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Glazed Cherry Pie Bars are an easy treat you can make with canned cherry pie filling or with a batch of homemade pie filling. These bars transport nicely and are perfect for any summer picnic, potluck, or party.
Cherry Pie Bars
With little more than a simple batter and a batch of cherry pie filling, these cherry pie bars come together quickly. Feel free to use a store-bought can of cherry pie filling too, to make this an even easier dessert.
However, if you have an abundance of fresh cherries at hand, you can take these bars to the next level by making them with homemade cherry pie filling.
Once the bars have cooled, whip up the glaze and drizzle it over them. They’ll be ready to serve in very little time.
It always makes me grin when I’m drizzling a simple glaze over a baked good. It’s such an easy thing to do, but it never fails to make the dessert look and taste extra special.
Pie bars are like muffins and many other baked goods, as they will soften and be a bit more flavorful and moist on the second day. So I try to make them ahead of time and then covered them tightly.
Cherry pie bars are a go-to summer dessert around here, primarily because they’re so easy to make, but also because they look so pretty and summery too!
Cherry Pie Bars Recipe
You’ll need the following ingredients to make these pie bars:
Pie Bar Ingredients
- butter
- sugar
- vanilla extract
- eggs
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- kosher salt
- cherry pie filling
Glaze Ingredients
- powdered sugar
- vanilla extract
- milk
Store-bought or homemade cherry pie filling will work nicely in this recipe.
Recipes with Cherry Pie Filling
Looking for more cherry recipes? Homemade cherry pie filling tastes infinitely better than store-bought! And best of all, it’s one of the easiest fruit desserts you can make.
Once you have that pie filling on hand, you can use it to make a shortcut variation of this cherry cobbler! Bubbling with sticky sweet cherries in their juices and topped with a buttery, flaky, cinnamon sugar crust, this is a cherry lover’s dream come true. Just pour the filling into a greased baking dish and top with spoonfuls of the cobbler batter.
Rich chocolate cake filled with sweet juicy cherries and topped with fluffy whipped cream is a chocolate + cherry dream with this easy black forest cake.
A classic dessert, this no-bake cherry cheesecake is perfect for summer picnics and potlucks. This cheesecake has a graham cracker crust topped with a creamy no bake cheesecake layer and cherry pie filling on top.
Don’t forget about the magic of old-fashioned dump cakes too. With just a handful of ingredients, you can make a cherry dump cake. Similar to a dump cake, you can make my Grandma’s cherry flop with a can of pie filling too!
Cherry Pie Bars
Ingredients
Bar Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1¾ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 20 ounces cherry pie filling about 2 cups worth
Glaze Ingredients
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13 baking pan with butter or line it with parchment paper. Set aside. Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until creamed. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat again to combine.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined.
- Spread about ⅔ of the batter in the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Top with cherry pie filling. Using a small spoon, dollop the reserved batter over the pie filling.
- Bake for 35 minutes, or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean. Take care not to overbake. Let the bars cool completely before glazing.
Glaze Instructions
- Combine the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon of milk in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Carefully add milk by the teaspoon, only as needed, to form a smooth consistency glaze that will pour off a spoon.
- Drizzle the glaze over the cooled bars. These are better on the second day as the bars will absorb some of the moisture from the pie filling. Slice and serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
{originally published 6/12/18 – recipe notes and photos updated 6/4/24}
Very very good. My mom used to make these all the time when I was younger and this must be the same recipe. Sweet yet not too sweet. We sprinkle with powder sugar instead of the glaze.
I’m so glad that you like the pie bars.
Can you make this with strawberry and rhubarb? I tried it with cherries and it was AMAZING!!!!
I have made these loads of times and everyone loves them! I use an 11 x 15 pan which is what I thought the original recipe called for. It works well in the larger pan if you want a few more bars.
I’m so glad you love them too!
I have only a 9 x 12 baking pan. Can that be used?
Can I substitute almond extract for the vanilla?
Yes, I bet that would taste great.
I LOVE peach anything, do you think I could use them for this recipe? It seems pretty diverse!!
Yes, you definitely could. I actually have a peach version on my blog. Here: https://chocolatewithgrace.com/fresh-peach-pie-bars/
Frustrating! Eggs listed in directions but not in ingredients. 3 hours to party and now no clue how many eggs to use.
The recipe calls for 4 eggs as listed in the ingredients 🙂
This recipe is a winner! I used blueberry canned pie filling that I had already. It is delicious and also very pretty with the glaze. Thank you for this! I just found your site and will be a regular follower.
This came out amazing. I made homemade cherry pie filling and added extra vanilla (in our house, we like to double it). I enjoyed the recipe and will make it again in the future. I think I may can some filling, just so I can make this again!