You can’t attend a gathering in Minnesota without bringing some bars. I made these sour cherry streusel bars on an episode of Zoë Bakes that pays homage to my Nordic heritage. It’s a simple recipe that shows off just a bit of tartness from the sour cherries.
The episode also features Swedish cream and krumkake, and a visit to a ladies’ church group for a lesson in making the traditional Norwegian flatbread, lefse.
Why You’ll Love Sour Cherry Streusel Bars
Bars are the perfect treat for a gathering. You can make a huge batch and can easily cut them into shareable sizes. Here are a few things I love about bars:
- Pie flavor without the pie: Bar recipes like this one give off pie vibes, without all the work of making a pie.
- Shareable: These bars are as easy to share as they are to make.
- Customizable: Bars are easy to customize with your own toppings or add-ins.
Sour Cherry Bar Tips
- The recipe calls for frozen berries, but fresh will give you that little extra pop if you can get your hands on some.
- Other cherry varieties work fine, but I especially like the extra tartness from the sour cherries in this recipe.
- Make sure to cool the bars completely before removing from the pan. This makes it easier to cut them.
Servings: 16 bars
Ingredients
Shortbread
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter soft
- 1 cup (130g) all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup (58g) confectioners’ sugar
- pinch of salt
Gooey Cherry Layer
- 1/4 cup (57g) cream cheese softened
- 1/4 cup (57g) unsalted butter melted
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 egg room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 3 cups frozen sour cherries
Topping
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup (200g) brown sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup (100g) rolled oats
- 2/3 cup (86g) all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F, with the rack in the middle. Grease a 9 by 9-inch square pan and line it with greased parchment.
Crust
- In a medium bowl, mix the butter, flour, confectioners’ sugar and salt, until it comes together in a uniform dough. Press the dough evenly into the prepared pan. Press it down with your hands or the bottom of a glass to pack it tightly into the pan. Place in the oven to par bake for 15 minutes while you make the filling.
Gooey Filling
- Next, make the gooey filling. In the same bowl, using a stiff rubber spatula, mix together the cream cheese, butter, sugar, honey, egg, vanilla and salt. Spread the mixture over the crust. Scatter the cherries evenly over the top of the filling.
Topping
- Using the same bowl, mix together the butter, brown sugar, salt, oats and flour with your fingers, so the mixture forms small clumps. Scatter evenly over the cherries.
- Bake for about 45 minutes or until the top is caramel-brown and the fruit is bubbling. Cool completely before removing from pan and cutting. It’s easier to cut when chilled.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Zoe. To Barbara Harden in your comments. She asked where to buy sour cherries. I live in El Paso. If you have a Food King, try there.
Great recipe. Wanted to make it again, took many goggling attempts to find again today, wasted 1/2 hour searching – but worth it because recipe came out so good and has ingredients I like: buttermilk, sour cream, cream cheese and frozen tart cherries. Thanks for sharing.
I loved the flavors of this recipe. I also appreciate that Zoe balances her recipes so they aren’t too sweet. My bars were a bit gummy in the middle, so I would bake them longer next time. I also loved watching Zoe’s show and the holiday party with Andrew and Zoe. I wish her show was still on the air! 🙁
I just made this recipe from freshly picked sour cherries from my backyard tree. It was worth all the effort to net it to harvest more than a gallon of fruit. Otherwise, the birds & chipmunks will devour it. I pitted the cherries; did not freeze , just refrigerated. When ready to bake I scooped 3 cups into a strainer to drain the excess liquid. I made the recipe as is with the exception of adding more cream cheese & then adding cinnamon & nutmeg to the top layer. The next time I soon make this I will decrease the granulated sugar by 1/4 cup & possibly the brown sugar by 1/8. Thanks for a great recipe.
I’ve made these twice this month after discovering Zoe on Max streaming~the series is a feast for my eyes, it’s all So beautifully orchestrated. Enjoying the ease of baking with Zoe and this recipe is a Must try!!!
These are so good. Sour cherries were my favorite but I also used this same recipe and used the Costco frozen mixed berries when I was out of cherries.
Both were so yummy!
We’re so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for coming back to leave a rating/review. Cheers!
Any particular source for those frozen sour cherries. In Texas – on Amazon – 4 lbs frozen – $80! Yikes. Would like to make this recipe – but not if the ingredient is that expensive.
Hi Barbara! Zoë says any time they’re out of season they’ll be very expensive no matter where you source from. You can always try different kinds of fruit – blueberries, blackberries if you don’t mind the seeds, cranberries. Something tart is best for this recipe. Regular cherries would also work, just reduce the sugar a little bit and add some lemon juice. Enjoy!
Do you have a Gordon foods in your area? They carry a lot of frozen fruit products; very reasonable.
I was shopping at a local Mediterranean market and they had quite a selection of jars or sour cherries. I bought them on a whim and found this recipe. This was amazing! My guests served themselves twice.
I have these in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Triple checked recipe. They are very loose. The fruit is bubbling and they are brown on top. Do they firm up as they cool?!?! I’ve been baking for 55 years, not a newbie.
Hi Laura! How did these end up once they cooled? They should have firmed up, but we’d love to know how it went for you. Thank you!
Laura, I am also not a new baker and had the same issue even though I cooked for at least 10-15 additional minutes. It seemed like the middle wasn’t cooked, was very gooey. Mine did not firm up once cooled. I want to try it again, but I’m not sure how else to tell if the center is cooked, given it was caramelized on top and bubbly, just as Zoe described.
Hi Lynda, we’d love to help you troubleshoot. A few thoughts we had: did you use fresh or frozen cherries? If you used frozen, perhaps try bringing them up to room temperature before using. If it’s not that, perhaps your oven is running low? Have you tested it with a second thermometer recently? Please let us know if either of these applies. We’d love to be able to help you out!
Just came home from the Farmer’s Market with fresh sour cherries – which I will use in this recipe since I think it should be fine and still delicious!
I used a 15 oz. can of tart cherries, drained, instead of the frozen. Turned out great.
Do the frozen sour cherries need to be thawed before being added to the filling?
No they do not! You can add them frozen.
There’s no mention as to whether you thaw and drain any liquid from the frozen cherries before putting them in the gooey filling, or do you put the cherries on frozen?
Hi Therese, you put the cherries on frozen. Happy baking!
How about adding a sprinkling of powdered sugar?
You certainly could!
Hello Zoe! Since it’s blueberry season can I use those instead of cherries? These look lovely! Thank you 🙂
Hi Wendi! Zoë has not tested the recipe with blueberries, but she thinks it should work. If you try it, please come back to let us know how it goes!
I used some beautiful local blueberries and these bars turned out great! Thank you for another wonderful recipe and your time in responding! I love watching and learning from Zoe; sometimes I turn on her show while I’m in the kitchen so I’m “cooking with my friend”.
We are thrilled to hear they worked great and that you enjoy the show! Thank you so much for watching. Cheers!
I e done this with blueberries and it works amazingly. I’m trying blackberries now!!