I love it when summer arrives; besides the warmer weather, it’s the cherry season! For the past several years, my family has been cherry-picking with our friends and their children (five families!). With the fresh cherries we picked, I’ve made Cherry Clafoutis and Cherry Ice Cream in the past, and this year, I made these delicious Cherry Bars.
Best Cherry Bars Recipe with a Secret Ingredient
What makes these cherry bars extra delicious? Brown butter. Brown butter is butter taken to the next level, and the magic is real. It adds a deep, caramelized, and nutty richness to sweet and savory recipes that you’ll instantly notice. Ever since I made the Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt, my family has been hooked on brown butter. Cooking brown butter makes my house smell like a cookie factory, and the kids just want to hang around the kitchen waiting to see what delicious dessert I am making. The result of the cherry bars was absolutely stunning, and my family is already asking me to make these bars again! They were also a big hit with my neighbor and my husband’s coworkers. And yes, you can enjoy these bars with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream, too.
How to Make The Best Cherry Bars
Here’s a quick overview, but you can see the Recipe Card below for the full recipe.
How to Store Cherry Bars
Store the bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one day. You can keep any remaining bars in the refrigerator for up to three days or freeze them for up to a month.
Brown Butter for The Best Dessert
Brown butter, or beurre noisette (hazelnut butter in French), is an insanely delicious ingredient that started out in savory French dishes but is now used in anything that calls for butter. It’s got this deep golden color, flecked with brown bits, and has an amazing nutty aroma. To make brown butter, you just slowly melt the butter, letting the fat and milk solids separate. The milk solids sink to the bottom, toast, caramelize, and brown, giving off that incredible nutty smell. It’s easy and takes just 10 minutes. The result? A dream dessert that cannot be beat!
More Summer Desserts You’ll Love
Plum Cake (Blueberry & Peach, too) Chocolate Covered Strawberries Summer Fruit Sandwich
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram. Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on June 9, 2013. It was updated with more helpful content on May 30, 2024.
