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These Cherry Pie Bars are made with just 4 simple ingredients, featuring sweet cherry filling and a buttery streusel! So much simpler than baking a pie, but just as delicious!
I heard recently about drinking tart cherry juice before bed to help you sleep better and, while I’m not a big fan of juice, I’m here for the ‘cherries help you sleep’ info.
Yes. I’m using that bit of science to justify eating these Cherry Pie Bars before bed. Not that I really needed a justification, considering these bars have a simple butter crust, a thick layer of cherry pie goo, and a crumbly streusel topping.
But, hey, if we can pretend I’m shoving these in my face at 9pm for health reasons, then that’s what we’re going to do, ok?
Of course, these are also great for sharing with friends and family! This recipe for cherry pie bars is made in a casserole dish, which means there is enough to share.
And when I say easy, I mean easy, guys. This one literally has 4 ingredients!
Not into pie bars and want a traditional pie? Try our buttermilk pie or chocolate pecan pie!
Not into pie at all? Try our blueberry crisp recipe or this cherry pineapple dump cake!
???? Ingredient Notes:
Cherry Pie Filling – It doesn’t get much easier than this! Grab a can of cherry pie filling from the store. You probably already have the other ingredients on hand.
Crust & Topping – You’ll need butter, sugar, and flour to make both the crust and topping – all in one bowl! The crust gets pressed into the pan and topping gets sprinkled on, so it’s two different textures, but still the same thing. <— Maximum simplicity.
What Readers are Saying!
“These cherry bars are amazing! I wanted an easy recipe that uses a can of cherry filling I have had in my pantry for awhile. I wanted an extra dessert for Thanksgiving and found this one! So easy to put together and the crust is a nice shortbread type of crust. I know they will be a hit! Thanks for the recipe!” – Judy
???? How To Make Cherry Pie Bars:
Prepare the Crust: Add the flour, butter, and sugar to a mixing bowl and use a pastry cutter or a couple of knives to cut the butter into the flour and sugar until you have coarse crumbs.
Note: You can do this with a food processor too, just make sure you don’t overly mix it. You want coarse crumbs.
Bake the Crust: When you’ve finished preparing the crust ingredients you can go ahead and pour half of it into a baking dish. Press the dough firmly into the bottom of the dish and bake it for about ten minutes. This will form the bottom crust layer of the cherry pie bars.
Add the Filling: When the crust has baked for about ten minutes you can remove it from the oven and open up the can of cherry pie filling. Spread the filling over the top of the baked crust. Finally, sprinkle the remaining half of the crumbly crust mixture evenly over the cherry pie filling.
Bake: All that’s left is to finish up the baking. Add the dish back to the oven and let it bake for about an hour or until the crust has started to turn golden on the edges.
Let these cool completely and you can pick them up with your hands for a portable handheld pie. Orrrrr, scoop some out of the dish warm and top it with vanilla ice cream for more of a cherry pie crumble situation. Either way, this stuff is good.
Skip your usual cherry pie recipe. These are just as good and way simpler!
Storage:
Store these cherry pie bars in a covered dish in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Rewarm in the microwave in 10 second bursts if you’d like to serve these warm, but they’re also tasty straight from the fridge!
Variations:
You can swap any can of pie filling for the cherry pie filling in this recipe.
Blackberry, raspberry, blueberry…all delicious pie options!
More Fruit & Pie Recipes!
Cherry Pie Bars
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 12 tablespoons butter cut into cubes
- 21 ounce can cherry pie filling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add flour, sugar, and butter to a medium mixing bowl and use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter into the flour and sugar until you have coarse crumbs. Alternately, add the flour, sugar, and butter to the bowl of a food processor and process just until you have coarse crumbs. Do not overmix.
- Press half of the dough into the bottom of a 7×11 or 9×9 baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove crust from the oven and spread the cherry filling over the top. Sprinkle the remaining crust mixture evenly over the filling.
- Return to the oven for 50-60 more minutes or until the crust is starting to turn golden at the edges.
- Cool completely before cutting and serving.
Becky Berna says
Can i make this a day ahead? How would I store them?ย
Karly says
These would be fine stored in the fridge for a few days. ๐
gb says
Does this freeze well ?
Karly says
I haven’t tried freezing these, but I think they’d do fine.
Natalia says
Oh wow, these look so darn easy and SO DELICIOUS! We have a whole bunch of cherries sitting around and this may be the perfect recipe. Thank you!
Sabrina says
These look soo good and easy! Totally making my mouth water!
Melissa says
Do you think these would work as well with apple pie fillingย
Karly says
Yes, absolutely!
Helen says
OMG!!! These cherry pie bars are soooo good. Made them today and they were simply delicious. The only change I
made was that I used my own cherry pie filling recipe . This is definitely a keeper!! Thanks for a great recipe.
Charlotte @ What Charlotte Baked says
Well these look delicious! I love cherries in the summer, so this is right up my street ??
Christmas things in July?! I’m with you – that’s too far even for me.
Trang says
OMG I totally feel you… This is why I can’t stand going to the store anymore. I can’t think about Fall or Christmas when I’m still sweating my buns off, I won’t do it. There are still some good things going on for Summer, like this cherry pie bar ;). We have a whole other 2 months of summer. Let’s just enjoy it until then!
Amy @Belly Full says
Oh man. Too easy not to make! YUM-O.
Jodi says
These look so delicious Karly! ย Oh, and I completely agree with you about the whole thing about holiday decor already being out. . .. Ugh!!! Can’t we just enjoy summer?!? It’s already too short as it is. ย I just laughed when I read your post because I feel the same way!!!ย
Kelli @ Hungry Hobby says
I’m all about cherries right now! Love when food is in season it tastes so much better!
Blair says
Isn’t it crazy how early the holiday decor comes out? I’ve seen back to school supplies at Target, but that’s about the extent of the shopping I’ve done recently. ๐
I’m with you — let’s enjoy summer with some cherry pie bars! This is totally my kind of recipe — 4 ingredients!!! LOVE!
Paulina says
Can you please tell me how much 12 tablespoons of butter weigh? I live in Europe and it is completely abstract for me to measure butter in spoons, we always tell the amount by grams. Looking at the video I would say it is around 200 grams, am I right?
Joyce says
12 ย tablespoons = 340.194 grams
Paulina says
Thanks ๐
Auntiepatch says
Dessert for tonight! Thanks!
Linda Avery says
Can i somehow add semi sweet chocolate chips? If so, any suggestions??
Karly says
You could try stirring them into the pie filling.
Nisha @ Honey, What's Cooking says
How easy is this recipe. Love bars, I just don’t make them too often which I need to change soon. Love your site! ๐