These amazing cherry crumb bars are easy to make and taste amazing. Put them on your list! Some links in this article are affiliate links that earn me a commission if you purchase through them.
When my daughter got invited to an end of season lacrosse party, she couldn’t wait. An afternoon chilling with her friends at a pool makes for teen summer perfection.
The only caveat was a request from the mom that those of us coming bring an appetizer or dessert. With the weather, I chose to bring a dessert… but my daughter vetoed everything I suggested.
Our classic brownies? Nope. 7 layer bars? Nuh uh. Traditional chocolate chip cookies? No. Raspberry meringues? Nah.
Needless to say, I stopped asking for her opinion. I knew I wanted to make something easy and a bar cookie that would take less time while still being unique.
Need more dessert ideas? Check out some of my favorites – cherry and more!
As I perused my own archives, I stumbled on my blueberry crumb bars. With the three pounds of cherries sitting in my fridge that kids decided they didn’t want to eat, I decided to switch up that recipe and turn them into cherry crumb bars instead.
They turned out amazing. The host asked to keep some extras just for herself. The kids devoured the pan and came back for seconds.
As a fruit dessert, this tastes best the day you make it or one day after. Beyond that, the crust gets soft. While it still tastes good, it’s definitely a different texture.
Can I use frozen cherries?
I made this with fresh cherries because they’re in season, but yes, you absolutely can use frozen cherries. One benefit to frozen cherries? Generally they already have the pits removed, so this becomes faster to make.
If you choose to use frozen fruit in your cherry crumb bars, make sure to keep the fruit frozen. You don’t want the juice “leaking” everywhere before it bakes. When they defrost, they also lose volume, so you may accidentally use more than you should.
Either way, you still want to cut them in half or quarters to make them easier to eat after you bake the bars. Be careful of cold fingers if you use frozen cherries!
You could also prep fresh cherries, then freeze them and use them in this recipe later.
This makes a perfect dessert for a crowd. If you need more inspiration, check out this list of 50+ fabulous potluck dessert recipes. You’re bound to find something you love.
How to Make Cherry Crumb Bars
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9×13 glass baking dish.
Wash fresh cherries, then use a cherry pitter. Cut into halves or quarters, depending on the size of your cherries. This also ensures you didn’t miss any pits – no one wants to bite into a cherry pit!
In a bowl, mix together the butter, the egg, and butter. Make sure your butter is close to room temperature to ensure this comes together, but if it’s too warm, your dough will be too soft and won’t crumble as well.
Add the baking powder, cinnamon, and salt, and mix well. Add one cup of the sugar and the flour and mix just until it’s crumbly.
In a separate bowl, mix together the cherries, cornstarch, remaining 1/2 c sugar, almond extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg. You don’t want this to sit and macerate or the juices will run out from your cherries and make your crust too soft, so do this just before you add the cherries to the prepared crust.
Pour almost two thirds of the dough crumbs into your prepared pan, and use your clean hands to pat it down. No, you don’t need to be exact in your measurement.
Pour the cherry mixture atop the dough, then sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture on top of the cherries. You won’t cover all your cherries, and that’s fine.
Bake at 375 for 50-60 minutes, until the top is a beautiful golden brown color. Let this cool completely before you cut it so that it doesn’t juice all over the place.
Store the cherry crumb bars in the fridge in a single layer in a tightly sealed container. If you need to make multiple layers, separate them with wax paper to ensure they don’t stick.
Have you ever had cherry crumb bars?
Some of my other favorite dessert recipes:
- Bavarian cherry custard
- Dessert nachos
- No churn cherry ice cream
- Cherry pie cookies
- Mango custard
- Homemade English toffee
- Triple chocolate dipped cookies
- Molten chocolate cake
- S’mores pumpkin cream pie
- Carrot cake
- Instant pot chocolate pudding
- Cinnamon apple cobbler
Cherry Crumb Bars
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1 egg
- 1 cup butter unsalted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 cups flour
For the filling:
- 4 cups cherries
- 4 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg fresh grated
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9×13 glass baking dish.
- Wash and pit cherries, then cut into halves or quarters.
- In a bowl, mix together egg and butter. Add baking powder, cinnamon, and salt, and mix well. Add 1 cup sugar and flour, then mix until crumbly.1 egg, 1 cup butter, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour
- In a separate bowl, mix together cherries, cornstarch, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, almond extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg.4 cups cherries, 4 tablespoons cornstarch, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- Pour ~2/3 of the dough crumbs into prepared pan, and pat together.
- Pour cherry mixture over dough, then sprinkle remaining crumb mixture on top.
- Bake at 375 for 50-60 minutes, until the top turns golden brown. Let cool completely before you cut it.
Video
Notes
- You can use fresh or frozen cherries. If you use frozen cherries, keep them frozen until you bake them. You still want to cut them into smaller pieces while frozen.
- Store the cherry crumb bars in the fridge in a single layer in a tightly sealed container. If you need to make multiple layers, separate them with wax paper to ensure they don't stick.
- For more tips and tricks, be sure to read the full article above.
Nutrition
This site uses an online source to provide nutrition estimates as a courtesy. If you need exact values, please calculate yourself.
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