Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

Cherry Almond Bars

Teresa Ambra

Cherry Almond Bars are gooey, fruit bars that are festive and beautiful for any occasion. While these make a great treat for the holidays, certainly you can make them anytime of the year. These blondies have a shortbread crust topped with cherry preserves and lots of sliced almonds. This is a splendid dessert for company. If you’re a cherry lover these bar-type cookies are an absolute delight.

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A few months ago I made up a salad that used cherry preserves in the salad dressing. I had those cherry preserves in the refrigerator so I was wondering what I could do to use them up. When I remade a batch of Apricot Almond Bars a few weeks ago, I realized that the same basic recipe would work well for cherries too. So I gave it a whirl. Yes, it was wonderful. Cherries and almonds always work well together.

Cherry Almond Bars are very gooey so I recommend freezing or refrigerating the bars before cutting. If you’re looking for a dream dessert for company, then this recipe needs to be on your list. Every bite will have you drooling. 🙂

Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

Cherry Almond Bars are festive treats that are especially terrific for the holidays.

Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

If you enjoy cherries, you’ll love these fruit-filled bars.

Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

Cherry Almond Bars are a great dessert for any occasion. 

Here’s what I did.

Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

I used these ingredients.

Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

Soften butter. I usually microwave it so that it’s half-way between softened and melted. That makes it easier to work into the crust dough. Add UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour. Bleached flour toughens baked goods. Add powdered sugar.

Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

Stir ingredients to combine.

Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

Grease a 9×13″ glass baking dish. Press crust ingredients firmly into prepared dish.

Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

Place in a 350 oven and bake for 15-18 minutes. Remove from oven.

Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

Meanwhile, as crust is baking prepare filling. Place sugar, egg, cherry preserves, vanilla and a tablespoon of butter into mixing bowl.

Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

Whisk ingredients to combine.

Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

Pour cherry filling into pre-baked crust.

Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

Top with almonds.

Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

Bake at 350 an additional 15-20 minutes until set.

Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

Almonds make these bars nice and crunchy.

Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

If you take a tray of Cherry Almond Bars to your office, they will be gobbled down immediately.

Here’s the recipe.

CHERRY ALMOND BARS

(Recipe inspired from my Apricot Almond Bars)

Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

Cherry Almond Bars

Teresa Ambra
Cherry Almond Bars are breathtaking! These amazing blondies have a shortbread crust, topped with a cherry preserve topping, and sprinkled with sliced almonds on top. They are beautiful, elegant and festive treats that are terrific for holiday baking like Christmas or Valentine's Day.
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 35 mins
Total Time 50 mins
Course Cookies, Brownies and Bars, Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 24
Calories 169 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 9x13" glass baking dish
  • 2 mixing bowls
  • 1 wooden spoon
  • measuring cups
  • measuring spoons
  • 1 whisk

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 cups UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour bleached flour toughens baked goods
  • 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened or melted
  • 1 egg lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 8-10 oz. jar cherry preserves
  • 1 tbsp. unsalted butter softened or melted
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 3/4 to 1 cup almonds sliced

Instructions
 

  • In a mixing bowl, stir flour, granulated sugar and butter.
  • Spread into the bottom and ½ inch up the sides of a 9x13” glass baking dish that has been sprayed well with cooking spray.
  • Bake at 350° oven for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned.
  • For topping, beat egg, sugar, preserves, butter and vanilla in a mixing bowl with a whisk until smooth.
  • Spread evenly over hot crust.
  • Sprinkle with almonds.
  • Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes.
  • Cool.

Notes

NOTE: These bars are easier to cut if they are refrigerated an hour or so ahead of time.
© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen

Nutrition

Calories: 169kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 2gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 7mgPotassium: 53mgFiber: 1gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 203IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 18mgIron: 1mg
Keyword almonds, cherries, cherry dessert, cookie, dessert
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

 

[b]Cherry Almond Bars[/b]
Recipe Type: Cookies, Brownies and Bars
Cuisine: American
Author: Teresa Ambra – inspired by my [url href=”http://cantstayoutofthekitchen.com/2012/11/30/apricot-almond-bars/” target=”_blank”]Apricot Almond Bars[/url]
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 24
These amazing blondies have a shortbread crust, topped with a [url href=”http://www.smuckers.com/products/fruit-spreads/preserves/cherry-preserves” target=”_blank”]cherry preserve[/url] topping, and sprinkled with sliced[url href=”https://fishernuts.com/” target=”_blank”]almonds[/url] on top. These beautiful, festive treats are great for holiday baking.
Ingredients
  • [b]CRUST:[/b][br]
  • 1 ½ cups Gold Medal UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour (bleached flour toughens baked goods)
  • ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened or melted[br]
  • [b]TOPPING:[/b][br]
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 8-10-oz. [url href=”http://www.smuckers.com/products/fruit-spreads/preserves/cherry-preserves” target=”_blank”]Smucker’s[/url] cherry preserves
  • 1 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened or melted
  • ½ tsp. vanilla
  • ¾ to 1 cup sliced [url href=”https://fishernuts.com/” target=”_blank”]Fisher[/url] almonds
Instructions
  1. In a mixing bowl, stir flour, sugar and butter.
  2. Spread into the bottom and ½ inch up the sides of a 9×13” glass baking dish that has been sprayed well with cooking spray.
  3. Bake at 350° oven for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned.
  4. For topping, beat egg, sugar, preserves, butter and vanilla in a mixing bowl until smooth.
  5. Spread evenly over hot crust.
  6. Sprinkle with almonds.
  7. Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes.
  8. Cool.
Notes
These bars are much easier to cut if you freeze for one hour or refrigerate a couple of hours before serving.
Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

Every bite of Cherry Almond Bars will have you drooling.

Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

We love these scrumptious bars and think you will too.

You may also enjoy these delicious recipes!

Cheery Cherry Cookies

Cheery Cherry Cookies | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen

Cherry Surprises

Cherry Surprises | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these melt-in-your-mouth #cookies are absolutely spectacular. #CandiedCherries are hidden inside each #cookie before #baking. Then they're rolled in powdered sugar to serve. These heavenly cookies have been on our #ChristmasCookie baking list for decades! #dessert #Christmas #ChristmasDessert #cherry #CherryDessert #ChristmasCookieExchange

White Chocolate Cherry Cookies

White Chocolate Cherry Cookies | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these over-the-top #cookies will knock your socks off! They're filled with white #chocolate chips, #pecans & #candiedcherries. They're awesome for #holiday #baking & #Christmas #cookie exchanges. #dessert #cherrydessert #ChristmasDessert #whitechocolatedessert #chocolatedessert #whitechocolate

 

Cherry Almond Bars | Can't Stay Out of the Kitchen | these luscious bars will have you drooling! This makes a festive and beautiful #cookie for #holiday baking, too. #dessert #cherrypreserves #almonds

Cherry Almond Bars

Teresa Ambra
Cherry Almond Bars are breathtaking! These amazing blondies have a shortbread crust, topped with a cherry preserve topping, and sprinkled with sliced almonds on top. They are beautiful, elegant and festive treats that are terrific for holiday baking like Christmas or Valentine's Day.
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 35 mins
Total Time 50 mins
Course Cookies, Brownies and Bars, Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 24
Calories 169 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 9x13" glass baking dish
  • 2 mixing bowls
  • 1 wooden spoon
  • measuring cups
  • measuring spoons
  • 1 whisk

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 cups UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour bleached flour toughens baked goods
  • 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened or melted
  • 1 egg lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 8-10 oz. jar cherry preserves
  • 1 tbsp. unsalted butter softened or melted
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 3/4 to 1 cup almonds sliced

Instructions
 

  • In a mixing bowl, stir flour, granulated sugar and butter.
  • Spread into the bottom and ½ inch up the sides of a 9x13” glass baking dish that has been sprayed well with cooking spray.
  • Bake at 350° oven for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned.
  • For topping, beat egg, sugar, preserves, butter and vanilla in a mixing bowl with a whisk until smooth.
  • Spread evenly over hot crust.
  • Sprinkle with almonds.
  • Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes.
  • Cool.

Notes

NOTE: These bars are easier to cut if they are refrigerated an hour or so ahead of time.
© Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen

Nutrition

Calories: 169kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 2gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.3gCholesterol: 23mgSodium: 7mgPotassium: 53mgFiber: 1gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 203IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 18mgIron: 1mg
Keyword almonds, cherries, cherry dessert, cookie, dessert
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

3 Comments

  • The 21 Best Ideas for Christmas Cherry Cookies – Best Diet and Healthy Recipes Ever | Recipes Collection

    November 5, 2019 at 2:31 pm

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  • Rhonda

    December 24, 2016 at 3:19 pm

    You never specified amount of preserves so I used the 18 oz jar. Bars came out a liquid mess.

    1. Teresa

      December 24, 2016 at 7:47 pm

      Rhonda, I am so sorry. When I converted over to a new blog program not all the recipes converted correctly. The amount should have been 8-10 ounces. I’ve corrected the recipe. Again, sorry yours didn’t turn out right.

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