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These gluten-free cherry pie bars have all the deliciousness of a cherry pie without the time needed to actually making one! It uses nutrient-dense almond flour to make the crust and the crumble on top and is packed with fresh cherry flavor. These bars are gluten-free, dairy-free friendly, and the ultimate summer dessert!
Gluten-Free Cherry Pie Bars
There is nothing better than an awesome summer dessert that is easy-to-make and made healthier using simple wholesome ingredients. These gluten-free cherry pie bars are just so delicious and so quick to put together! The crust is made out of almond flour and the filling is jam-packed with cherries that are sweetened just the right amount.
We use the same mixture for the crust as well as the crumble topping, and precook the cherry filling on the stove top so that it’s just the right texture with minimal baking time!
Let’s talk cherries
We tested this with two different types of cherries: fresh sour cherries and frozen sweet cherries. They do result in slightly different flavors and textures but both are equally delicious. The fresh cherries are of course, a bit less sweet and have a firmer texture. The frozen cherries are sweeter and are a bit more juicy. The photographs shown in this article are the frozen sweet cherries and they have a darker color, but the video features fresh cherries. You can use whatever is available to you whether it be fresh or frozen cherries.
What you need to make these cherry pie bars:
- Almond flour
- Tapioca flour
- Coconut oil or butter
- Maple syrup
- Vanilla
- Sea salt
- Cherries, fresh or frozen
- Maple sugar (or coconut sugar)
- Arrowroot
Here are the kitchen tools you need:
- Large bowl
- 8″ x 8″ baking dish
- Parchment paper
- Spatula
- Pot
- Measuring cups
If you like this summer dessert, check out these others:
- Gluten-Free Key Lime Tart
- Homemade Jello (Healthy!)
- S’mores Pie (Gluten-Free)
- Strawberry Shortcake (Gluten Free & Paleo)
Watch the video:
Gluten-Free Cherry Pie Bars
Ingredients
For crumble crust and topping:
- 3 cups 288g almond flour
- 2 tablespoons 15g tapioca flour
- ⅓ cup coconut oil or butter melted
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup see note
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
For Cherry Filling:
- 4 cups pitted cherries halved (see note)
- 1/3 cup maple sugar
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and line an 8x8 baking dish with a parchment paper sling.
- In a large bowl add almond flour, tapioca, coconut oil (or butter), maple syrup, vanilla and sea salt and mix well until it turns into large crumbles. Place ⅔ of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan and press down evenly.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Set aside.
- Meanwhile make cherry filling: in a medium saucepan add cherries, maple sugar, arrowroot and vanilla and mix well. Cook on medium heat, stirring often, until filling becomes thick, about 5 minutes.
- Pour cherry mixture into parbaked crust and sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture on top and bake for 20 minutes.
- Let cool completely before cutting.
- Store in refrigerator.
I don’t have tapioca flour on hand and it is hard to justify buying some when only 2 tablespoons is needed. Any substitutes for that?
Do you have arrowroot?
Super yummy!
For whatever reason, the “crumble” didn’t really cook for me. I used 1:1 GF flour and coconut sugar as my only subs. Not sure what I did wrong. 🙁
Hi Rachel–what went wrong is the use of 1:1 gf flour and coconut sugar. The recipe says in the notes not to change the maple syrup as the recipe won’t work. And 1:1 gluten free flour is a substitute for wheat flour–not for almond flour since almond flour is way different. Making major subsitutes like that usually will alter a recipe.
Tried this recipe and it was great. My husband loved it and he is very picky about trying things that are not loaded with sugar. He loved it so much I am going to make cookies with the crust. Very tasty, thank you for your help in making good recipes.
I am so happy!!
Can you make this with blueberries instead of cherries. If yes, can they be fresh instead of frozen
That should work!
These turned out wonderful, so so good. I also used frozen blueberries with lemon rind. They turned out great. I did use 1/4 raw sugar instead of maple syrup; they still turned out really good!!! Thank you