This classic cherry crumble bars recipe tops a buttery shortbread pie crust with sweet cherry filling. It’s like homemade cherry pie in the convenient form of a bar!

Crowd pleasing cherry bars

I grew disliking cherry flavored candies, vitamins, and drinks and thinking it meant I did not like cherries.

It wasn’t until high school when I tasted a ripe cherry for the first time and realized… I actually really love cherries.

And now? You will often find fresh cherries in my kitchen, canned cherries in the pantry, and frozen cherries in the freezer.

Today’s homemade cherry crumble bars are soft, chewy, and made entirely from scratch – no artificial canned pie filling or or cake mix here.

They are one of my family’s favorite easy summer desserts, and I hope you love this magical recipe as much as we do!

Also try these Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

Cherry crumble bar recipe video

Ingredients list

Depending on the specific ingredients you choose, these cherry squares can be high fiber, low sodium, cholesterol free, dairy free, and low calorie (about 100 calories each).

Cherries – Sour cherries like Montmorency or Morello will give you that quintessential tart cherry pie taste. Sweet cherry varieties like Bing or Rainier are also wonderful here. I do not recommend maraschino cherries for this recipe.

Choosing fresh or frozen cherries is entirely up to you. I prefer frozen, because they often come already pitted, meaning less work for me!

Oats – Use quick oats, old fashioned rolled oats, or instant oatmeal. Substitute rolled quinoa flakes for gluten free bars.

Flour – I like whole grain spelt flour for these healthy cherry crumble bars. You can also use regular white flour, all purpose gluten free flour, or oat flour.

Almond flour tastes delicious in the recipe if you do not mind crumbly bars. For best results, do not use coconut flour because it is very dry.

Sugar – You can choose white sugar, brown sugar, xylitol, or granulated erythritol for the half cup sugar in the crust and crumb topping.

Any dry or liquid sweetener works in the fruit filling, including honey, pure maple syrup, stevia baking blend, or coconut sugar.

Butter – Salted or unsalted butter are both good options and do not have much of a taste difference in the final result. For vegan cherry bars, use melted coconut oil, vegetable oil, or plant based butter.

Other ingredients – The recipe also calls for ground cinnamon, baking powder, cornstarch or arrowroot, and a little salt.

Leftover cherries? Make Cherry Frozen Yogurt

Katie’s favorite flavor variations

Stir half a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, or the seeds from one vanilla bean, into the cherry filling to create a cherry vanilla flavor. Top with sliced almonds if desired.

Or for cherry chocolate chip, stir in half a cup of mini chocolate chips with the cherries. Garnish with more chocolate chips before baking.

Replace half a cup of oats with cocoa powder for black forest bars. Slice and serve with shaved chocolate and whipped cream.

Finally, you can replace some of the cherries with an equal amount of blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, or chopped peaches.

Feeding guests or a large family? Feel free to double the recipe and bake in a 9×13 inch pan.

How to make the best cherry crumb bars

1. Gather all ingredients, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (or 177 degrees Celsius).
2. Line the bottom of a square eight inch baking pan with parchment paper, or grease the pan very well.
3. In a large mixing bowl, stir the oats, flour, cinnamon, salt, sugar, and baking powder.
4. Add the melted oil or butter, and use a fork or a food processor to mix until fine crumbles form.
5. Firmly press two thirds of the oat streusel dough into the prepared pan, reserving the rest for later.
6. Dice the cherries, discarding pits and stems. Then mix the fruit with one tablespoon sweetener of choice and the cornstarch.
7. Spread the cherry pie filling over the dough in the pan. Sprinkle remaining dough evenly over top. Press down firmly.
8. Place the pan on the center rack of the preheated oven, and bake for forty five minutes. Carefully remove the cherry cookie bars from the oven and let cool.
9. For clean slices with minimal crumbling, I recommend refrigerating until cold, because the chilled baked good is much easier to cut.
10. You may leave the bars at room temperature for a few hours. For longer storage, keep leftovers in the refrigerator or freezer to ensure best freshness.

The recipe was adapted from my Homemade Cherry Pie Filling and these Peach Bars.

More delicious fruit recipes

Apple Bread

Lemon Sorbet

Blueberry Overnight Oats

Applesauce Muffins

Strawberry Bread

Orange Smoothie

Blueberry Crisp

Dole Whip

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Sour Patch Grapes