Whenever I go to a potluck, reunion, or get together centered around food (although I confess to not knowing of many get togethers that aren’t centered around food), I like to take a dessert that everyone is going to ooh and ahh over. Something uniquely decadent, extra special, that you can’t find anywhere else and these Ooey Gooey Cherry Bars are just the thing!
This recipe has been my special go to for two years now, ever since I took one of my favorite bar recipe and played around with it to produce my ultimate favorite bar recipe. Special doesn’t even begin to cover it. These Ooey Gooey Cherry bars are an experience – and one I hope you get to have soon.
The Ingredients for Ooey Gooey Cherry Bars are simple
- All purpose flour
- Butter
- Confectioner’s sugar
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Vanilla
- Maraschino cherries (drained and cut in half)
- Pecans
And as usual the printable recipe card is below
How To Make Cherry Bars Step by Step
Begin by making the crust. I started with the same crust I use on my Lemon Bars.
Place flour, butter, and confectioner’s sugar in a medium sized mixing bowl and cut them together with a pastry cutter or long tined fork until crumbly, as pictured on the right.
Press this evenly into a 9×13 baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray and bake until just lightly browned, about 20-25 minutes.
Once your crust is done, remove from oven and reduce oven temp to 325 and make your filling. Place sugar, eggs, flour, salt, baking powder, and vanilla in the same bowl you mixed the crust up in – no need to wash it.
Stir together with a large spoon until smooth and creamy – the batter will be very thick. Once it’s mixed, stir in cherries and pecans (Note, pecans are optional).
Spoon the filling over the crust and gently spread to the edges. Bake until set, about 30 minutes.
Isn’t this pretty? Not even cooked and it’s already pretty! I can’t wait to get one of theseOoey Gooey Cherry Bars on my plate!
Allow to cool completely in the pan, then sprinkle with a light dusting of confectioner’s sugar and cut into bars.
Oooh my goodness! These stay all ooey and gooey in the filling but that wonderful buttery crust holds it all together.
Ooey Gooey Cherry Bars are definitely a treat worthy of a special occasion – or one that can make an occasion special!
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup 2 sticks butter, at room temp
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
For filling
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 6 ounce jar maraschino cherries drained and cut in half
- 1.5 cups chopped pecans optional
- confectioner's sugar for finishing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- In medium mixing bowl, place crust ingredients. Cut butter into flour and confectioner's sugar with a pastry cutter or long tined fork, until well combined and crumbly. Press into 9x13 pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until just lightly browned on the edges. Remove from oven when done and reduce temp to 325.
- In same bowl (no need to wash it), place sugar, eggs, flour, salt, baking powder, and vanilla from filling ingredients. Stir together with a long spoon until smooth and creamy - batter will be thick. Stir in cherries and pecans until well incorporated. Spoon filling onto crust and spread to the edges. Bake until set, about 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Dust top with confectioner's sugar and cut into bars. Enjoy!
Nutrition
You may also enjoy these recipes:
Butter Bars From Scratch: Gooey Goodness Awaits!
Lela’s Fried Peach Pie Bars
Let us always meet each other with a smile for a smile is the beginning of love.
~Mother Theresa
How good this looks! My late husband would have loved this. He was a fool about maraschino cherries. Thinking maybe using red and green one at Christmas! Yum.
I hope you get the chance to try them soon. Can’t wait to hear how y’al like them!!
Christy, I followed the recipe exactly, but it turned out to be anything but gooey. It was much more cake-like (maybe the 4 eggs?). Also, you said the batter would be thick; mine was very much liquid. Any ideas as to what may have happened? Thanks!
Hey Lois!
First of all, I’m so sorry this didn’t turn out as expected! Thanks for letting me know. I went back and double checked the recipe to make sure I had typed it all in correctly and didn’t see any errors there. It’s the same recipe used for these photographs, which is a quandary to be sure! I’m not sure what may have happened to cause the difference. How did they taste?
The taste was just OK, sort of bland, but the disappointment was mainly in the lack of the ooey-gooey texture.
I’m so sorry! Something is definitely amiss in this case, then, since they are usually ooey, gooey, and full of flavor. I’m afraid it’s difficult to detect from this side of the screen but I do hate they didn’t turn out for you and I appreciate you being here and letting me know.
I do not care for maraschino cherries, but every other kind is awesome! Do you think canned cherries would work?
These bars have been percolating to the top of my “to bake” list for months (hubby has had a hand in this). I finally baked up a batch and could kick myself for waiting so long. They are absolutely fantastic! A very dressed up, buttery, cousin to pecan pie. They are my husband’s new favorite! He has a potluck luncheon this weekend and has requested these bars .. hopefully they will be a hit.
The suggestion of red and green cherries for Christmas is something I will try when Christmas roles around again.
Thank you Christy for another fantastic recipe! This is a real keeper.
I am so glad you finally got to try them!! Hope they go over well at the luncheon!!
They were a hit! Every one of the bars was scarfed up. They thought it was a brilliant combination of cherries and pecans and they LOOOOOOVED the crust (I’ve had several compliments on your cookie base!) Thank you again for the delicious recipe!!
Wow, I am so glad to hear they were a hit!! Thank YOU for giving the recipe a try!
Alicia, did you ever get the choç. chip bar with cream cheese recipe? I would love to try it too!
How do you store these?