My mom and I made these cherry kuchen bars last week (yes, it was a joint effort!) after finding the recipe in a holiday baking edition of Better Homes and Gardens. You may have seen this recipe referred to as cherry pie bars on other blogs or on Pinterest. Yep, it’s probably the same delicious recipe!

When I think of cherries, I’m transported to my childhood. My grandpa was a huge fan of cherry pies, in fact, I’m pretty sure he almost always had a half-eaten cherry pie in his kitchen!

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I grew to develop my own taste for cherry desserts, and this cherry kuchen bars recipe is absolutely at the top of my cherry sweets must-have list. Not only do these cherry kuchen bars taste heavenly, they are also drop dead gorgeous. Just… look.

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Cherry Kuchen Bars Recipe

You know, there are times when you try a recipe from a magazine and the end result looks NOTHING like the oh-so-perfect photo on the printed page, but this was not one of times.

Our version of the cherry kuchen bars looked every bit as beautiful as the magazine photos and that’s why I’m confident that yours will be picture-worthy, too.

Actually, I think that’s one of my favorite things about these delicious bars—they look as impressive as they taste. If you want to serve a delicious dessert that will make your guests say WOW, these cherry kuchen bars are for you.

The cherry kuchen (kuchen is the German word for cake, by the way) bars turned out moist and chewy with a little crisp around the edges. These cherry pie bars are sweet, but not too sweet. Honestly, I usually have to send these to work with my husband when I make them lest I eat half the pan while he’s at work and the kids are at school.

I did want to note that while the recipe states a 32 bar yield, we did not get that many out of the pan. We ended up cutting much larger pieces and had only 24 bars.

Of course, if you’re not a fan of cherries you could easily substitute your favorite pie filling.

RELATED: Check out my easy apple pie bites made with crescent rolls and apple pie filling!

I would also love to try this same recipe with blackberries.

How beautiful would that be?

Be sure to grab the recipe for these outrageously good cherry kuchen bars below.

We hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Crazy About Dessert Bars? Try These!

Ingredients

½ cup butter softened
½ cup shortening
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups all purpose flour
1 21- ounce can cherry pie filling or substitute your favorite

Powdered Sugar Icing:

1 ½ cups powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
2 to 3 tablespoons of milk make a drizzle consistency

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. Reserve 1 ½ cups of the dough. Press the remaining dough on to the bottom of an ungreased 15x10x1-inch baking pan.
Bake for 12 minutes. Remove, then spread pie filling over crust in pan. Spoon reserved dough into small mounds over pie filling.
Bake an additional 30 minutes or until top is light brown. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Drizzle with powdered sugar icing. Cut and serve.

Notes

Slightly adapted from Better Homes & Gardens.

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Nutrition

Nutrition values are estimates, sourced from an online nutrition calculator. This information should never be considered a substitute for medical advice. Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.

Course: Desserts

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cherry pie bars, kuchen

Did you make this?

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4.39 from 49 votes (44 ratings without comment)

75 Comments

Kathy Dyckes says:

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I’ve made these bars several times. They are always a big hit with everyone. I do use two cans of cherries when I make them. A great recipe!

Ingrid Durham says:

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One can of pie filling is rat her sparse, so I use two. I used cherry and raspberry to make Cherry Berry Bars; they were a huge hit.

Sam says:

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I am making these for the second time for our weekly post church brunch. Everyone loves them! I split the fillings 1 can of each on the crust. First time I did apple and cherries, this time I am doing peaches and raspberry filling!
Love the ease of this recipe!

Bonnie Frary says:

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when you say shortening are you meaning oil like crisco vegetable oil or are you meaning the solid shortening in a can i need to know im baking these today and a speedy reply would be helpful getting company and really need help here

1. Crissy says:
  
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  Hi Bonnie, shortening is always the solid fat (Crisco) in the can/stick. Not the liquid! :)
  
Tami says:

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I just made these and WOW, they are delicious. My hubby and 2 boys (13&11) are loving them!

Susan burns says:

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Crissy can you use the sugar cookie store bought cookie dough

1. christine merlino says:
  
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  I’m sure you can…why not…ingredients are the same in the store bought cookie mix
  
Ginny Brindis says:

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I’ve made these several times now and they are not only yummy but easy to prepare! I’ll be sharing this recipe at a bridal shower soon ?

1. Crissy says:
  
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  Hi Ginny, I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! :)
  
sheila says:

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can u freeze them does anyone know

1. Tami says:
  
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  I was wondering the same thing!
  
Miz Helen says:

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Congratulations!
Your recipe is featured on our Top Ten this week at Full Plate Thursday. Your recipe will be pinned to our Features board and we sure hope you enjoy your new Red Plate! Thanks so much for sharing with us and have a great week!
Miz Helen

Victoria @DazzleWhileFrazzled says:

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Wow, this looks good (and I’m not a huge cherry person!). However, my husband and daughter love cherries so I’ll be pinning this for them. Visiting from Think Tank Thursday party.