Creamy Cherry and Lemon Bars are dense and firm, and have lots of texture from the cherries. Plus they’re extremely easy and fast to make!
I wanted to make something in the spirit of Valentine’s Day. And use up various baking project leftovers.
This is the result.
From the Maraschino Cherry White Chocolate Cookies and the Rum Runners, I had maraschino cherries left over. Rather than just eating them out of the jar, I thought baking with them for Valentine’s Day was a better idea.
A fresh batch of Seven Minute Microwave Caramels left me with half of a can of sweetened condensed milk. I really hate recipes that use partial cans of things, but it can’t be avoided in that one. Unless you want to make a double batch of caramels, and I can’t argue with that.
When I started recipe trialing for The Best Lemon Bars, I didn’t know how many lemons I’d need, and bought more than I needed and had a surplus to use. Plus, on my daily runs here in San Diego, lemons are in season and are falling off the trees.
Some days I literally stumble on them on the sidewalks and will pick a few up and take them home with me. Either that or the birds eat them or they rot. Some of these hundred-year old lemon trees have 200 or more lemons on them at any time. And that’s just one tree. More than any one person could ever dream of using.
So after pondering about what I was going to make on a long run, which is when I do my best thinking, I came inside and got to work.
The bars come together in minutes by hand, in one bowl, and makes an 8-by-8 inch pan, just eight wedges. My kind of recipe, on all accounts.
In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt half of a stick of butter. To the melted butter, add an egg, half of a can of sweetened condensed milk, which is a heaping half-cup. Also add lemon juice, vanilla, and whisk it together. The batter smells so fragrant and is so creamy from the sweet milk and lemon.
Notably absent is any kind of added sugar. The sweetness for the whole pan of bars comes from the half can of sweetened condensed milk and the cherries. The resulting bars are not an overly sweet and you may think by looking at the pictures that they would be, but they’re not. Especially because the lemon juice and zest also cut through the sweetness.
Fold in two teaspoons lemon zest, flour, and chopped cherries. I put them on my cutting board, and roughly and haphazardly chopped them into small pieces of varying sizes. Red cherry juice ran all over the place, and that’s what paper towels are for. Gently fold them in, and they’ll turn your luscious white batter into a pale shade of pink. You don’t have to dry the cherries before adding them, but don’t add excess juice to the batter because it will thin it out and water it down too much.
Transfer the batter to the baking pan and bake for about twenty minutes. Like my blondie recipes, the base layer for Cranberry Bliss Bars, or these Browned Butter Caramel and Butterscotch Bars, the batter is quite a thin layer in the pan and it bakes up fast. Don’t overcook them or they’ll turn rubbery.
Before serving, optionally drizzle them with melted white chocolate. As an afterthought after the photos, I added some and although it’s optional, I’d recommend it. It adds just another little pop of flavor and touch of sweetness. White chocolate should never be an afterthought. Clearly I wasn’t thinking straight.
I didn’t want to take my camera out again so use your imagination. It looks like this.
The bars have a dominant cherry taste. I really thought lemon was going to take over, since tartness usually wins in the taste wars, but surprisingly, cherry won. Although there are lemon notes, they are no where near as lemony as The Best Lemon Bars.
They remind me of this Blueberry Yogurt Cake with Lemon Vanilla Glaze where blueberry took center stage and lemon was a background player. These bars and that cake have a similar texture, too. The cake was made with creamy, thick, Greek yogurt and the two have similarities.
In terms of texture, they remind me of of a few things. Scott said instantly that they remind him of cheesecake. Although that wasn’t first in my mind, he’s right. The creamy sweetened condensed milk, acidic lemon juice, and protein-filled egg created a cheesecake-like texture while baking, albeit denser and firmer.
In some ways, they’re reminiscent of a Clafoutis; dense and custard-like, but firmer. If you’ve never made clafoutis, it’s essentially like making pancake batter and uses eggs and flour. It’s made in a blender in thirty seconds. Pour it in a pan, toss in some fresh or frozen fruit, and bake. It’s like a big pan-sized pancake, minus having to babysit flipping individual pancakes or be a slave to the stovetop, with no pancake pan grease splattering your wrists.
There’s nothing worse than a fruit-based dessert that’s skimpy on the fruit and these are anything but, and are packed with an abundance of juicy, sweet, texture-filled cherries in every bite.
The tang from the lemon juice and zest, balanced with the creaminess and gentle sweetness from the sweetened condensed milk, made these a fun little project that’s ready from start to finish in less than thirty minutes.
Leftovers can be a good thing.
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Creamy Cherry and Lemon Bars
A creamy bar that's bursting with cherries and cherry flavor, with subtle notes of fragrant lemon. They're dense and firm, and have lots of texture from the cherries. Extremely easy and fast to make, the batter comes together in less than 5 minutes and no mixer is required. A small-batch recipe, making just 8 wedges.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (half of one stick), melted
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 heaping cup sweetened condensed milk (half of one standard can)
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract, optional and to taste (I didn't use it)
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
- 1 cup maraschino cherries, roughly chopped and patted dry
- 2 to 4 tablespoons white chocolate chips, melted for drizzling; optional but recommended
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F, line an 8-by-8-inch pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside. Add butter to a large microwave-safe bowl and heat on high power to melt, about 1 minute. Wait for butter to cool for a minute or two before adding the egg (so you don't scramble it). Add the sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, vanilla extract, optional lemon extract, and whisk until smooth. Add the flour, lemon zest, optional salt, and stir to incorporate. Gently fold in the cherries. Transfer batter to prepared pan and bake for 19 to 23 minutes, or until center is just set; don't overbake or it will turn rubbery. Allow bars to cool in pan for at least 15 minutes before removing. Optionally, drizzle with melted white chocolate.
- While the bars cook, melt the white chocolate in a small microwave-safe bowl in 15-second increments in the microwave, stopping after each burst to stir. Heat in bursts until chocolate can be stirred smooth. Note that white chocolate scorches easily and so don't overcook. Some people find it's easier to get it to melt smoothly if they heat it on 50% power. Drizzle bars with melted white chocolate, wait a few minutes until it's set, before slicing and serving. Bars will keep for up to 5 days in an airtight container at room temperature, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 230Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 46mgSodium: 110mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 1gSugar: 22gProtein: 4g
Related Recipes:
The Best Lemon Bars – I wouldn’t say they’re The Best if I didn’t think they were. Easy to make and intensely lemony. Not overly sweet and if you like lemon bars where the lemon flavor takes center stage, these are the ones to make
Blueberry Yogurt Cake with Lemon Vanilla Glaze – Made with Greek Yogurt, blueberries, and lemon, a dense, moist, fast and easy snack cake to make
Mixed Berry Clafoutis – Custard meets pancakes meets the texture of creme brulee. The batter takes 30 seconds to make in a blender, and any fruit can be used that’s seasonal or you have on hand. An impressive-tasting and almost work-free dessert
Cranberry Bliss Bars {Starbucks Copycat Recipe} – Every bit as good as the real thing, if not better. Extremely popular with readers and everyone who writes saying they’ve tried the recipe gives a glowing report about them. One of my 2012 Favorites
Chocolate Chip and Cherry Blondies – Easy to make, and any type of fruit or baking chips can be used from frozen mango to white chocolate, to fresh strawberries. Like a chocolate chip cookie in a pan, spiked with fruit
Rum Runner – I love eating the cherries out of this drink almost as much as I enjoy drinking it
Maraschino Cherry White Chocolate Cookies – One of my husband’s favorite cookies that I’ve ever made. Soft, tender, moist, bursting with cherries and white chocolate, we love these. And the dough base is one of my favorite doughs to adapt
What do you make with your baking leftovers or bits and pieces? Making anything for Valentine’s Day?
Thanks for the FoodSaver Vacuum Sealing System Giveaway and Kind Healthy Peanut Butter Snacks Giveaway entries
oh my gosh lemons just falling from trees and you can pick them up…just like that…seems like a dream to me as i sit and stare at our snow covered trees…the best we get is apples in the fall…which i love…this desert sounds oh soo good…lemons and cherry what a great combo.
Trust me, I grew up in the snow, lived in til my early 20s but couldn’t take it anymore and we moved. Lots of sacrifices made but not having to look at snow 6 mos a year is worth it all for us! Stay warm!! :)
I do my very best thinking on my long runs too Averie. Actually, whenever I’m working out – my mind is so clear. It’s a blessing for the mind, body, and soul. :) Anyway I am LOVING all the cherries popping up all over Averie Cooks lately. And what a recipe to use up some goodies. Before I read what you wrote about Scott’s first though I go… “these are kind of like cheesecake!” and I’m loving that. Sort of cheesecakey, creamy, sweet, and packed with fruit. Fruit desserts are my favorite, especially lemon. Oh and carrot cake, which you’ve already checked off the list with today’s recipe. These are such gorgeous bars and I love the triangle shape. :) So much more interesting than regular square or rectangle. A dessert like this makes for some gorgeous photos!
They were a fun photoshoot. I actually loved taking the pics for these. You know how sometimes you get like 2-3 images you love and the rest are meh. Well this one, I got like 20. I wish all shoots were like that :)
These look incredible! I wonder if I could figure out a way to substitute sweetened condensed coconut milk to make them non-dairy :)
Possibly so – just make sure to sweeten it since no other sugar is used and without it, it would be super boring and bland :)
These are super beautiful. I love the fun and fancy colors of the bars!
Thanks Jocelyn (& the past couple days your comments have been going into my spam but you’re rescued & out now :))
These are so pretty! I bet they are great with texture like cheesecake. Love that there are so many lemons out and about. Just another reason I want to move to CA. I just got diagnosed with runners’ knee. Any advice since you run so much?
I’ve never seen a lemon bar quite like this, it looks like candy! What a great treat!
Your photos are so vibrant and lovely! Makes me want to eat with my eyes :-)
Thanks, Alyssa!
I need a lemon tree stat! And these bars! :)
These look so refreshing and yummy! Amazing that you didn’t have to add sugar. I also love that you added white chocolate! You are so right…white chocolate over anything is always a welcome addition! These remind me of your cranberry bliss bars. I need to try both of these! YUM! :-)
So not only is California warm and gorgeous (and home to one Jamie Bamber), but there are lemons falling from trees! I so need to head west. :D
I love that these bars get their sweetness from sweet milk (yum!) and maraschino cherries- more lemon flavour to shine through! So pretty too!
Valerie you would be in heaven here…the old architecture, the lemons!! everywhere, and there are certain little nooks and crannies and pockets of the city that I can just see you loving so much. One day maybe :)
I’m always delighted by the bright red shock that maraschino cherries leave in baked goods! These are SO pretty, and definitely perfect for Valentine’s Day!
These are so pretty Averie! And I love that you used ‘leftover’ ingredients to make them. I need someone like you at my house that uses up every last drop!
Well I guess you could call me frugal. Or just hate to waste things!
Totally gorgeous and perfect for Valentine’s Day
Thanks, Jen! I had fun with the photos!
Averie, that is so-so funny! I just finished dealing with my leftover bits and pieces, got to my comp, opened your e-mail and here you are, asking what I am doing with my leftover! It wasn’t baking leftover, but still it were bits and pieces. Anyway, I love your new cherry lemon bars, anything with lemons and cherry is right for me! :)
And they’re not too sweet – a good one for you :)
Ohh Averie, I swear you out so yourself everyday! What a great combo! I never dreamed of lemon and cherry together!!
It’s like a lemonade, with a cherry in it :)
love these Averie! You are so creative
Thanks hon :)
I love that the only sugar is from the SCM! What a pretty bar – and I love the idea of cherry and lemon!
I figured I could take a small break from it :)
Pretty bars, perfect for spring!
These have Valentine’s Day written all over them! They are so bright & cheerful!!
What a wonderful way to use up all those leftover ingredients.. Sweetness without added sugar make these perfect! Beautiful Pictures!
So bright and cheery – perfect for V-Day. What a great use of leftovers too!
Wow..these would brighten up anyone’s day!
I love your passionate approach to photographing your recipes! You truly ‘make love’ to these maraschino bars with your camera, bravo!
It was one of those photo shoots that I LOVED. I don’t love them all. And many of them I thought I loved til I load 200 frames on my computer and am very meh about 199 of them after I see them on the big screen :)
Looks great! We always have a bunch of cherries in our fridge, I love them in old fashions. Will need to try this recipe!
What an interesting recipe – I never would have thought to put cherries in a bark-type bar. These look so colorful and delicious, though! And I hear that we have a holiday coming up for which lovely little red bars would be so incredibly appropriate… :)
Interesting…yes, called clean out the odds & ends :)
It’s always great to invent something delicious out of random leftover ingredients! These look fabulous, and so festive!
This has indeed Valentine’s day all over it, so vibrant and cute!
These do look like clafoutis and cheesecake had a baby! And I think you’re right that the white chocolate drizzle adds an extra oomph in terms of presentation.
I honestly can’t figure out what these would taste like, even though you have a description. Creaminess, cherries, and lemons all in one dessert? I’m clearly going to need to make these to find out!
clafoutis and cheesecake had a baby = yes! But firmer. They were like nothing I’ve ever had so not surprised coming up with a mental image without tasting them is a little elusive. That’s what happens when I just start combining things…no one knows what will come out the other side sometimes :)
These look so refreshing and bright (its another incredibly gloomy day here in Indiana)! The lemon zest is such a nice touch and a custard/cheesecake texture sounds wonderful. I freeze leftover bits of baking items and pull them out as I need them. Sometimes they get buried so every now and then I’ll find a little stash I forgot about! I’ll also admit to freezing leftover sweetened condensed milk. So cool you can pick up lemons along your running route!
I totally need to start freezing my leftover SCMilk! I have always wondered if that worked or if it left it weird in any way. Sometimes when you freeze milk and it thaws, it gets ‘flaky’ looking and no matter how many times it’s stirred, it has weird little flakes and white blobs, visually. Even though the taste is perfectly fine.
I am so jealous that you get fresh lemons while taking a walk. Can you send some my way? :)
I’ve never made clafoutis but love saying the name LOL. And these just look beautiful.
I love saying the name too!
Cherries are the perfect Valentine thing to bake with. I love that you don’t skimp on the fruit. And bars that taste like cheesecake…I would love that!!!!
Maraschino cherries scare me a little but oh do I love them! Childhood nostalgia lol. Love the combo of cherry + lemon, Averie!
I made a Whiskey Sour Cake last week- lemon & cherries for the win!!! It’s a great combo (especially with bourbon). These bars are so great! Perfect for Valentine’s Day.
Wow that sounds like my kind of cake!
I love cherries and lemons together!!! PERFECt for Valentine’s day!
Yum!! The Creamy Cherry Lemon Bars look so tasty, cute, and happy!! They are added to the “must try” list!
Soo bright and vibrant – totally Valentine-sy!
I can’t believe you can just pick up lemons from the sidewalk. Thats fantastic!
Wow – these look amazing, Averie! So bright and cheerful!!!
These look so cheery! Perhaps I will make something girly for Valentine’s Day.
I am always reducing recipes and ending up needing only parts of vegetables, so I freeze leftover bits and pieces. I always have a lot of different types of alliums in my freezer, it seems. Red onion, yellow onion, shallots, leeks, etc…