brown butter cherry bars
Some recipes are so delicious that you repeat them as often as possible (and dream about them the rest of the year) – enter brown butter cherry bars! These bars are one of the best things to ever come out of my oven, and if you only bake one treat with fresh cherries this summer, these bars are all you need.
I first baked these bars two years ago; I’m revisiting them now because I just made my first pan of the year, swapping the original shortbread crust for an irresistible cinnamon-graham crust. As for the filling, it’s essentially fresh cherries enveloped with brown butter custard. The only way to describe these bars is glorious, and I’ve never met anyone who didn’t fall for them at first bite!
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup graham flour
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of nutmeg
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 Tbsp light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Filling
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 6 Tbsp flour
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 4 cups fresh cherries, pitted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Whisk together flours, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Combine melted butter, sugars, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Add flour mixture and fold in until incorporated.
- Press dough evenly into bottom of prepared baking pan and bake for 18 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for 20 minutes.
- For the filling, cook butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until it foams, turns clear, and then turns a deep brown, about 6 minutes. Pour browned butter into a glass measuring cup to cool for 10 minutes.
- Whisk eggs, sugar and extracts in a medium bowl; add flour and salt and whisk until smooth. Gradually pour in cooled brown butter; whisk until completely blended. Pour filling over crust and arrange cherries in a single layer across the top, gently pressing them in.
- Return pan to oven and bake for 37 to 38 minutes, until filling is puffed and golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool bars completely in pan on a wire rack.
- Just before cutting, chill in the freezer for 15 minutes. Carefully lift parchment to remove bars from pan and place on a cutting board; cut into squares using a sharp knife. Store bars in a single layer in an airtight container in the refrigerator; let come to room temperature before serving.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Keywords: Brown Butter, Cherry, Bars, Cookie Bars
More cherry recipes you’ll love:
Cherry Almond Galette
Brown Butter Cherry Coffee Cake
Baked Cherry Doughnuts
65 comments
Laura, your a wizard when it comes to your flavour combinations. These bars look amazing. I’d love one right now.
Wow, that cinnamon graham crust is genius! I really need to try this, especially since OXO just sent over their cherry pitter!
A simple and flavorful crust with that creamy filling and all those sweet cherries. I am dreaming of cherry season now-lucky you it started there already:)
How many of these could I eat in one sitting? I’m prepared to challenge myself!
I love the flavors in these beautiful bars…cherry season is my favorite! 🙂
I LOVE the sound of these! Gorgeous bars, Laura! Pinned!
YUM Laura! I’ll take a few of the long ones please. They are so…. pretty and sound fantastic with the brown butter and cherries, what a wonderful combination!
These look and sound amazing!
If spring wanted to be sweet and edible, she would pick this as her bar! *Love*
there’s a such thing as graham flour?? genius.
i don’t need a cherry de-seeder, we have one already but i did want to pipe in to say that it makes life soooo much easier. and it works great to de-seed olives.
hmmmmm, I prefer to just eat my cherries the way they’re grown……but this recipe may change that!!
Love the OXO cherry pitter so much and those bars are awesome!
I like cherry cheesecake! I have a couple of cherry trees in my yard, they are still young and unfortunately not producing much!
Another fabulous looking dessert and perfect for the start of cherry season! I’d love to try out the cherry pitter, I’ve been curious about them, and OXO make so many other great products.
I love my OXO pitter. Glad you revisited this one, you know I’m cherrying out over here. Lol. I hope you have a blast picking. I have to go get more myself, can you believe I’m out. Plus I need some for these bars.
-Gina-
I’m on such a cherry baking spree right now and it’s so fun to see your bars Laura! They look so good filled with cherries;-)
Those look amazing Laura! And yes I love my cherry pitter… Even though it still kind of spatters a lot, so I have to make sure I am wearing either old clothes or an apron.. 😉
I LOVE cherry pie or crisp but I will definitely bake these bars. Love to have a good cherry bar recipe!
Fresh cherries cannot be beat this time of year. These are gorgeous, as always, Laura!
Oh I love cherries in any form! I bought some today and had to pit them for my granddaughter, could use this tool! We love cherry pie at our house!
Wow, girl! You’ve created a spectacular cherry dessert…like Cherry Clafouti in bar form! Love that you used graham flour for that distinct flavor in the crust as well as kept almond extract in the custard filling. Cherries and almond flavor go together famously! Cannot wait to bake these! Pinning to all group boards at Pinterest! xo
I can practically taste these! I was in good cherry pitting company this weekend! Beautiful Laura!
Oh my worrrrrrrd!! I JUST bought some cherries… these bars need to happen!
Oh my gosh, does this ever look delicious! I wish we were neighbours 😉 I’d love to trade you for something you’d like I make, for this sweet-looking deliciousness!
A trip to the cherry orchard is in the works and I can’t wait to get “pitting”!
What a beguiling summer recipe!
I adore anything with cherrries!
Cherry clafouti!
Gimmmmeeeeee!!
But seriously, these look SO good. I could go for a whole batch myself right now! 🙂
These look absolutely gorgeous! The brown butter addition makes it sound even more decadent.
I am falling in love with these just by looking at them. I was thrilled to see cherries at the market when I was last there. I can’t wait to give these delicious bars a try!
So loving that cherries are now in season! I brought a bag of them to work with me today. NOW I just wish I had a few of these delightful bars and with your description – you have sold me. I need to make them ASAP!
The bar came in at the right time and I am so loving the flavor blend you used!
Laura these are gorgeous! I love cherries and you’re right, the season is SO short! I make cookies and have made bars with cherries but never anything this gorgeous. I need these!
If you say this is one of the best things you’ve ever made, my ears prick up! I love cherries, and look forward to this time of year all winter…
Laura, these sound seriously amazing! I’m so happy cherry season has arrived!
You had me at brown butter custard. I think I know what I’ll be making with my new OXO cherry pitter. Yum!
I saw these bars on Pinterest earlier and they pop out, just how wonderfully they look!
Oh boy, is it cherry season already? These bars look scrumptious, Laura.
This looks positively amazing! I just bought my first bag of cherries and they were so sweet and delicious. Unfortunately, my kids ate them before I could bake with them!
What a scrumptious treat! I love cherries but our season hasn’t started yet, makes me sad. Thanks for sharing:)
Cherry season already? Time flies and I want these bars in my life!
If you lived closer we could put together some totally balanced meals! Mine are always lacking the sweet treat at the end 🙂 I love cherries but rarely cook or bake with them because – well, I’m lazy!
Such a great giveaway and delicious recipe to compliment it! Thanks for sharing, Laura! These bars look wonderful.
These are perfect for my husband’s lunch box-well ifI left him any! I am crazy for browned butter 🙂
It is essentially a browned butter custard. Well what is more essential than that? Add in the cherries (my favorite fruit) and I’m in 7th heaven!
Brown butter and cherries? Wow, what a fantastic combination!
I adore anything with brown butter. These look amazing!
Laura, do you take renters or food samplers? You’d be an awesome neighbor to have with all of these amazing recipes!!!
We’re going to cherry pick this weekend! We are actually going to one of our friends orchard (backyard?) this year as we heard they are ready and they are organic! I can’t wait. I’ll make sure to save 4 cups of fresh cherries for this recipe. I really hope I have some free time to make this. I’m super excited especially it says brown butter. 😀 So glad you re-shared this recipe!!!! These bars look amazing!
I am loving all the cherry recipes lately!
I have a bag of cherries just waiting to be turned into something, and I think I found it! Now I just need to go get some graham flour. These look soo good! Pinned.
Between you and Patty, I’m hoping there will be enough time in cherry season to try all the goodies you’ve both been sharing. With such an endorsement from you, I’m adding these bars to my to-make list, too. 🙂
Can I just crush graham crackers? Graham flour sounds expensive & hard to find…
Hi Shannon, if you can’t find graham flour, I’d substitute whole wheat flour. You can also order graham flour online through Bob’s Red Mill: http://www.bobsredmill.com/graham-flour.html
I’m so excited to try these!
Your first paragraph convinced me! I’m pinning this now. 🙂
My favorite cherry dessert (until I try this one, of course) is a warm cherry bread pudding at a local restaurant. Mmm…
Oh WoW!! Brown butter and cherries sound like an awesome flavor combination. The only cherry desserts I’ve had is cherry pie and I’ve only made one dessert with cherries which was a clafouti so I don’t have a favorite, but I’m thinking these bars need to be made so I can make them my official favorite cherry dessert.
I go nuts for cherries in cakes… it’s a real weakness of mine! These look like something my mother used to make too… so delicious! 🙂
Those bars look very tempting! Mmmhhh, brown butter is such a great addition to that fabulous treat.
Cheers,
Rosa
I’m going to try these bars they look so good, the cherries all plumped and with the yummy filling, wish I had a bite right now.
These were awesome! Outstanding flavor and texture. I did not have the graham flour so I used 1/2c. white whole wheat flour. “Keeper” cherry bar!!!
Thanks again for the OXO cherry pitter…it should make the recipe go faster next time I make it 😀
Thanks Patty, so glad to hear you liked them! 🙂
want to give these a try. I am not familiar with graham flour. Any suggestions for substitutions, please?? thank you, Sue
Hi Sue, you can substitute whole wheat flour.