Easy Cherry Pie Bars

Cherry pie bars are the perfect dessert to take to a BBQ or party! A great dessert for feeding a crowd and easy to customize with other fillings.

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Confession: I am not great at making pie crust. It’s not for lack of trying. Somewhere in between making the crust and when it comes out of the oven, something happens. I can’t explain it. The number of times my sister-in-law (who is amazing at pies) has gotten texts or videos from me asking how to fix the problem is a crime.

Thankfully, these cherry pie bars come together easily without the stress of making a not-too-thick, not-too-thin, full of flavor, flaky pie crust. *wink* What’s more, you can easily change the pie filling to create delicious pie bars in a flavor you prefer!

What You’ll Need

Scroll down to the recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities, full instructions and tips for success.

Cherry Pie Bars

• Butter – I use salted butter and omit the salt. Use unsalted butter and include the salt.
• Shortening – Gives the bars a soft crust
• Sugar
• Baking Powder
• Salt – Omit if using salted butter.
• Eggs – Room temperature
• Vanilla
• Flour
• Cherry Pie Filling – Use a different filling for variety.

For the Icing

• Powdered Sugar – Helps create a sweet drizzle
• Vanilla or Almond Extract – Choose which flavor you prefer
• Milk – I use whole milk but 2% would also work. Lower fat milk will affect the consistency.

Recommended Baking Supplies

• Hand Mixer
• Glass Mixing Bowl
• 9×13 metal pan
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Wire cooling rack

How to Make Cherry Pie Bars

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9×13 pan with tin foil and spray with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to beat butter and shortening until smooth and fluffy. Add sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.

Add eggs and vanilla and mix until well combined. Add 2 cups of flour and beat it into the dough. Add the last cup of flour. If it gets too thick, use a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to incorporate the rest of the flour in.

In a small bowl, reserve 1 1/2 cups of the dough.

Spread the remaining dough into your prepared 9×13 pan.

Bake for 12 minutes. Using a spoon, scoop and gently spread the pie filling over the crust in the pan.

From your reserved dough, get a small handful and flatten it out to about 1/4″-1/2″ thick and place it on top of the pie filling. Repeat until all reserved dough has been used. There will be places where the pie filling can be seen so you don’t need to try and cover it completely.

Bake for another 30 minutes, or until the top is light brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

While it’s cooling, make the powdered sugar icing.

To make the icing: In a small bowl, stir together powdered sugar, extract and milk. Start with less milk and add only until you make a smooth icing of drizzling consistency.

After 10 minutes of cooling, use a spoon to drizzle the icing over the top of the bars. Let cool completely before cutting into bars to serve.

Tips for Success

• Use a metal pan. Some bars work well in a glass baking pan, but these cherry pie bars aren’t one of them. Using a metal pan allows you to line it with tin foil, which makes it easier to remove the bars from the pan in one big piece. Then you can cut the bars and serve them without a mess.
• Don’t overbake. Bars can quickly go from underbaked to overbaked, so it’s better to err on the side of caution. Since all ovens vary, I recommend starting with a little less time on the second bake (after you added the pie filling and dough). Then you can check the bars and add more time if needed. You’ll know they are done baking when they are a little brown around the edges and on top.
• Let cool completely. After you’ve added the drizzle, let your cherry pie bars cool completely in the pan on top of your wire rack. Removing them too soon will squish them together and while they will still taste good, they won’t look as nice. Plus, it’s a lot easier to remove them from the pan in one big, flat piece when they are cool.

Recipe FAQs

Can I use a different flavor of pie filling?

Absolutely! If cherry isn’t a flavor you like, then you can use any other kind of pie filling you’d like. I think that strawberry, blueberry, blackberry and apple would all be delicious. As long as you use a 21 oz can of pie filling, you shouldn’t need to adjust the bake times.

How should I store the cherry pie bars?

I’ve found these bars taste good on the day they are made, but they actually taste better the second and third day! If you are going to be serving them within 24 hours of making them, you will be fine to keep them covered on the counter. If you need to store them for longer than that, I recommend storing them covered and in the fridge for 3-5 days.

More Easy Pie Recipes

• Creamy Strawberry Orange Pudding Pie
• Raspberry Lemonade Pie
• Easy Strawberry Pie and Homemade Glaze

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