Homemade Cherry Bars

The little cherries I bought at a farmers' market a couple weeks ago were mouth-pinchingly sour. I had a vision in my head of what I wanted these bars to look like, and though I hadn't quite figured out the flavor profile, sour cherries were definitely not a part of it. I just knew I needed some "decent cherries," which is exactly what I wrote on the grocery list for my husband. He came back with some very stately cherries, and I set to work.

Obviously, almonds and cherries are a match made in flavor heaven, but I didn't know before this week that goat cheese complements cherries pretty well, too. I am a goat cheese fanatic, and have been meaning to experiment with it as a cream cheese substitute, so that's what went down in these bars.

Since I used half goat cheese and half cream cheese for the cheesecake filling, the goat cheese flavor is subtle. I felt I could taste it stronger in the first bite of every bar, and then it's almost like my mouth got used to the added tang. I fear that using all goat cheese would make the filling too dry, but who knows?

Goat cheese is pricier than cream cheese, so if you want to keep costs down, you could probably use all cream cheese and have these bars turn out good as regular cherry cheesecake bars. The taste and possibly texture will probably be a little different. Follow your rainbow, you know?

Cherry Bars Recipe

Ingredients:

For the almond crust:

½ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup flour
1 cup almonds
¼ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt

For the filling:

1 cup cherries
2 large eggs
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
8 ounces goat cheese, softened
½ cup granulated sugar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 F. Roast almond for about ten minutes stirring occasionally. Roughly chop once cooled.

Stir together flour, brown sugar, chopped almonds, melted butter, and salt. Press into the bottom of a baking pan. Bake crust until lightly browned for 15 min. Cool on wire rack.

Remove pits of cherries. Process cream cheese, goat cheese, sugar, and eggs in a food processor. Then stir of the cherry halves by hand. Pour the prepared filling onto cooled crust. Arrange remaining 18 cherry halves on top. I did a zig-zag pattern with rows of 3 and 4, but you can do whatever you think looks good!

Bake at 325 F for 35-40 minutes. Cool and place in refrigerator to chill for several hours. Cut and serve. Enjoy!