Chocolate Chip Cherry Bars — Not sure what to make with cherries? These cherry bars use my favorite blondie base and turn out perfectly every single time! These bars are seriously so good and are a reader favorite!
Ooey Gooey Chocolate Cherry Bars
This cherry dessert recipe has been a reader favorite since July 2012. Here it is again for the newcomers.
Have you been buying your weight in summer fruit every time you go to the grocery store or pass a farmers market? Okay, well I have. Especially cherries.
I love cherries. They are just so perfect. Their sweetness, their hearty flesh, the chewiness. The only thing not perfect about them are their little pits. Pits are a PITA.
I do have a cherry pitter, but I find it just splatters cherry juice everywhere and doesn’t always poke out the pit. More misfires than proper pokes. If the cherry pit is slightly off-center, the gadget just stabs the cherry down the middle, misses the pit, and said cherry juice splatters even more, so I tend to just slice the cherries with a paring knife and am pretty fast with that.
I’m also pretty fast with polishing off a one-pound bag of fresh cherries. But between the watermelon, nectarines, blueberries, grapes, standard issue bananas and apples, and then the cherries, even I was running out room. In both my stomach and crisper drawer.
So I decided to make chocolate chip cherry bars. The beauty of this cherry dessert recipe is that it’s fast, one-bowl, and no mixer is required.
I almost used white chocolate chips but then thought, no, semi-sweet chocolate and cherries just go together. After all, dark chocolate-covered cherries are the confections that overpriced Valentine’s Day candy assortment boxes are made of.
Because of the fruit and the fruit juices released while baking, to say they’re moist and juicy is an understatement.
There’s no granulated sugar in them; just brown sugar. In cookie baking, a higher ratio of brown to white sugar keeps cookies extra soft and moist, and it does the same thing for blondies. It also imparts a caramely-buttery richness that I adore.
The chocolate chips melted everywhere. Can you say hot, juicy, beautiful mess? Cherries and summer fruit never tasted so good.
What’s in These Chocolate Cherry Bars?
For these amazing chocolate chip cherry bars, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Light brown sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Fresh cherries
Seriously, that’s all you need to make this easy cherry dessert!
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cherry Bars
- Melt a stick of butter in a big mixing bowl in the microwave.
- Then stir in the brown sugar, an egg, vanilla, and flour.
- Fold in the cherries (and maybe a few raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, or blueberries) and chocolate chips and you’re ready to bake.
- You’ll know these chocolate cherry bars are ready to come out of the oven when the edges start to pull away from the pan and the center is set. Depending on how gooey you like your blondies, you may want to bake these for a little more or less time than the recipe calls for.
- Cool them properly and well before digging in!
Can This Recipe Be Doubled?
Most likely, yes! I’ve only made this cherry recipe as written, but you should be fine to double the ingredients and bake in a 9×13-inch pan.
Should I Use Fresh or Frozen Cherries?
Although I have experimented and made these bars with frozen cherries and although they theoretically work, frozen cherries tend to release too much juice into the batter and the resulting bars tend to be extremely soft.
For much more of a guarantee that the bars will work for you and set up without worry, I recommend fresh cherries.
Can I Make These Bars with Dried Cherries?
If you have dried cherries on hand, I recommend making my Cranberry Chocolate Chip Blondies (just use dried cherries instead of cranberries, it’ll definitely work!). It’s pretty much the same recipe, but I know for sure that one works well with dried fruit.
Can I Add Other Fruits?
If you want to use a combination of fresh cherries and other stone fruits like plums, nectarines, peaches, apricots, pluots, or similar, they will work just fine.
You can also try berries such as blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries.
How to Store Chocolate Chip Cherry Bars
These chocolate cherry bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Can the Bars Be Frozen?
Yes! You can freeze these chocolate chip cherry bars for up to 3 months. Let them cool completely on your counter, then slice and store in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container.
When you’re ready to enjoy them, either reheat them in the oven until the chocolate starts to get gooey, or set them on your counter to thaw.
Tips for Making Cherry Bars
You can doctor these up with white chocolate chips or coconut flakes, or add most any other type of fruit from peaches to blackberries, fresh or frozen. I’ve tried many combos of fresh, frozen, half-and-half, and things always work out with this blondie base.
Note that baking times will vary based on the types of fruit used and the moisture content of the fruit; and how gooey you like your blondies.
A toothpick inserted into the middle may not come out clean due to the chocolate chips or juicy fruit. So use your best judgement when taking these babies out of the oven!
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Chocolate Chip Cherry Bars
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt, optional
- ¾ to 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup cherries, fresh or frozen*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 60 seconds.
- To the melted butter, add the brown sugar and stir to combine.
- Add the egg, vanilla, and stir to combine. Add the flour, salt, and stir until just combined, taking care not to over mix or the blondies will be tough.
- Fold in chocolate chips, fruit (I don’t halve the cherries: I like them chunky and big), and pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula or offset knife if necessary.
- Bake for 27 to 32 minutes, or until edges begin to slightly pull away from sides of pan and center is set.**
- Allow bars to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving. Blondies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 3 months.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Cherry Desserts:
You can find all of my CHERRY RECIPES HERE. Some of my favorite cherry desserts are below.
Cherry Cream Pie — An old-fashioned pie with homemade scratch crust topped with NO-BAKE layers of sweetened cream cheese along with juicy cherry pie filling!! If you like cherry pie, you’re going to LOVE this amped up version!!
Soft Cherry Bread with Cherry-Almond Glaze — An EASY quick bread recipe that’s perfect for Valentine’s Day, Easter, or Mother’s Day! Because you can never have too much pink!
Mini Cherry Oreo Cheesecakes – EASY mini cheesecakes loaded with cherries and an Oreo cookie crust!
Triple Chocolate Cherry Cake — This cake is loaded with juicy cherries and topped with an easy homemade chocolate frosting. I used a few shortcuts in this recipe to save time, but this cake tastes completely homemade!
Glazed Cherry Pie Bars — The bars are like cherry pie, but easier. There’s a buttery, soft, tender crust topped with cherry pie filling before being baked and glazed.
Glazed Cherry Bonbon Cookies — Soft, buttery, pink cookies with the surprise of a juicy, sweet maraschino cherry in the middle that also helps keep the cookies moist.
Cherry & Cream Cheese Turnovers — The turnovers are so good that people will think you bought them from a local bakery, but they’re so easy, ready in 20 minutes, and you’ll never need to settle for storebought turnovers again.
Originally published on July 24, 2012 and republished on June 19, 2020 with updated text.
These blondies are so succulent. I made them using salted butter and white suger though these came out really awesome. My daughter loved them. I want to ask if I can make them without eggs.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad it worked great with salted butter and white sugar. I have not tried doing them eggless so can’t say if they will still turn out okay or not.
Oh my goodness! These are so good! I added pecans for a little crunch.
Oh my goodness! These are so good! I added pecans for a little crunch.
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad they turned out awesome for you!
Hi! I’ve just picked a load of cherries so I’m keen to try this recipe 😆. I’m in the UK and we label things differently – all purpose flour appears to be the same as our plain flour, does the recipe not require any kind of rising agent?
all purpose flour appears to be the same as our plain flour = yes I have heard that from others although have never baked with your flour so have no personal experience with it
As for a rising agent, baking soda or baking powder would be what we would usually combine with all-purpose flour however in this recipe, there is none. They are intended to be a denser bar.
So Im a gluten free gal. I subbed 1 C flour for 1 C pams baking and pancake mix. I had little faith that only 1 C would do the job. My goodness these bars are good. I just ate a whole row of them! Oh i also dont like a lot if sugar. I cut it to 1/4 c coconut sugar and some monk fruit drops… AMAZING. Thanks for this great recipe.
So Im a gluten free gal. I subbed 1 C flour for 1 C pams baking and pancake mix. I had little faith that only 1 C would do the job. My goodness these bars are good. I just ate a whole row of them! Oh i also dont like a lot if sugar. I cut it to 1/4 c coconut sugar and some monk fruit drops… AMAZING. Thanks for this great recipe.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad you love them and made them gluten free!
Hello do you have any measurements in grams? I’m in the UK not sure our cup measurements are the same?
I only write them in ounces and cups, sorry, I don’t also write things in metric.
https://allrecipes.co.uk/how-to/44/cooking-conversions.aspx
All the conversions you need should be on here 🙂
I’m so excited to give these a try! I’m going to sub in white chocolate chips, but am wondering based on some comments, might it be better to try to press some of the liquid out of the cherries before adding them in?
It could be but I have never had that issue or needed to. Sounds messy (cherries stain everything like crazy) and not really that easily accomplished but you could try it if you have exceptionally ripe juicy cherries.
I have made this twice and I am still not 100% on what the story is with this recipe. I am a classically trained chef. The first time I sifted and lightly scooped the flour as I have been trained and used whole cherries per your recommendation. The batter was soupy and the baked product was very gooey on the first day and almost liquid the second. The cherry flavor was overwhelmed by the chocolate and because of the size of the cherries you didn’t get one in every bite. After much discussion with other family members I decided to try it again with some changes. This time I quarters the cherries and scooped the flour into the measuring cup before leaving leveling it off. I added 6 minutes to the baking time. The resulting batter was more sense but still not as dense as my typical blondie batter. The cherry flavor was more pronounced and the texture of the bars was better although still overly wet by day two. The one thing I was focused on was that there is no mention of a leavening agent. Also, do you pack down your flour to achieve the consistency shown in the photo of the batter? Although they are delicious I have reservations about attempting this recipe again. Do you have a weight measurement for the flour? That would be very helpful. I tend to weigh out my ingredients whenever possible to avoid these types of issues.
I cant find the measurements – am I looking in the right place? I really want to make these
Keep scrolling.
Hi, I am thinking of making them but I don’t have brown suger and unsalted butter due to lockdown. So can I make these bar with normal butter and white suger instead . Please reply as not everyone responds to their questions.
Yes re the butter.
Regarding the sugar, haven’t tried white sugar so cannot say what will happen.
I have to tell you… this is my new favorite dessert OF ALLL TIME. And I am the mom that’s always baking things from scratch every day. I’m about to make it again today! ( I double it in a 13×9 glass pan)
I have to tell you… this is my new favorite dessert OF ALLL TIME. And I am the mom that’s always baking things from scratch every day. I’m about to make it again today! ( I double it in a 13×9 glass pan)
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad you love it and that it’s your all time favorite dessert ever!!! That is a super high compliment, thank you! Great that you double it since it’s a favorite :)
I made these for my Husband on Father’s Day. I used fresh cherries and dark chocolate chips and they were amazing! I’m making a second batch now. Thank you your recipes are the best.
I made these for my Husband on Father’s Day. I used fresh cherries and dark chocolate chips and they were amazing! I’m making a second batch now. Thank you your recipes are the best.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad these were a hit and that you’re making them again!
Thanks for the compliments on my recipes!
Thanks for this recipe, I followed the recipe with fresh cherries and it turned out great!