Northwest Cherry Crumble Bars

cher·ry

/ˈCHerē/

noun cherry

a small, round stone fruit that is typically bright or dark red that will stain your hands and clothes when you pit them

Those cherries look delicious don’t they? I started on the crust to this recipe and it was pain free, simple, took no time at all, you get the picture. Then, I started on the filling… I have never pitted 3 cups of cherries before, so that was an experience. I started out using my bare hands and quickly switched to gloves after noticing they were staining my hands. Once I was in gloves, I noticed the juice of the cherries were staining my clothes and everything around me. I’m a total amateur cherry pitter. The crust was done baking and I was still pitting away, I should have spent the couple dollars on a cherry pitter…lesson learned. After about 20 minutes the filling was done and I layered on the crust. Then, I whipped up the topping, which was super simple, and layered that on top of the Northwest cherries. It went in the oven for 50 minutes and the hard part was over!

The aftermath…

I hope I haven’t scared you away from making this recipe. The bars turned out delicious and everyone enjoyed them! Northwest Cherries are packed full of nutrients and uniquely naturally contain melatonin, which helps you sleep and we could all use a little more of that! In the end, the labor of love was worth it but a cherry pitter is now on my grocery list.

Northwest Cherry Crumble Bars

Ingredients:

Crust:

  • 1 1/3 whole wheat flour
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • ¼ cup oil

Filling:

  • 3 cups Northwest cherries, pitted and halved
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar

Topping:

  • ½ cup rolled oats
  • ½ cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons oil

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of an 8-inch pan with parchment paper and set it to the side.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the whole-wheat flour, salt, maple syrup, and oil. Stir well until it forms a dough. Then, smooth it evenly into the bottom of the 8-inch pan. Bake for 12 minutes.
  3. Roughly chop the pitted cherries and toss with brown sugar. Spread the cherries evenly over the baked crust.
  4. In a third bowl, combine the rolled oats, whole wheat flour, salt, maple syrup, brown sugar, and oil. Sprinkle evenly over the cherry layer. Bake for 50 minutes.
  5. Let the pie cool for 15 minutes and dig in!

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