Last holiday season I posted the wonderful Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies and this year I found these Chocolate Cherry Bars, which I adapted slightly from Taste of Home.
Chocolate/cherry is one of my favorite combinations and these bars are a jumble of a soft chocolate base, cherry pie filling, almonds, and chocolate chips. Gooey, a little crumbly, and delicious.
These bars are fairly easy to put together in one bowl (which is always nice) - dry ingredients crumbled together with the butter, then the wet ingredients stirred in.
Press all but a cup of the crumble into a pan, pour on the pie filling, then top with the crumble, chocolate chips, and almonds.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, then let cool. You'll need to refrigerate these for at least 2 hours so they won't fall apart when you cut them.
Cut them carefully, as they are still crumbly, even after refrigerating, but the base firms up some. I used a pie server to scoop out the pieces. That's OK - that's why they're so good!
You get a bite full of chocolate base, sweet/tart cherry filling, then the crunchy, chocolatey topping. Put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top and it will be even better.
I made these Chocolate Cherry Bars specifically for the holidays, but I guarantee they would be good any time of the year. Love that cherry filling!
You can always use your own homemade pie filling, but I've found that the canned cherry pie filling is of very good quality and it works quite well in this recipe.
Just a tip - cut small pieces, as these bars are fairly rich.
Enjoy!
Chocolate Cherry Bars
Crumbly, rich bars with a chocolate base, cherry filling, and crumbly chocolate/nut topping.
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ C (210g) all purpose flour
- 1 C (198g) granulated sugar
- ¼ C (21g) baking cocoa
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 C (226g) cold butter, cut into small bits
- 1 egg, slightly beaten and room temperature
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 can (21 oz/595g) cherry pie filling
- 1 ¾ C (137.5g) semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 C (114g) almonds, chopped or sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Spray (grease) a 13x9" baking pan and line with parchment paper - spray the parchment paper, too.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa and salt. Add the butter bits and combine until crumbly (I used my hands to do this part - it's easiest). Stir in the egg and almond extract until well blended. If mixture seems too dry, add a couple of teaspoons of water. Set aside 1 cup for topping.
- Press the remaining mixture evenly into the pan. Spoon the cherry pie filling on top of the base, covering the entire base evenly.
- Add the chocolate chips and almonds to the cup of topping and sprinkle it across the top of the pie filling, covering to the edges.
- Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, then set the pan onto a rack to cool. Transfer to the refrigerator to cool for at least 2 hours before cutting into bars. Cut with a sharp knife, then scoop out with a spatula or pie server.
Notes
If you don't like nuts you can leave them out. I think this would be fantastic with salted cashews.
Remember it's fairly crumbly and won't cut into sharp-edged bars. Use a pie server to get up under the base to remove slices from the pan.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 30 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 150Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 7mgSodium: 24mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 0gSugar: 2gProtein: 1g
Nutrition Values are Approximate
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