I’m very particular when it comes to cherries. In the summertime, I can eat fresh cherries by the pound or slurp on a cooled sour cherry soup or even sprinkle frozen cherries on chocolate ice cream . I can go on and on because YUM! But on the other hand, I have the strongest aversion to anything cherry flavored like candy or medicine or anything that smells of artificial cherries. I can’t stand the taste for some reason. As far as I can remember I’ve always been like that. My mom still can’t keep it straight. Do I like cherries or do I hate cherries?

I remember my grandparents used to have a cherry tree in front of their house. I would walk by and pick cherries and pop them in my mouth one by one. Nature’s candy. They were so delicious just like that and we would make a big batch of sour cherry soup with the leftover cherries. It was always served chilled so it was the perfect meal for summer. If you’re curious to see how that comes together, check out my chilled sour cherry soup recipe. It has a few tasty additions like ginger and wine that makes it even tastier than my childhood version.

Moving on to these cherry almond bars. They showcase the delicious flavors of summer cherries and are really easy to make. Technically you could call these cherry frangipane bars but I feel like when we hear fancy words like that in the summer time, it makes us think twice about baking. I don’t want anyone to miss out and frangipane is just almond flavored pastry cream so nothing fancy at all. I love how the cherry and almond complement each other so well. And because they both have such distinct flavors, I tried to keep this recipe very simple. I don’t like to hide flavors by adding a ton of sugar so these are just perfect. Just a touch of sweetness from nature’s candy and a rich nuttiness from the almonds. It’s the perfect dessert for this holiday! Happy 4th of July and I hope you enjoy lots of delicious sweets today!

Cherry Almond Bars

Crust:

2 cups almond flour

2 tbsp. tapioca flour

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup butter, cold and cut into pieces

1/4 cup powder sugar (or sugar free alternative)

Filling (Frangipane):

1 cup almond flour

1/4 cup swerve sweetener (or more if you like sweeter bars)

1 /4 cup butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Pinch of sea salt

1 egg, room temp.

Fresh or frozen cherries, pitted and halved (18 whole cherries)

Slivered almonds

Powder sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Place all the crust ingredients into a medium bowl and using a pastry blender mix the dough together until it has a crumbly texture. Dump out the dough into a 9×9 inch square pan lined with parchment paper and bake about 10 mins, just until it starts to brown. Cool slightly before adding the filling.

In the same medium bowl, mix all the frangipane ingredients together until the dough has a sticky consistancy and there are no visible chunks of butter. Pour the filling over the cooled crust and spread it out. Lightly press the cherries into the filling, cut side down (don’t press too hard or the dough will fall apart). There should be 36 halved cherries on top or you can scatter them however you like. Sprinkle the slivered almonds over the cherries. Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown and cherries start to release some of their juices. Cut into 9 even squares. Eat right away with a scoop of ice cream of whipped cream or cool and sprinkle with powder sugar. Enjoy!

*Bars can be place in a covered container and stored in the fridge for up to a week.