I had been perusing the internet for a cherry dessert this weekend and had come across a few variations of something call “Cherry Pie Bars.” While I found them appealing, after reading them I felt they sounded more like Cherry Cake Bars. There was simply too much egg in the ingredients. I wanted something that felt more like a Lemon Square texture – a crispy shortbread bottom with a gooey fruity top. I decided to experiment and my Cherry Pie Square was born!
Crust:
1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 c flour
1/8 t kosher salt
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 t almond extract
Topping:
2 cans Cherry Pie Filling (found in bakers aisle)
3/4 c flour
1/3 c light brown sugar
3 T granulated sugar
pinch of salt
6 T diced cold unsalted butter
1t almond extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
For the crust, cream butter, vanilla extract, almond extract and sugar until well blended and fluffy in an electric mixer.
Slowly add flour and salt at low speeds until just mixed. Spread the dough into a 9″x13″ baking pan evenly. It may help to wet your fingers to keep it from sticking.
Chill for 15 min.
Bake the crust for 15 min until lightly browned. Remove and let cool.
While the crust is cooling, prepare crumble topping.
Combine the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and salt. Mix in butter chunks and almond extract. The mixture should look slightly clumpy.
Once the crust has cooled, spread the two cans of Cherry Pie Filling over the crust evenly. Top with crumble mixture.
Make sure the butter clumps are evenly spread out over the top.
Bake for 20-30 min at 350 degrees until the top is bubbling and browned.
Let cool. Slice into squares. Enjoy!