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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!
Love baking with cherries? Try my homemade cherry pie with fresh cherries next!
More cherry recipes you’ll love:
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Brown Butter Cherry Bars
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 56 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 36 minutes
- Yield: 32 bars
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Brown butter cherry bars are a must bake during cherry season! With a brown butter cherry filling and cinnamon graham crust, these bars are a crowd pleaser.
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
