For these bars, you take part of their cookie base and fluff it out to create a streusel topping—so efficient! The jammy center is made with pureed Luxardo cherries, also known as the original maraschino cherries (not those insanely sweet cherries you grew up with in your kiddie cocktail; you can buy them at gourmet markets and online). Sometimes I sprinkle a little fleur de sel or Maldon sea salt over the top of the bars just because I love how the salt plays off the buttery sweetness of the cookie layers.
Ingredients
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2¼ sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cut
- into ½-inch pieces, plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at
- room temperature
- 1 jar (14 ounces) Luxardo maraschino cherries
- 1 cup cherry jam or preserves (strawberry, plum, or seedless
- raspberry all work, too)
- 1¼ cups whole-wheat pastry flour
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup almond meal
- ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar, plus extra for serving
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
How to Make It
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 10 x 16-inch rimmed sheet pan with 1 tablespoon room-temperature butter and set aside.
- Combine the cherries and their liquid with the jam in a food processor or blender and process until mostly smooth. Transfer to a medium-size bowl and set aside.
- Combine the pastry flour, all-purpose flour, almond meal, confectioners’ sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt in the clean bowl of a food processor and pulse 4 or 5 times to mix. Add the cold butter and pulse until there are no pieces larger than a lentil, about ten (1-second) pulses. Measure 4 cups of the flour mixture into the prepared sheet pan and, with the bottom of a measuring cup, press it to the edges of the pan in an even layer. (Don’t worry about working the crust up the sides of the pan.)
- Transfer the remaining flour mixture to a medium-size bowl. Add the remaining 5 tablespoons room-temperature butter and, with your fingers, work it in to create a chunky, streusel-like mixture.
- With a butter knife or an offset spatula, spread the cherry puree evenly over the crust. Sprinkle with the streusel topping.
- Bake, turning the pan midway through baking, until the topping is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool completely before slicing into 20 bars. The bars will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
