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Cherry Pie Crumb Bars Recipe

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Cherry Pie Crumb Bars Recipe – quick and easy crumb bars with fresh cherry filling. Buttery crumb topping and sweet fruit filling make this a perfect summer dessert!

If you have apples on hands, you can try my Apple Pie Bars too! The crumb topping tastes like my Perfect Sugar Cookies.

cherry pie bars 6 Cherry Pie Crumb Bars Recipe

After the light and fluffy Cherry Poke Cake, that may I just say now disappear quicker than any cake I’ve ever made (maybe with the exception of my Pineapple Coconut Cake), I was left with 2 cups of cherries to use up quickly. As always in such a situation, I quickly decided to make my favorite and trusted crumb bars.

CHERRY PIE CRUMB BARS

It’s hard to decide what part of these bars is better: the buttery and crunchy crumb topping or the sweet cherry filling that just screams summer! Enjoy these Cherry Pie Crumb Bars dusted with powdered sugar, a la mode with a scoop of ice cream or packed in your lunchbox.

cherry pie bars 1 Cherry Pie Crumb Bars Recipe

CAN I USE FROZEN CHERRIES TO MAKE THESE BARS?

For this Cherry Pie Crumb Bars recipe, you can use any fruit. You can use fresh or frozen, but thawed before baking.

The trick to perfect crumb topping is to use completely cooled to room temperature butter. Hot will cook the mixture and the crumbs won’t form. It’s helpful to stir the mixture with a fork to make perfect size crumbs. You can also bake these bars in a round 8″ pan for a thin slice pie.

cherry pie bars 3 Cherry Pie Crumb Bars Recipe

More Crumb Bars Recipes:

Sour Cream Crumb Bars

Strawberry Pie Crumb Bars

Lemon Cream Crumb Bars

If you like this recipe and make it, snap a photo and share it on INSTAGRAM! Tag me @crunchycreamysweet so I can check it out and leave a comment! 😀

4.97 from 32 votes
cherry pie bars 6NEW 150x150 Cherry Pie Crumb Bars Recipe
Print
Cherry Pie Crumb Bars Recipe
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
23 mins
Total Time
33 mins
 

Cherry Pie Crumb Bars Recipe - quick and easy crumb bars with fresh cherry filling. Buttery crumb topping and sweet fruit filling make this a perfect summer dessert!

This recipe makes 9 bars. 

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: crumb bars, dessert
Servings: 9 people
Calories: 234 kcal
Author: Anna
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted , cooled to room temperature
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1.5 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 cups fresh cherries , pitted, each sliced in half
  • 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tsp granulated sugar
US Customary - Metric
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Line a square 8" baking pan with parchment paper. Butter the sides and bottom of lined pan. Set aside.
  3. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together cherries, cornstarch and lemon juice.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, stir together melted butter and sugar. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and stir with a fork until the mixture resembles crumbs.
  5. Reserve 3/4 cup of mixture.
  6. Press remaining crumb mixture into the bottom of prepared pan.
  7. Spread cherry filling over the crust.
  8. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over cherries.
  9. Sprinkle sugar over crumb topping.
  10. Bake bars for 23 to 25 minutes OR until the top is golden.
  11. Cool completely before cutting.
Recipe Notes

Refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days.

Nutrition Facts
Cherry Pie Crumb Bars Recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 234 Calories from Fat 90
% Daily Value*
Fat 10g15%
Saturated Fat 6g38%
Cholesterol 27mg9%
Sodium 136mg6%
Potassium 118mg3%
Carbohydrates 33g11%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 15g17%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin A 335IU7%
Vitamin C 2.8mg3%
Calcium 22mg2%
Iron 1.1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Nadja says

    Hi Anna,

    I only recently caught the ‘baking bug’ so I am a newbie, but I am really excited to make your recipe. It looks delicious!
    I have some questions and I would really appreciate your answers:
    1) I am planning to use frozen cherries (thawed overnight in the fridge.) Should I cut them in half when frozen and then thaw, or not bother cutting them in half at all when frozen?
    2) When they thaw there’s some juice. Should I keep the juice or remove it before using for this recipe?
    3) Just to make sure I understand: I melt a stick of butter and then let it cool room temp. So it’s not as cold as a stick in the fridge but not as melted when liquid either, correct? How long does it usually take for this to happen if it’s summer/room temp around 25C/77F? I’m just trying to figure out how in advance I should do it.
    4) So the butter/flour/sugar mixture: I use only 1/4 of it on the bottom (so pretty thin base I think) and all the rest for the top crum, correct?
    5) Can I safely sub sugar with 1/2 maple syrup?
    6) And finally, is using a 9×9 pan ok?

    THANKS SO MUCH!!!!
    I will rate and report back when I make it. 🙂
    Be well,
    Nadja

    Reply

  2. Mary says

    Followed the recipe as written.. Had to cook it more like 48 minutes to get to the golden brown crumb crust. Absolutely delicious!!

    Reply

  4. Michelle says

    I just made these to take to a large party. I had a large, zip-locked bag of Concord Grape pie filling in the freezer that I wanted to use up and it worked out great!
    Thanks for a terrific recipe….It’s a keeper!

    Reply

  7. Susan Sampon says

    I used frozen cherries, which I drained. I mixed the other ingredients with the cherries and then spooned it over the base layer, but I’m wondering if I was supposed to cook the cherries in the cornstarch?? It seemed like just liquid and cherries…?!?

    Reply

    • Holly says

      Mine are currently in the oven. It looks amazing!! I did double the batch since I will be giving some to our neighbors, however I did add 1 TBS vanilla & 1/4 cup brown sugar (remind you, it’s a doubled recipe) to the crumb for extra flavor/sweetness. Thank you for the recipe!!!

      Reply

  9. Sonia says

    This was AMAZING! The crumbs were delicious and the filling was so good! I love the fact that this recipe has very simple ingredients, and yet produces such flavor! 🤩😋

    Reply

  10. heather liechty says

    I followed the recipe exactly and this… was not good.
    I feel like it would have been better if i made a filling with cherries then poured it in. It also had an odd “burnt popcorn” smell and after taste even though I only cooked it an extra 10 min to get the top lightly brown.

    Cant say id make it again :/

    Reply

    • Kim says

      I made this recipe exactly as the recipe says with fresh sour cherries off our cherry trees, and I thought they turned out great! The sweetness of the crust and crumb topping was perfect to balance tartness of the cherries. I also melted my butter in the microwave. I will definitely make these again!

      Reply

  11. Ruth says

    I’m confused by the instructions… is the butter supposed to be room temperature? Or melted? or melted and then cooled again?

    Reply

    • David says

      Fully melted, and then cooled again. If you let it cool completely, it will solidify again. By “cool”, this does not mean chilled, but brought back down to just a little above room temperature while it is still liquid.

      Reply

  12. Manda says

    This was very good!!!
    I actually made 2 & I’m glad I did!!!
    Just topped it with some cool whip and devoured it!!

    Reply

  13. Alisha C Nguyen says

    Could a desert recipe get any easier?! This is a recipe to pull out when you need a last minute offering for unexpected guests, or for when you just want something sweet in a flash! I cooked the frozen cherries that I had with the cornstarch, lemon juice and sugar on the stove because I was afraid they would be too juicy. After they cooled I added vanilla and fresh lemon peel. Definitely making this one again!

    Reply

  14. Andrew Bell says

    Hi Anna, I feel bad that every time I make one of these that I haven’t written to thank you!!!
    Landed up with 2Kgs of cherries and found your page and recipe end 2020 and have since made numerous variations of the original. An absolute winner as I’m no cook at all.
    I have since varied the ingredients using apple, strawberry and apricot jams, even banana and all winners! Thanks again 🙂

    Andrew

    Reply

  16. Julie says

    These are incredible! Perfect as written!! I picked a couple of extra pounds of cherries this summer just for this recipe 🙂

    Reply

  17. Jidge says

    These are absolutely delicious. My husband did the magic trick of making them disappear. Now, how well do they freeze? I would love to be able to pull them out and enjoy them when the snow is on the ground as a reminder of sunny days. Many thanks.

    Reply

  19. Elizabeth says

    Should these be refrigerated once cooled or can they stay out in an airtight container for a day or two?
    The bars are a hit. I love that is isn’t a lot of sugar and the cherries shine. The crumble is to die for.

    Reply

  20. Jenn says

    I haven’t made this yet, but have made a few cherry crumble recipes. Am I reading this correctly that you don’t cook the cherry mixture at all before you bake the whole dish? For the crumble I made a few nights ago I had to cook the mixture for 20min before I baked for another 20.

    Reply

  21. Leah says

    I only had 1 cup of cherries so I halved the recipe and used a muffin pan to make bite size portions, worked wonderfully! Love love this recipe!

    Reply

  22. Erin says

    Excellent recipe, not too sweet but just right and even better than cherry pie. I had a quart of cherries and it was just the right amount as well. I will add this to my “keeper recipes.” Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  24. Rebecca says

    SO. GOOD. Simple, just the right amount of sweet, beautiful texture. I had just gone cherry picking and used the fresh cherries! This is my new fave summer dessert.

    Reply

  25. Cheri says

    These bars were perfect! The texture was spot on! I made them with fresh cherries. And today I’m going to try them with blueberries. They also travel well. I placed them in an air tighter container in my cooler. They did not last long!

    Reply

    • Caroline says

      Recipe was delicious and easy! Tastes like an awesome butter cookie with fruit. Used fresh cherries and did drain them a little before adding them in. Only thing different was I sprinkled a little cinnamon on top.
      Recommend making these but a tip would be I think it serves more like 4 or 5 not 9 (honestly I think my boyfriend wanted the whole pan) Make two if taking to a party! You won’t regret it.

      Reply

      • Amy Jean Sanford says

        I agree, as I’m currently on this website while making ANOTHER batch.

        My adult family members argued way too much about who gets the largest portion this week; thus, tonight I’m baking a double batch.

        One family member who “thought” she didn’t like cherries “loved” your recipe.

        Many thanks❣

        Reply

  26. Pavi says

    So simple and so delicious! I only had a cup of cherries so I halved the recipe and baked in an 9×5 loaf pan. I also a tiny bit of vanilla and almond extract to bring out the cherry flavor. They were crisp the day I baked them, but the next day they had become soft (I had stored them in an airtight glass container). Any tips on how to keep that crispness? Thanks!

    Reply

  28. Vicki says

    Out of curiosity, if i want to add oats to the crumb topping simply for a fiber boost, how much should I add and when? Thanks!

    Reply

      • Vicki says

        Thanks so much! Turns out I only have quick oats, so I’ll make it without for the moment, but will definitely keep it in mind for next time. 🙂

        Reply

        • Natalie says

          Hi Vicki, U can use quick oats as they are just cup pieces of Whole oats, that’s why they cook faster. 😉 I made a recipe a few days ago for peach crumble bars, which is a keeper, but I’m definitely gonna make this one once I’m recovered enough from surgery today. I LOVE cherries! 😊

          Reply

  29. Kristine says

    Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! Cherries are everywhere in UAE right now so I thought to make some dessert using it and gladly I found your page. I like how this tastes and I’m happy that I had my first crumb bar dessert a success. Thank you!

    Just few things:
    – The cherry mixture produced a lot of liquid after adding cornstarch and lemon so I strained it and I blended quickly to just break up the big pieces, I tried to mash them using potato masher but it work break. I then again strained the liquid and the mixture came out very less, I thought it’s not gonna be enough. I don’t know if I missed something or I did something wrong with it but it would be helpful if you have a picture showing how the mixture should be.
    – I read 1 tbsp granulated sugar to put on top and did not realize it was tsp! The sugar on top did not melt probably because I put too much lol silly me. I’d probably make this again without the extra sugar.

    Reply

  30. Janine says

    My husband said these are the best baked goods I’ve ever made! I don’t know what that says for my baking over the past 30 years haha But he ate them all! I only got to try one!! And he wants me to make more already! Had cherries to use up so I googled recipes and was going to make a pie but saw this and so happy I decided on these. There terrific and simple! Thank you! Can’t wait to try them using other fruits.

    Reply

  31. Christi R Siedlecki says

    I was thinking about adding some sliced almonds to the topping. What do you think oif this idea?

    Reply

    • Suzie says

      I just made those and did add slices almonds and some chocolate chips to the mixture. I am calling it Black Forest bars. Cherries and chocolate go so well together.

      Reply

  33. Smiley says

    Easy, delicious recipe! I used fresh cherries & served w scoop of Frozen vanilla Yogurt.
    My family went back for seconds (no yogurt) and raved about how it was perfectly balanced & not to sweet. Comments were from my “I don’t care for dessert” dieting fam members. This ones a keeper ! Thank you

    Reply

  34. Old gray mare says

    These were really easy. I don’t think I let the butter cool enough because they didn’t stick together. I also used half apple bits and half cherries. Still a keeper. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  37. Taren says

    If I were to use tart/sour cherries straight from our trees, do you have any tips for adjusting the recipe? Basically, how much sugar would you add?

    Reply

  38. Melissa says

    Can I use salted butter and omit the 1/4 tsp of salt? I don’t have any unsalted butter on hand but I have a bunch of cherries to use up.

    Reply

    • Cyndi says

      You can always substitute salted for unsalted butter… just leave out a bit of the extra salt called for in a recipe. It really won’t make that much of a difference.

      Reply

    • Nanci says

      No, salted butter is whipped with salt water and will make your batter soggy compared to unsalted butter and dry salt.

      Reply

  39. Yodi Kaplan says

    I’m a baker! I’m picky! Recipes don’t always work!
    These were amazing!!!! I used my cherries from my tree (cherries were a bit sour so added a small amount of sugar to the cherry mixture) otherwise did exactly as written just doubled recipe (9×13) fabulous. Thanks, love when it’s this easy, & this great!!!!
    Oh and they looked exactly like the picture 👏👏👏 wish I could upload one.

    Reply

    • Anna says

      Hi Yodi! I am so happy that you love the crumb bars! I absolutely love that you used cherries from your tree. How cool is that! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and for the comment! Have a beautiful day!

      Reply

    • Jen says

      i’m using cherries from my tree too so i was wondering how much extra sugar did you add and was it necessary to add it?

      Reply

  40. Martinique Perfetti says

    These are amazing and so easy! The sugar cookie crumble is so delicious against the fruit. I love that the fruit is left mostly untouched, and can shine through. I’ll be using this recipe again and again as the fresh in-season fruit changes!! Thank you!

    Reply

  43. Anna Grace says

    Made a mistake and only put half of the butter in so when I took it out after 23min and realized, I melted the other half of the butter and poured it over what was in the pan and stuck it back in the oven for 3 minutes more. It’s still delicious.

    Reply

  44. Vicki says

    Hi, I am a little confused by the melted butter! You tell us to have it at room temperature the you say melted. Please help! Thank you

    Reply

    • Anna says

      Hi Vicki! First, melt the butter. It will be hot. You need to let it sit in room temperature to cool. It will not solidify. It has to be cooled before mixing with the rest of the ingredients or it will “cook” the flour mixture. I hope this explains it!

      Reply

    • Tina says

      Hi, I’ve actually done this recipe several times with fresh apples, both a sweeter honey crisp & a more tart Granny Smith, both delicious, but I liked tart apples better. I used 2 large or 4 small granny’s smith apples. I peeled & diced them, added lemon juice & 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch, then I added about 1 teaspoon cinnamon & about 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar depending on how sweet/tart you want it. Then followed rest of recipe with 3/4 cup crumb mix & tsp sugar on top. Then baked per directions. The apples still had a good texture & it was yummy. Hope this helps 🙂

      Reply

    • Tina says

      Of course, the cherry version is also delicious, just made a batch, trying hard to wait until they cool enough to cut.

      Reply

  46. Robin says

    Just put in oven. Hope they turn out like everyone else has raved about. Super easy besides taking the pits out. Lol I added a little sugar in the cherry mixture. Hoping that doesn’t screw it up!

    Reply

  47. David says

    These came out great. Everyone at work loved them. Doubled the recipe and made in a 9 x 13 pan. Couldn’t keep them all at home or I would eat too many of them! Going to make them again and try blueberries next.

    Reply

      • Peggy says

        So glad to hear they freeze! I’m going to make these tomorrow with the last of my fresh cherries. Love the apricot idea since their season is coming right upon my area.

        Reply

  49. Martha says

    Could I use apricot instead cherries? I have a lot of apricot and I don’t know what to do with them.

    Reply

  50. Janet says

    OMG i will be making these again. I used fresh pitted cherries. The cherries are soft but are meaty, not mushy.
    it needs a little more crumble on top, so make more. I used more cherries that It called for. At least a cup & 1/2 more probably and did not cut them up. Mist used whole. Definitely making them again

    Reply

  52. Rachel says

    Turned out amazing! Not quite as perfect as yours but beautiful and yummy! Definitely a keeper and I’ll be trying other fruits and nuts! Wish I could post a picture!

    Reply

  53. Bea says

    If using canned cherries, how many cans? Would one be sufficient? Thank you… they look yummy 🤗

    Reply

    • Anna says

      Hi Janice! Yes, you can easily double the recipe for 9″x13″ pan. Increase baking time to 30 minutes and check if the bars are done. Add more time if needed. I hope this helps!

      Reply

  55. Bonnie says

    Are these made with tart cherries or bing cherries? They look so dark in the pictures.

    Thank you.

    Reply

  56. Carol Eberhardt says

    I would like to make these with frozen cherries. Would you suggest cooking down the cherries a bit to thicken or thaw and drain as much liquid as possible before baking? Thank you!!!

    Reply

  57. Coleen Agvent says

    If using canned cherry pie filling, do you still need to mix it with the cornstarch and lemon juice or just use directly from the can ?

    Reply

  65. Giget says

    What does 1,5 cups of flour mean?? How many cups of flour do you actually need? Is it 1 cup, is it 5 cups, is it 1.5 cups? It would help to change that to make the directions easier to understand

    Reply

  70. Kimberly says

    Wow, those look SO good! I’d be in trouble having those around me – I’d have a hard time resisting eating way to many of them! 🙂

    Reply

  73. Jen says

    Wow! You really nailed this!! I can’t decide what I’m most excited about- the flakey layers or that tempting cherry filling!

    Reply

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