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.
Oh my gosh, mine turned out like soup. It was horrible! I followed the recipe exactly as written. What happened??!! I’m so disappointed after seeing all the pictures and reading the comments. They look so good. And I spent so much time putting those dang cherries! 😩
Very juicy cherries or very ripe possibly and they watered down the batter. And/or you accidentally undermeasured the flour? Sorry it didn’t work out for you!
I made these with the intention of bringing them to share at work, but I ended up eating 1/2 the pan by myself. I baked these at 350 for 50 minutes in a pyrex pan.
Made these today and used the extra cherries to make a frozen smoothie treat for the kids. It’s a nice treat and the bars will be great for dessert. Love the texture of the batter: and easy to mix up with coconut oil instead of butter. Just thawed the frozen fruit first and omitted the juices. Awesome!
Made these today and used the extra cherries to make a frozen smoothie treat for the kids. It’s a nice treat and the bars will be great for dessert. Love the texture of the batter: and easy to mix up with coconut oil instead of butter. Just thawed the frozen fruit first and omitted the juices. Awesome!
Glad you loved the ease of mixing the batter and that these will be a hit!
great
I made this recipe, only I doubled it to fit a 9×13, and they turned out perfect! I used milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet, and dried cherries instead of fresh, but I think the sourness offsets a good amount of the sweetness. Cooking time and temp didn’t really change, as the thickness was the same. Absolutely recommend, and will most definitely make again!
I made this recipe, only I doubled it to fit a 9×13, and they turned out perfect! I used milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet, and dried cherries instead of fresh, but I think the sourness offsets a good amount of the sweetness. Cooking time and temp didn’t really change, as the thickness was the same. Absolutely recommend, and will most definitely make again!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this was great for you and that dried cherries worked just fine!
I made this recipe and added 1/4 cup more of floura nd 1/2 a teaspoon of baking powder. Then baked for 37 min at 350 and it came out great and not that gooey! I made it with fresh cherries that were nice and ripe!!! Everyone loved them. Thanks for the recipe!!!
I made this recipe and added 1/4 cup more of floura nd 1/2 a teaspoon of baking powder. Then baked for 37 min at 350 and it came out great and not that gooey! I made it with fresh cherries that were nice and ripe!!! Everyone loved them. Thanks for the recipe!!!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad everyone loved these!
WOWSERS! This was so crazy good. I am so happy that I came across this recipe while looking for ways to bake with fresh cherries (that wasn’t a pie). I’m not a fan of blondies but I’m not going to lie, this was a little life changing. I baked it for 40 minutes and it’s still gooey in the middle with a nice crunchy edge. And now I must look at all the other recipes and make more bars!
WOWSERS! This was so crazy good. I am so happy that I came across this recipe while looking for ways to bake with fresh cherries (that wasn’t a pie). I’m not a fan of blondies but I’m not going to lie, this was a little life changing. I baked it for 40 minutes and it’s still gooey in the middle with a nice crunchy edge. And now I must look at all the other recipes and make more bars!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad that you came across my recipe too! (that’s not a pie…because I don’t make those often, too much work lol!)
I am glad that this recipe may have converted you into trying more bars/blondies!
The recipe is really good. They went too quickly, do you think I could double batch and freeze them ?
The recipe is really good. They went too quickly, do you think I could double batch and freeze them ?
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad they turned out really good! Yes you can make a double batch and freeze them.
I was excited to make these. I have a boat-load of cherries and was looking for a recipe just like this. Followed the recipe to the letter, looked just like yours going in the pan, coming out of the oven.. even waited the mandatory hour plus before cutting into them.
Disappointed in the texture. It was like eating raw batter almost.
Yet they looked nearly perfect. I came back here to see if anyone else had this issue. Then saw a comment you made about baking time varying depending on ‘how gooey’ you like them.
I did not like the gooey. I did love the flavors. Any tips on a getting more blonde brownie like texture out of this recipe?
(While they were cooling, I made biscotti.. which came out perfectly.)
Baking longer (tent the pan if you do) and maybe up the flour by an extra 1/3 cup which will thicken it up so they’re not as gooey.
These are just a really soft bar inherently because of the natural juices from the cherries but those tweaks should help you get a firmer texture.
Thank you. I appreciate you taking time to reply and will definitely make again with those tweaks (I still have lots of cherries). The family did eat the entire bake! It was especially good topped with some vanilla ice cream AND whipped cream. OMG!
But to eat it on its own, I want less gooey.
Is this recipe for tart/pie cherries or sweet cherries? I’ve got a freezer of pie cherries from this summer to use!
It’s for fresh cherries, the sweet variety, that are in season in the summer.
If you know how to bake, then you could probably work with the ‘pie cherries’ (I presume you are referring to sour cherries) and doctor them up with sugar, and be sure to use milk, not dark or semisweet chocolate, in the recipe since it’s sweeter. You will need to experiment.
I added a teaspoon of baking powder which I think helped make the bars not quite so gooey or raw batter tasting. I thought they were delicious! Other than that, followed it exactly and I will definitely make it again.
Do you think you could use tart cherries? My daughters just picked a bunch and I’m unsure what to do with them.
You could if you can deal with the fact that the bars will be very tart. You can’t just increase the sugar without effecting other things though.
I would Google sour cherry jam. It’s very good and it’s easy to make, you don’t need to can it, you can just make a refrigerator jam. My mom used to make this was sour cherries and it’s tasty.
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.