A delicious mixture of basil and cherry pie filling nestled between a sweet and nutty graham cracker crust.
Alright people. It’s Friday. Let’s celebrate with cherries! (?)
It’s not cherry season, I know. But, it’s always canned-cherry-pie-filling season! Right?!
I was at HomeGoods some few weeks ago, shopping around for things I don’t need, when in the corner of my eye I spotted a bag of chocolate covered cherries – I had to have them. I popped ’em open just as soon as I opened my car door, and as I was popping them in my mouth and forgetting to come up for air, I suddenly had a craving for cherry pie. Go figure.
Thus, last week, during my timeout with the Flu, I decided that I was going to fight back this cold weather and prepare summery desserts and salads. As soon as I was able to part with the couch, I made a big bowl of my Avocado Feta Salsa and stuffed my face until I couldn’t no more…
The following day, I felt a boost of energy and raced to the kitchen to satisfy my craving for cherry pie by making myself a pan of these Basil and Cherry Pie Crumble Bars. There are few things quite as spectacular as a pan of warm, bubbly, cherry pie bars. Soft, sweet, delicious… God bless it, it’s perfect! I like them quite a lot.
They are so simple. It’s your usual graham cracker crust tossed with ground hazelnuts, and a cherry pie filling mixed with basil. It really works. Trust me on this one.
Because the whole nutty graham cracker crust and topping was totally enough, I went ahead and sprinkled some more hazelnuts on top, just in case.
Is it cool that I ate these straight from the pan? Without cutting them into bars?! Yeah…it had to be done.
Is it cool that I also made Strawberries and Cream Ice Cream Cake?? It was good. Reaaaaal good!
HAPPY WEEKEND! ENJOY!
Basil and Cherry Pie Crumble Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup hazelnuts , ground
- 10 tablespoons butter , melted
- 1 can (21-ounces) cherry pie filling
- 2 tablespoons freeze dried basil
- orange zest of 1 orange
- 1/4 cup hazelnuts , roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Coat a 11x7 pan with cooking spray and dust with flour. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and ground hazelnuts; toss to combine.
- Add melted butter and mix until well incorporated.
- Remove 1/3 of mixture and set aside.
- Press the remaining mixture onto bottom of prepared pan.
- Bake for 7 minutes.
- Remove from oven and set aside.
- Combine cherry pie filling, dried basil and orange zest in a mixing bowl; mix until thoroughly combined.
- Spread cherry pie mixture on top of graham cracker crust.
- Sprinkle the remaining graham crackers mixture over the top of the cherry mixture.
- Sprinkle the top with chopped hazelnuts.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until bubbly.
- Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting into bars.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
MORE CHERRIES!
Skillet-Baked Peach and Cherry Cobbler
Cherry Pie Bars from The Recipe Critic
Cherry Pie Bars from Six Sisters’ Stuff
Cherry Bars from Just One Cookbook
