DARK CHERRY STREUSEL BARS

In mid-June, Tried and True Yummy Recipes posted a great recipe for Apple Streusel Bars. I tried it with a bag of frozen dark sweet cherries and it was a big hit! It really is a delicious recipe, but you will need a napkin and a big glass of milk!!

Pastry:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup COLD butter (no substitute)
1 egg, beaten
1 cup pecan pieces (add to the reserved crumbs only)

Fruit Filling:
16 ounce bag frozen dark sweet cherries
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract (do not leave out)

Glaze:
2 tablespoon butter melted
2 cups powdered sugar
3-4 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (do not leave out)


Put the first 4 ingredients into your food processor; cube and add the butter. Pulse until you get pea-sized crumbs, then add egg and mix well.

Grease a 9" x 13" baking pan and pat two thirds of your crust mixture into the bottom of the pan, set aside. To the remaining one third of the crumbs, add one cup of pecan pieces and set aside.

Chop the cherries into medium small pieces (chop in the food processor while the berries are still frozen, this will help the berries from turning into mush). Mix cherries, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup flour in medium sauce pan and stir & cook just until thick. Remove from heat and add extracts.

Pour fruit filling over crumb crust and sprinkle the reserved one third of the crumb-pecan mixture evenly over the top. Bake in PREHEATED 350 oven for 40 minutes.

While bars are still a little warm, mix 2 tablespoons melted butter with 2 cups powdered sugar, about 3 or 4 tablespoons of milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Whisk until smooth and drizzle over fruit bars.
NOTE: Tried and True Yummy Recipe's version of this bar was made with apples, for her recipe, please click on this link.