Sour Cherry Crumble Bars- Dessert, Lunchbox or Coffee Treat!

This dessert is just like a homemade cherry pie...except you can grab it and eat it on the go! Slip the finished squares into lunch boxes, pass them out after dinner, or enjoy one with coffee for breakfast, or make it to celebrate summer or Valentines day! These bars are a 10 out of 10 and I don't give many recipes that rating..so incredibly good.
If you do not have the cherries fresh, or in the jar form like I did, you can use frozen, just make sure they are thawed and drained and patted dry with a paper towel.
I found my jar of cherries at Aldi, but I found similar on Amazon.

Recipe (Watch for assembly instructions)

Crust:

1 stick (½ cup) plus 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature.
1 cup sugar
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Filling:
1 pound sour cherries (3 cups), pitted
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon almond extract

Directions
Crust: Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter an 8-inch square cake pan.

Beat butter with sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed. Reduce speed to medium-low, add flour and salt, and beat until dough forms clumps but does not completely hold together. Press 2 1/2 cups flour mixture into bottom and 1 inch up sides of prepared pan.

Filling: In a medium bowl, stir together cherries, sugar, flour, lemon juice, and salt. Pour into crust. Crumble remaining flour mixture (about 1/2 cup) evenly over top, squeezing to create clumps.

Bake until bubbling in center and crust is golden, about 1 hour, 10 minutes (if browning too quickly, tent top with foil). Transfer to a wire rack and let cool at least 20 minutes before slicing into squares.

[amber-orrq]

TFS . Hope you are having a blessed day 🙏🙏😊😊

[lamb]

They look delicious! I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season. :)

[PrinMar]

This recipe looks so good! I will be trying this one soon! Thank you! 🍒😊

[sarabelden]

I used to make these with my grandma. I was waiting for the almond! Another great video.

[CosmicDiamond]

These look absolutely amazing Sara, as does everything you make. I know fresh fruit is best, but don’t know if I could find any nice cherries now at my store and frozen fruit is sometimes not the best quality. I’m trying some canned blueberry or cherry pie filling and see how they turn out. Thank you 🙏🏻🙏🏻so much for sharing. 🎊 Wishing you so much Happiness, Health and Super Blessings in 2025!! 🎊

[bumblebee]

YUMMY! You are SO right about the almond flavoring going well with cherries! I always use that in my cherry pie, and use tapioca for the thickener.