Chocolate Chip Cherry Bars
These Chocolate Chip Cherry Bars are packed with fresh, ripe cherries, lots of chocolate chips and delicious notes from the brown sugar. They are soft, chewy and 100% irresistible. The bars come together in one bowl, no mixer required and take roughly 30 minutes to bake.
If you’re looking for a way to use cherries, this is one of my go to recipes. The chocolate chips combined with the fresh cherries is just so good. These bars feature a delicious chocolate chip cookie bar base with fresh cherries folded in. The bars are simple to make and require no mixer.
Here’s what you need to know…
These bars are simple to make, so there’s nothing to specific you need to know for these. I do recommend lining your 8×8 pan with parchment paper. It makes them easier to remove from the pan once baked.
When mixing the dough, it’s important to cream the sugar and butter together. This allows for the sugar to be evenly dispersed and also helps to increase the volume of the bars, by incorporating air when mixing the butter and sugar together. Next, you’ll mix in the egg, then fold in the dry ingredients. When you fold in the dry ingredients, always be careful that you don’t overmix it. Mix the ingredients JUST until combined. Overmixing can lead to a tough cookie bar. If you do mix these by hand, you will most likely not overmix these (unless you’re super strong 🙂 ), because it’s easy to stop as soon as the dough is combined. Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips and cherries. Again, don’t overmix.
Next up, you’ll spread the dough into a pan, then bake for roughly 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the bars are golden brown in color. I know it’s hard, but allow the bars to fully cool before slicing. Otherwise, they may be a gooey mess! 🙂
If you make these, let me know what you thought below (comment/rating). I’d love to hear your feedback! Find me on instagram where you can see the full baking video and more fun behind the scenes.
Print
Chocolate Chip Cherry Bars
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 9–12 1x
Description
These Chocolate Chip Cherry Bars are packed with fresh, ripe cherries, lots of chocolate chips and delicious notes from the brown sugar. They are soft, chewy and 100% irresistible. The bars come together in one bowl, no mixer required and take roughly 30 minutes to bake.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1 1/4 cups fresh cherries, seed removed
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Stir in the egg until combined. Stir in the flour and salt just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and cherries, just until combined.
3. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake in oven for 28-32 minutes, or until lightly golden brown and center is set/a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
4. Allow bars to cool fully before slicing. Slice into 9-12 bars and enjoy!
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 28-32
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
These bars were absolutely delicious. So full of flavor and not a difficult recipe. Pitting the cherries was not a lot of fun, but I’d do it again. Just a small question, could dried cherries be reconstituted to used then. I’m having problems finding cherries right now in NC.
Christina,
I’m so glad you enjoyed these bars! I agree, pitting the cherries certainly isn’t my favorite, but it’s worth the effort. They make some kitchen gadgets that make cherry pitting a bit easier. I think, honestly, you could just use dried cherries instead of fresh. I’d use less cherries, since the dried cherries take up less volume than the fresh cherries. Perhaps half the amount. However, I wouldn’t try to reconstitute them. Just use as is. I haven’t tried them like this, so I can’t promise how they will turn out, but I think it should work good! Hope you enjoy!
-Jolene 🙂