Batch Size
16 bars
Ingredients
| Qty | Unit | Ingredient |
|---|
Instructions
- Preheat & Prep:
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
- Make crust and crumble:
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
- Whisk together melted butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and almond extract in a large bowl until combined.
- Add dry ingredients and fold in until incorporated.
- Set aside 3/4 C of dough for topping:
- Chill until ready to use.
- Press remaining dough evenly into bottom of prepared 8-inch square baking pan.
- Bake crust for 14 to 16 minutes, until lightly golden and set:
- Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes.
- Make filling:
- Place cherry pie filling in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
- Whisk cornstarch and water together in a small bowl until dissolved.
- Add cornstarch slurry, lemon juice, almond extract, and salt to the saucepan.
- Gently simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until filling is thickened and coats the back of a spoon.
- Remove pan from the heat and cool filling for 10 minutes.
- Spoon cherry filling over cooled crust and crumble reserved dough over filling:
- No sub-steps.
- Bake bars for another 38 to 40 minutes or until topping is golden and filling slightly bubbly:
- Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
- Just before cutting, chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Carefully lift parchment and place bars on a cutting board; cut into squares with a sharp knife.
- Make glaze:
- Whisk together melted butter, salt, vanilla, powdered sugar, and milk in a small bowl.
- Drizzle glaze over cooled bars and let set.
- Store leftover bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 2 days:
- No additional steps.