe a few times and I’m glad it comes out great for you! The oatmeal strudel on top sounds just perfect!
5 stars
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
Averie — we picked cherries for the first time this year on vacation and I had to get a pitter. This one from Amazon is pretty good:Â https://www.amazon.com/Cuisipro-747151-Cherry-Olive-Pitter/dp/B003AJKPL2/ref=sr_1_18?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1438911346&sr=1-18&keywords=cherry+pitter — doesn’t splatter much and every cherry was successfully pitted with one try. I just pulled some from the freezer for this recipe and it is in the oven now…smells great!
I made these yesterday for a gathering tonight, and they were a huge hit! I have been baking a lot of Pinterest cake recipes lately, and it was nice to try an easy recipe for a change. The cleanup was a breeze! I used fresh cherries and completely agree – pitting is a PITA. The edges were brown, crispy, and pulled away from the pan, but the bottom (particularly in the center) was close to gooey. I didn’t want the edges to burn, so I went ahead and took them out. When I make them again, I think I may try to strain and blot the cherries with paper towels a bit before folding them in, as I think mine were so juicy that they disrupted the batter consistency. I also may go ahead and pit my remaining cherries, then freeze them before the next use. That could help a bit, and would make the recipe go together very quickly. I’ve also seen recipes that call for the fruit to be tossed in flour before being folded into the batter to avoid bleeding. Any thoughts on this? BTW, Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips complement the cherries perfectly. My friends and I are not picky about doneness as long as the flavor is there, and flavor was present in droves!!! Definitely a keeper.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out well for you! I wouldn’t freeze the fruit and then pull out for the future if your intention is to have it LESS juicy (think about how watery blueberries or strawberries or any berries are when you thaw out a bag of frozen fruit). If you feel next time like you have really juicy fruit, I would just add 1/4 cup more flour. In a shallow pan recipe like this, I don’t think tossing with flour makes much difference like it would say in a loaf pan of cherry bread or a bundt cake where it’s much deeper and sinking is more of an issue.
Just made these and, even though  I ended up having to use dark brown sugar (I forgot to buy light brown sugar!), they were still awesome!
Will be sure to give your other recipes a try! :)
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
Made these a couple of weeks ago using fresh blueberries & dark chocolate chips and they were super delicious!! Thanks for the recipe! It’s seems pretty versatile as far as changing it up with different berries and chocolates. Making another blueberry batch right now because I’m craving these again after seeing your recipe on my Pinterest board while looking for something else. :) Looking forward to giving a few of your other recipes a try!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you – with blueberries and dark chocolate chips. Sounds delish! And you’re right, it’s a very versatile recipe (I’ve used this base 30+ times for blog recipes), just changing the add-in’s from M&Ms to peanut butter chips to swirling in strawberry jam. If you try other recipes, LMK!
Thank you so much! I just came across your site on pinterest and love how you respond so quickly!!! Now I am making your creamy mixed berry white chocolate bars :)
Thanks and enjoy the bars!
They’re in the oven now!!!! Sooooo excited!! But… I used dark brown pure cane sugar because i didn’t have light brown, is that okay? They look dark (when i peak in the oven)!
Dark brown sugar is more caramely tasting when cooked (it has more molasses than light, 3x as much) and appears quite dark when baked in things. Just watch them closely so you don’t over/under-bake them. I’m sure they’ll taste great.
Thank you answering so quickly! I don’t bake very well, so I just used tin foil, didn’t want to deviate from the recipe. I wasn’t sure if the foil was integral to the cooking, or whatever. Thanks again, they are in the oven now, and we can’t wait for them to come out.
I’m sure they turned out great and hope you’re enjoying!