Cherry Pie Bars

My Grandma Bathe was the ‘pie’ Grandma. That was her forte and one of the many reasons I loved going to her house for holiday get togethers; she always had a wealth of pies making the sideboard in her dining room groan; made us kids groan too!

I’ve inherited her rolling pin which I know must be over 75 years old and while it brings her into the kitchen with me it was only recently that I discovered her magic with pies when I discovered the ‘secret’ to great pie crusts. I’m betting the farm that my Grandma had to have used lard in her pie making too; maybe even the heavenly leaf lard that I’ve just discovered. Who knew? Certainly not me. Still that pie experience at Grandma’s did not follow us home. While I remember pumpkin pies at Thanksgiving (and those may all have been at Grandma’s) I don’t recall a lot of pie baking as I was growing up. My mother would more than likely make something closer to these Cherry Pie Bars using a can of cherry pie filling. Not that I blame her. Six kids? Oh my.

I’ve been using this recipe for more years than I can remember; while I might have tried my hand at making pies more often than my mom, I brought the single mom card to the table and that seldom left enough time for homemade pies for anything other than Thanksgiving. Enter these pie bars that I could do more easily and quickly. A cakey/shortbread type batter is covered with cherry pie filling (check out my homemade version shown above), dotted with a bit more batter and then finished after cooling with my updated drizzle which includes some cream cheese and butter. I’ve always thought they were a nice little treat but my friends who were here with me yesterday raved about them and you know what; they’re right. ESPECIALLY if you use fresh fruit. My friends Sandy and Ansh spent the day with me making peach pies but eating these. Well we ate a lot of stuff but these were definitely a hit!

I used cherries to make cherry pie bars but would easily substitute blueberries or peaches in the recipe; as a matter of fact it would be fabulous with almost any summer fruit; make one before they’re all gone. Hurry!

Cherry Pie Bars

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Yield: About 12 bars

Ingredients

For the bars:
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp. almond extract (eliminate if making anything other than cherry)
For the Drizzle:
• 1 oz cream cheese
• 1 oz butter
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp almond extract (use vanilla for anything other than cherry)
• 2-4 Tbsp. milk
For Assembly:
• 4 cups cherry pie filling (One full recipe of my homemade version).

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8" pan with butter.
2. Combine flour and salt in a bowl and whisk. Set aside.
3. Cream together butter and sugar.
4. Add eggs and extracts and beat well.
5. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and mix until combined.
6. Spread 1 1/2 cups batter into bottom of the pan (mixture is thick).
7. Top with pie filling. Drop remaining batter by the tablespoon on top of the pie filling.
8. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in dough comes out clean. Cool.
For the Cream Cheese Drizzle:
9. Beat cream cheese and butter together. Add powdered sugar and mix gently. Add almond extract and beat to combine. Add milk a tablespoon at a time until the right consistency; it should be a bit runny, not firm..
10. Drizzle over cooled bars (I put the frosting into a Ziploc bag and cut a small tip off a corner and used it as a pastry bag).

2.5http://www.creative-culinary.com/cherry-pie-bars/This recipe brought to you by Creative Culinary | A Food and Cocktail Blog | Website: www.creative-culinary.com