Cherry Crumb Bars

I know, I know, I know. I haven’t posted in quiet some time, and I ‘somewhat’ apologize for that. It’s not that I have forgotten how to cook, and trust me I’m still cooking, but I took a bit of a break and tried to slow down a bit on the recipe posting front. I wasn’t tired, I did not lose focus, and I surely did not give up. I just took some time for myself. Something I felt like I haven’t done in some time. Now I figured was a good time as any to post something easy, delicious, and flexible enough to substitute cherries with another fruit of your liking. These are cherry crumb bars.

I came up with the idea of cherry crumb bars only because I wanted to continue purging the old ‘stuff’ from the freezer (fridge, and pantry) to make room for other items. It was perfect timing not only providing the purge, but also providing a bit of comfort during these tough times. Not only that but this recipe uses common ingredients and is essentially a mix and bake type of recipe. What’s not to like about all of that, right?

Let’s get started.

Ingredients for the filling:

• • 2 cups of thawed cherries
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 tsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Ingredients for the crust and topping:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temp, slightly melted
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees.  Get a baking dish out. I used a glass 8×11 dish, approximately.

To a small bowl, add the cherries, cornstarch, and sugar. Give a gentle, yet swift mix, and set aside.

To another mixing bowl, add in the butter, and remaining crust ingredients. Using a fork, mix, and lightly mash to incorporate all of the ingredients into the butter. This will form a crumbly dough if you will. Don’t worry if it is too lose as you will form most of it into the baking dish and sprinkle the rest onto the top. Reserve about 3/4 cup of the mixture.

If you want to lightly butter your baking dish, feel free. I think there is enough butter (and there is) to not stick to the pan, but again, your call.

Use all but 3/4 cup of the crumb mixture and dump it into the baking dish. Use the fork, or spoon to evenly spread into the bottom of the dish and lightly press to form a bottom crust.

Pour the cherry mixture over the top and spread evenly.

Top with the remaining crumb, over the top. Place into the preheated oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes. The top should be a nice golden brown. Once cooked, remove and let this cool. Fortunately my garage is still cold so once the glass cooled down a bit, I was able to transfer the dish into the garage. There’s something about how those sugars slightly harden when cooled that excites me. Go figure.

Once cooled, slice into bars, or have a free for all and slice how you desire. I sprinkled a bit of powdered sugar over my bar, but that should not stop you from serving with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream either. However you serve it, you will fall in love.

Were these good, you ask? Gosh were they ever. Please don’t judge when I tell you this. WE ATE ALL BUT A SLIVER OF THE BARS. This was between three of us. So YES THESE WERE GREAT.

If you are looking for an easy sweet treat, and one that is comforting throughout the day, then these cherry crumb bars will certainly do the trick. Hope you enjoy, and BE SAFE EVERYONE!