These easy bars feature a buttery almond shortbread crust, homemade cherry filling, and a crunchy crumb topping. Use fresh or frozen cherries to make this recipe year round.
What sets this recipe apart
Ease: These bars feature the same mixture for the crust and topping and the filling comes together in minutes! Very similar to my almond crumble cheesecake bars.
Almond + cherries: Almond paste, almond extract, and sliced almonds pair wonderfully with cherries.
Pie vibes: These bars are a cross between a cherry pie and a cherry cobbler that can be eaten with your hands. Bonus: no pie crust to roll out!
Visual recipe overview
Full written recipe below in recipe card.
Crust & topping
Make the mixture for the crust and topping. Press the crust into the pan and bake.
Filling
Cook the cherry filling on the stovetop.
Assemble
Add the cherry filling and the crumb topping to the pre-baked crust.
Bake
Bake, cool, slice, and enjoy!
My recipe testing tips and notes
Almond paste: Almond paste can be found in the baking aisle of well stocked grocery stores. You will likely have more than you need for this recipe, the leftover almond paste can be frozen. Or you can make an almond cake!
Cherries: You can use fresh or frozen cherries. I recommend sweet cherries, but if you want to swap some for sour cherries that would be fine. I do not recommend all sour cherries.
Chill time: These bars need to cool completely before cutting. If you refrigerate them they will cut nicely into clean slices.
Recipe
Cherry Almond Crumb Bars
Ingredients
Crust and topping:
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- ½ cup almond paste*, about 3oz
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- ⅓ cup sliced almonds
Filling:
- ¼ cup water
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch, increase to 3 scant tablespoons if using frozen cherries
- 4 cups pitted sweet cherries, fresh or frozen (1-pound bag of frozen works well here)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- pinch salt
Icing:
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons milk
- ⅛ teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
Crust and topping;
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×9 square pan with foil (leaving overhang on two sides) and grease the foil. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter, almond paste, and almond extract. Blend on medium-low speed until the butter and almond paste pieces are the size of small pebbles, and the mixture resembles wet sand. Remove 1 heaping cup for the topping, set it aside.
- Pour the remaining mixture into the prepared pan and press it evenly over the bottom. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the edges are just beginning to brown.
Meanwhile, prepare the filling:
- In a medium saucepan, whisk water, lemon juice and cornstarch. Add cherries, sugar, butter, and salt. Bring to a simmer, stirring frequently, and simmer until thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Spread filling over crust. Stir sliced almonds into the reserved topping mixture, then sprinkle the topping over the cherry filling, occasionally pinching the topping together to form small clumps.
- Bake until the filling is beginning to bubble and the topping is light brown, about 25-30 minutes. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
Icing:
- Whisk all icing ingredients, adding more milk or powdered sugar to reach your desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled bars (I place my icing in a ziptop bag, snip off the corner, and drizzle the icing straight from the bag). Store in the refrigerator. The bars cut more neatly if they are chilled.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Kathy B. says
Hello, I Love your website you are so talented..I would Love to win a Kitchen Aid Mixer – this would be a dream come true..I have always wanted one searched for one however, at present I am fighting Cancer this places a stop on many things you want to purchase or do..I keep positive because there is “tomorrow” I do love to bake especially around the Holidays and all of the good memories of baking with my Mother and Grandmother who have passed are with me..I am looking forward to my Kitchen Aid Mixer one day..
Celebrating Sweets says
Thanks for reading, Kathy. Good luck with the giveaway, and I wish you the best with your health. Happy holidays!
Diana says
We have a cherry tree in our garden, and i can’t wait for the summer when it starts giving fruit! These bars look and sound very delicious, i’ll have to try them.
Ben Myhre says
In the one picture you have them stacked four high. That seems about right for what I need. These look like such a fabulous treat.
Quinn Caudill says
Two of my favorites in a beautiful little bar. YUM!
Traci says
Ohhhh I’ve been wanting to resurrect an old recipe for fruit bars, but I’m really wanting to make yours too! They’re gorgeous and easy…love that 🙂 Pinning and sharing these beauties!
Tracy | Baking Mischief says
These look SO good, and I love love love that this filling is homemade but with frozen cherries so you can make it any time of year. I feel like there’s such a short window of time when you can get fresh cherries that I don’t get to enjoy my favorite cherry desserts nearly as often as I’d like!
Teri says
This is my new favorite summer bar?
Carol Valkema says
Can cherry pie filling be substituted?
Celebrating Sweets says
Hi, Carol. I would assume so. I’m not sure how much. I’d guess somewhere between 1-2 cans. Enjoy!
LINDA says
would raspberries work instead of cherries? I love raspberries and not so much cherries but this recipe looks so tasty.
Celebrating Sweets says
That should work. You might need a bit more sugar in the filling since raspberries are more tart than cherries. Enjoy!
Lynn says
These look amazing, but I cannot make them as written because of nut allergies. I can omit the almonds, and use imitation almond extract; but I’m not sure what to replace the almond paste with. Any ideas?
Celebrating Sweets says
Hi, Lynn. You can’t omit the almond paste because it adds structure and flavor to the crust/crumb topping. You can try using the recipe below for the crust and topping, then using the cherry filling from this recipe. Note: You will likely need to make an additional half recipe of cherry filling because the Berry Crumb Bars are made in a larger pan. Best of luck playing around with it.
https://celebratingsweets.com/mixed-berry-crumble-bars/