Glazed Cherry Pie Bars — Just like your favorite cherry pie but way easier!! A no-roll crust with juicy cherries and topped with a sweet glaze! Perfect for parties, events, and holidays!!
Easy Cherry Pie Filling Dessert
My grandma used to make the best cherry pie. Nothing could ever come close to her pie. Tender, buttery, and perfectly sweet.
However, I’m not a pie-maker and prefer the ease of pie bars. These cherry pie bars are perfect for all of us non-pie-makers.
There’s a buttery, soft, tender crust topped with cherry pie filling before being baked and glazed. There’s almond extract in both the bars and the glaze, which adds the most heavenly flavor. The cherry and almond extract combination is absolutely perfect and reminds me of my favorite Cherry Bread with Cherry-Almond Glaze.
It’s a great recipe for parties, events, and holiday celebrations because the recipe makes a large amount. They’d be great for a Valentine’s Day, Christmas, or Fourth of July party with the red and white colors popping through.
What’s in Cherry Pie Bars?
To make the cherry almond bars, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Salt
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract
- All-purpose flour
- Canned cherry pie filling
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Milk
How to Make Cherry Pie Bars
This is hands down one of my favorite recipes using cherry pie filling! Simply cream together the butter, sugar, and salt. Once the mixture is light and fluffy, add in the eggs and extracts. Stir the flour in last.
Turn about 75% of the dough into a greased jelly roll pan. Smooth it out with a spatula (it’ll be sticky!), then top with canned cherry pie filling.
Drop remaining dough over the filling before baking the bars. Allow the cherry almond bars to cool completely before glazing.
Do I Have to Use a Jelly Roll Pan?
No, you don’t. I baked the bars using a 15x10x1-inch jelly roll pan and appreciate that they don’t turn out overly thick. However, you could probably use a 9×13-inch pan, noting the bars will be thicker and the baking time will be longer.
Tips for Making Cherry Pie Bars
Note that the dough will be very sticky and tacky. It’s hard to smooth out to form the crust, but just be patient and take your time.
If you love almond extract, up the amount in the dough to 1/2 teaspoon. I don’t recommend adding any more than that though, because almond extract is potent.
I’ve only made this recipe as written, but I bet you could use another fruit pie filling, if desired.
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Glazed Cherry Pie Bars
Ingredients
Bars
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract, or 1/2 teaspoon if you love almond extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- two 21-ounce cans cherry pie filling
Glaze
- 1 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted if yours is particularly lumpy
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 to 3 tablespoons milk, as necessary for consistency
Instructions
Bars:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 15x10x1-inch jelly roll pan with cooking spray; set aside. Optionally, line the pan with a sheet of foil and spray with cooking spray. The advantage is you can lift the bars out by the foil and cut them more neatly on a cutting board.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large bowl and handheld electric mixer), add the butter, sugar, salt, and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the extracts and beat on medium-high speed to incorporate, about 30 seconds.
- Gradually add the flour and beat on medium-low speed to incorporate, about 1 minute.
- Turn about 75% of the dough out into a prepared pan and spread with a spatula to create a smooth, even, flat layer. It’s sticky, tacky, and requires some patience, but just keep spreading and finessing it into the corners.
- Add the pie filling and spread to evenly distribute leaving a 1/4-inch bare margin from edges of pan. It spreads while baking and trying to prevent filling from sticking to sides of pan is advised so it doesn’t burn.
- Drop remaining dough by 2-teaspoonfuls over pie filling. It’s very sticky and I find it easiest to use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop filled about halfway. The dough will spread together somewhat as the bars bake.
- Bake for 35 minutes, or until dough on top and around the edges is very lightly golden brown.
- Allow bars to cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
Glaze:
- To a medium bowl, add the confectioners’ sugar, extracts, and enough milk to reach desired consistency.
- Evenly drizzle glaze over the bars and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Cherry Desserts:
Triple Chocolate Cherry Cake — Loaded with juicy cherries and topped with an easy homemade chocolate frosting. This is yet another cherry pie filling dessert, but this cake tastes completely homemade!
Mini Cherry Oreo Cheesecakes – EASY mini cheesecakes loaded with cherries and an Oreo cookie crust!! The hit of your Valentine’s Day party! Another of my favorite recipes using cherry pie filling!
Sweet Soft Cherry Bread with Cherry-Almond Glaze – An easy quickbread that’s perfect for Valentine’s Day, Easter, or Mother’s Day! Because you can never have too much pink!
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!
Maraschino Cherry White Chocolate Cookies – Super soft buttery cookies stuffed with white chocolate and cherries! Perfect for Valentine’s Day!
Chocolate Chip and Cherry Blondies – Fruit for dessert takes on new meaning with these easy bars!
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!!
Fabulous recipes…. So excited to try. Beautiful photo shots too. I’m in heaven finding your blog.
Anxious to see more
Carole
Thank you so very much for the nice compliments and I am glad you found my blog as well!
great
This sounds so good. i lkove cherrys, thanks for sharing this recipe. Simon
Growing up, my grandma made almost this exact same recipe but instead of two cans of cherry pie filling she’d use on can of pie filling and one can of tart cherries. This cuts the sweetness and makes it seem a little more classic-homemade!
Sounds like a fun twist on the recipe.
Cherry pie is always my favorite dishes. Your recipe seems so delicious. I will try this next weekend :)
This pie looks so delicious! I’m going to try making it although I’m not good at baking.
Wow, the pictures are gorgeous! These look sooo good, I’m sure they taste even better! Must try them out :)
These look delicious. I too say they would be delicious with other fruit. I am a peach and strawberry person. HA!!
In the summer with fresh peaches or strawberries, they would be wonderful!
oh yummy!!
You have the best cherry recipes!! These bars are gorgeous, and I have been craving cherries lately!
Thanks for the compliments!
These look so perfect! I’m definitely not a pie maker, either, so I love this super easy alternative! Thanks for sharing, Averie! :D I bet any fruit would be perfect in these!
I’ve already tried it with other fruit (to be posted soon) and it worked great!
You’re killing it with the cherry recipes.
And, per your reply on the other post – I would just end up eating the bourbon soaked cherries without making the cookies. NO SHAME either.
It’s that time of year with Valentine’s and then Mother’s Day and Easter, pink and red are a fun change-up!
Oh my gosh these are PERFECT. And the pictures. OMG!! Gorgeous.
The hardest pictures to take because the jelly roll pan was HUGE and I was standing on my tiptoes on top of a tall chair trying to get it all in the frame and praying I didn’t faceplant into the bars :)
These look wonderful–so bright and cheery! I love the dollops of cookie crust all over the top and almond extract sounds like the perfect touch. I think these look better than pie!
They were definitely easier than pie and the almond extract was so perfect in them!
You mean I have to share these??? LOVE cherry. Mmm.
Well it makes a big batch so you won’t miss the portion you share :)
Why have pie when you can have pie BARS? That way, more than one doesn’t seem unreasonable at all. In fact, it’s a must! And these look divine.
Thanks, Mir!