A recipe that I’ve made time and again is Cherry Pie Bars. I’ve made so
many desserts through the years that generally I will must remind Jack and Mark
which dessert I am referring to…”Keep in mind these cookies I made final summer time that we ate after taco evening and
shared with the neighbors throughout the road?”
NOT THESE. The boys know what I imply once I say “cherry pie bars.”
You may do not forget that
we not too long ago moved. Coincidentally, the (darling) daughter of one among
my Dallas besties
and her husband simply moved in a number of neighborhoods away. I do know from
first-hand, very current expertise that transferring is difficult work and is
fueled solely with copious quantities of quick meals and sugar.
So, I whipped up a bit of deal with. Cherry Pie Bars.
I would forgotten that within the
authentic recipe, I used sliced almonds. In our previous home, I had a stash of opened luggage of
varied nuts saved in our freezer. They did not make the transfer. (Truthfully, some
of them have been most likely previous their prime.)
Anyway, between forgetting the recipe referred to as for almonds and never having a
stash in my freezer, I used to be with out almonds! After pondering, I used oats
as an alternative, which labored like a appeal.
One other change to this recipe is as a result of I am nonetheless getting used to this oven.
And the cherry pie bars got here out a bit of extra crisp than I normally bake
them, however you already know what? They have been extra pie-like. The underside crust and
topping with the oats resembled the feel of pie greater than it did a cookie bar.
Both manner you bake them, they’re scrumptious. Mark was a bit of panicked that
I gave all of them away. (By no means worry, I all the time set a number of apart for him…and myself
to “take a look at” as properly.) He gave this new model two thumbs up.
Cherry Pie Bars Revisited
Longer baking instances will end in a extra pie-like bar, whereas a shorter
baking time will yield softer, extra cookie-like bars.
YIELD: 12-16 bars
PREP TIME: 20 minutes
BAKE TIME: about 35 minutes
1 cup salted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ cup sliced almonds or rolled oats
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 & 1/4 cup cherry pie filling
Confectioner’s Sugar (for sprinkling)
Preheat oven to 350.
With an electrical mixer, cream the butter and sugar collectively till mixed and
fluffy. Add the egg yolks and beat till mixed, scraping the edges and
backside of bowl as obligatory. Combine within the extracts.
On low pace, combine within the flour till simply mixed. Reserve 1/2 cup of the
dough in one other bowl. Press the bigger portion of dough evenly into an
ungreased
9×13″ pan. Stir the oats or almonds into the reserved dough.
Add the cherry pie filling evenly over the dough. Pinch off sections of the
almond dough and scatter excessive.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or till the sides are golden and the highest is calmly
browned.
Longer baking instances will end in a extra pie-like bar, whereas a shorter
baking time will yield softer, extra cookie-like bars.
Let cool utterly on a wire rack. Minimize into squares or bars and mud with
confectioner’s sugar.
[Note: To make the sticky dough easier to press into the pan, wet your hands
and dry until still damp. Press the dough in place with damp fingers.]