After sitting out last month I am so happy to be back participating in the Improv Cooking Challenge!
This fun group of cooks, chefs, bakers, bloggers is hosted by Kristen from The Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker. And every month, Kristen gives us 2 ingredients to incorporate into a recipe of our choice. Can you guess from the picture what we worked with this month? . . . . .
Cherries and Almonds! Always a sweet and crunchy combination! I decided to make these really scrumptious cherry almond bars; the base of which is puffed pastry! Bing and maraschino cherries keep this sweet and colorful while almond meal and extract give it substance and richness. All sitting atop a light, buttery pastry crust!
Though the total baking time is about 1 hour and 15 minutes for these beauties, they really are a breeze to throw together and lend themselves well to most any fruit in season.
Yields: 9-12 bars
Level of Difficulty: easy
CHERRY ALMOND PASTRY BARS:
- 1 sheet of ready made puff pastry, thawed
- 10 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup of granulated sugar
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2/3 cup of almond meal
- 3 Tablespoons of all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
- 6 ounces of Bing cherries, pitted and halved
- 2 ounces of maraschino cherries, drained and halved or chopped
- 1/4 cup of sliced almonds
Preheat your oven to 400°F. Lightly spray a 9 inch square baking pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper, leaving enough paper to hang over two sides of the pan.
Place the thawed puff pastry onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Prick the pastry all over with a fork and then bake it for about 15 minutes until it is nice and golden brown. Though the pastry will still puff up a bit, it will also shrink a little. When it has cooled enough to handle, ease the pastry into the bottom of the 9 inch baking pan. You may have to trim one edge slightly.
Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Gradually add one beaten egg at a time, mixing after each addition. Next add the almond extract. Finally, fold in the almond meal and flour. Pour this mixture over the top of the pastry and even it out with your offset spatula. Scatter the cherries and almonds on top and bake for one hour or until lightly golden in color. Cool the cake in the pan. Then use the paper handles to lift it out. Cut into bars and you may sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.
These are chewy, buttery and sweet. The almonds give it a nutty crunch. I have made these bars using raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. And they were equally good! I’m looking forward to making these with apples, pears, cinnamon and vanilla in the fall!
NOTE: If you use berries, substitute the juice of half a lemon instead of the extract.
Enjoy!
Adapted from The Essential Baking Cookbook.
Oh, and don’t forget to check out what my fellow Improvers did with their cherries and almonds!
What a great way to use puff pastry. Love these flavors too, Anne!
Thanks Cassie and some great flavors mingling on your Mexican flatbreads! : )
Did you say “sweet and crunchy”?
I knew something delicious was calling my name! Gorgeous!
LOL Anna….you are a sweet and crunchy kinda girl! Hey…that jalapeno lime topping looks perfect for so many things….I’m thinking fish tacos! : )
So delicious looking! Yum-o!
Thanks Melody! Love your Sausage on Sunday recipe. How smart to use your crockpot in this heat! : )
I am drooling over this and all of the other varieties you mentioned. That puffed pastry crust takes the cake!!
Thanks Kristen! And I’d give anything to have one of your Dole Whips right now! : )
These look fabulous. What a great combination of flavors.
Thanks Dee…and your Brownie Crackle Tops look divine! : )
Yum! Your cherry and almond pastry bars look fantastic! What a great idea for the Improv Challenge!
Thanks Amber….and yum is your roasted rosemary and paprika chicken! : )
YUM! I love the double dose of cherries! And I just adore bar cookies
Excellent recipe for the challenge 
Thanks Liz and your ice cream pie is just what is needed in this heat! : )
What a great thing to do with puff pastry. I love using it and this is such a good combo.
Thanks Chaya….and your salmon cakes look luscious! : )
This is the most delicious-looking non-chocolate use of puff pastry I’ve seen in a long time!
Thanks Dena…and I’m looking forward to trying your honey balsamic glazed roasted beets!
Love this! This is a great blog! I just became your newest follower! Can’t wait to see what is coming next! Please come over and check out my blog at The Plaid and Paisley Kitchen and check out my post for the challenge #32
Thanks Chandra! Love your blog as well! Those bombay spiced pork kabobs look fantastic!
Hi! I jumped in from Chaya’s blog when I saw her post on cherry almond mini muffins…your pastry bars look so good! Love the flavors and the presentation is perfect!
Hi Jeannie! And thanks! And your strawberry tart looks amazing! : )
Ovo izgleda prefino!
Hvala! : )
These bars look like they would hit just the right spot with some hot cocoa
Beautiful!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks Uru….and love your savory tomatoes! : )
What pretty bars! They look delicious!
Thanks Lesa…and love your patriotic poke cake! : )
I love this!! I would certainly take a big bite too!! Hope you have a wonderful “cool” weekend!!
Thanks Ramona…hope you are staying cool….your sub salad sandwich is a perfect summer meal! : )
What great looking bars!
Thanks! : )
Anne, these are gorgeous! I love that you’ve mixed fresh and maraschino cherries for the color/texture mixture–my husband cannot resist anything with maraschino cherries.
Thanks and I love your Fat Witch Brownies! : )
These look great… what a fun improv recipe!!!! All the dishes look yummy I can’t remember the last time I have had a maraschino cherry. Although Julian eats them often but usually dug out of his shirley temple.
Thanks Susie….and yummy is your no bake strawberry cheesecake! : )
Oh, Yumbo!! I adore almond bars – and anything reminiscent of marzipan, amaretto flavourings… I guess I’m just in love with almonds ~ And you’ve dressed them up so well here with the chewy cherries… I can just imagine how scrumptious these are Anne. Beautifully luminous too.
Cherry and almonds are, to me, a match made in heaven! This looks FANTASTIC!
GREAT ingredient choice this month, and I love what you did with it!
Wow, these look great!
This is so great! I love the idea of using puff pastry. These bars must be extremely delicious.
These look awesome! I love all the different textures going on!
Gorgeous! I love cherries, and I have a huge craving for a blondie type bar. These will be perfect!
Stopping by Facebook to see your blog. All your recipes look delicious! Enjoy your weekend!
I love these! I have to make them!
What a great recipe! I love recipes where you make it different by changing ingredients~like your fruit. I am looking forward to making this!
Bing AND maraschino cherries! That just sound down right wonderful! Clever use of puff pastry and a recipe for this challenge, but then you always have such clever recipes as well as delicious looking!
That is too funny! I just made dried cherry and chocolate chunk cookies with a bunch of almond flour thrown in to add flavor! They look delicious Anne! Sorry I’ve been so scarce lately – I’m hoping that things will start settling down for me now…
Anne,
Nice job as always *-)
Looks delicious!
Mimi
Cherries and almonds are an amazing combination and these bars look scrumptious! Like the addition of puff pastry. I have to give these a try!
Wish I could reach out & grab one now!
Cherries and almonds were just meant to be together! Love your take on the improv challenge! These bars look amazing!
Oh my, Anne! Cherry & Almond is my favorite flavor combination of all time, so this is like an ultimate post for me. Your pastry bars made my eyes bug out of my head. Can’t wait to try these! And that long list of cherry links absolutely made my day. I know what I’ll be browsing all day. Thank you so much for this one!
Anne, I LOVE cherry and almond. And WOW, these bars look amazing. Love the roundup of wonderful cherry recipes too.
These look amazing, and I love that you used puff pastry and maraschino cherries. Cherries and almonds are one of my favorite combinations. Thanks for sharing!
Oohh.. these bars look so yummy!!!
i made something similar last months for a party I threw but with blueberries. Have to try your cherry version before the season is over!
Mmmmm this looks delicious – what fantastic flavours my friend
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
These are lover- er – ly! Once you have the base there are so many topping combo possibilities. I don’t know why I’m so gun shy about puff pastry. I have to get past that so I can enjoy these.