Ukrainian Chereshnyanyk Cherry bars

SUBMITTED BY: Olga Drozd PHOTO BY: SPOOTY

"Any fresh fruit may be used with this pastry base. For quick and sure results use a canned cherry pie filling. Quick and easy cake, and tasty too."

RECIPE RATING:

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PREP TIME	15 Min
COOK TIME	35 Min
READY IN	50 Min
Original recipe yield 20 bars

SERVINGS

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Servings
USMETRIC

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 cup light cream
1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. Cut in butter using a fork or your fingers until butter pieces are the size of small peas. Combine the lemon juice, lemon zest, and light cream; mix lightly into the dry mixture until a soft dough forms. Transfer to the prepared pan, and pat into the bottom and slightly higher on the sides to hold in the filling. Spread the cherry pie filling over the top.
Bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crust at the edges is golden. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

FOOTNOTES

Variation
Any type of fresh fruit may be used in this dessert, just toss with enough sugar to sweeten. When using very juicy fruit, add a little flour to it to prevent the juice from running out.

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REVIEWS

Reviewed on Jun. 27, 2005 by EXPAT1

Made this with fresh cherries, tried with both sweet and sour cherries. I just added more... MORE

Reviewed on Dec. 22, 2003 by HAUSER49

My husband cannot stop raving about this recipe-he says they are super delicious, awesome!!... MORE

Reviewed on Mar. 12, 2008 by motya

I did not like it at all... It wasnt that great/ maybe i followed the recipe wrong but, I... MORE

Reviewed on Apr. 16, 2007 by J9

I sprinkled a handful of white chocolate chips on top of the cherry pie filling, which was... MORE

Reviewed on Sep. 13, 2006 by SPOOTY

Full Review

The reviewer gave this recipe 4 stars. This recipe averages a 0 star rating.

SPOOTY
Sep. 13, 2006

This was very good, but not quite what I thought it would be. From the "bar" name, I expected to get something harder, like a cookie. Instead, it was more towards a sponge-cake (not nearly as soft, though), or a cobbler like another reviewer wrote. My batch may have been a smidgen flatter than desired, since my dish was a little bigger at 9.5 x 13.5 inches; and I didn't quite spread the cherry-pie filling close enough to the edges. I "buttered" the dish with butter-flavored cooking spray. Also, I'd never used lemon zest - I just ran a somewhat fine grater over a lemon, and obtained 1/2 tsp. of finely grated stuff. However, my palate wasn't discriminating enough to discern the lemon juice and lemon zest, but it probably helped the recipe anyway. I used the suggested canned cherry-pie filling, and it tasted perhaps a bit "unfinished". However, slightly reheated in the microwave, it was maybe even better! Unfortunately, I let it sit around one day too long, and had to throw away the last third of the batch because little white spots of mold appeared (that hasn't happened in a long time!). So my advice to everyone is to gobble this up quickly. I'll add it to my recipe box. Thanks for a nice new treat.

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This was very good, but not quite what I thought it would be. From the "bar" name, I expected... MORE