Cherry Bars Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened 

2 cups sugar  

1 teaspoon salt 

4 large eggs  

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1/4 teaspoon almond extract  

3 cups all-purpose flour 

2 cans (21 ounces each) cherry pie filling

     

GLAZE: 

1 cup confectioners' sugar  

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1/2 teaspoon almond extract  

2 to 3 tablespoons milk

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extracts. Gradually add flour.

Spread 3 cups dough into a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Spread with pie filling. Drop remaining dough by teaspoonfuls over filling. Bake 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

In a small bowl, mix confectioners' sugar, extracts and enough milk to reach desired consistency; drizzle over top. Yield: 5 dozen.

Test Kitchen Tip:

Some ovens run cooler than others so you may need to adjust the bake time as needed.

Use any pie filling you like. Blueberry, apricot and raspberry all work well.

For a Black Forest variation, add a handful of mini chocolate chips.

Originally published as Cherry Bars in Quick Cooking November/December 2001, p51

Nutritional Fact:

1 bar: 112 calories, 3g fat (2g saturated fat), 21mg cholesterol, 72mg sodium, 19g carbohydrate (9g sugars, 0 fiber), 1g protein. 

Submitted by: Tiffany Hulme from Taste of Home