Sour Cream Cherry Bars

At the risk of stating the obvious, I just have to mention that it is hot.  Really hot.  Pleeeeeease tell me you are all staying cool out there.  Pools, lakes, oceans, garden hose: whatever it takes to beat the heat!  Here in the middle of Midwestern farmland we are not only feeling the heat, but the beginnings of a drought as well.  Uhg.  The heat was the reason our family decided to forgo our holiday plans this week.  No parades, no festivals, no BBQ’s, and no celebrations.  104 degree heat index and an infant don’t mix.

These bars were one of the things that I had already made to bring to a pot luck that we never attended so we have been sharing them with our neighbors and eating them ourselves.  Just think of them as a kind of easy cherry pie that feeds way more than six to eight!  I have had this recipe for forever, randomly ripped out of a magazine years and years ago.  I made it for Easter not long after we moved to IL and have been thinking about it ever since.  Like…dreaming about it.

Because it makes a big pan, I usually only make it when I am having company.  It goes together pretty fast and it is great warm with ice cream or even cold for breakfast.  There are still a lot of weekends left in the summer to grill out and enjoy your friends and family!  This dessert will feed them all and is just different enough to be interesting.  And since it uses frozen cherries, you don’t have to limit yourself to when they are in season.  So you-and I for that matter-can make it anytime.  Heat wave or no. One Year Ago: Cobb Potato Salad

Sour Cream Cherry Bars
Adapted from Pillsbury
This recipe can be halved and baked in an oval casserole dish.  You can cut it into squares or just dish it up with a spoon.  I highly recommend vanilla ice cream to go with it!!  Feel free to use tart, sweet, or a mixture of both kinds of cherries.

Crust and topping:
1 c (2 sticks) butter, room temp
1 c brown sugar
1 1/2 c flour
2 c rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt

Filling:
3/4 c sugar
1/4 c flour
1 egg
1 c sour cream
2-12 oz bags frozen cherries, thawed and drained of liquid

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar together for the crust.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix just until combined.  Press 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of a large, ungreased, 11×14 glass baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Let cool for 5 minutes.  Meanwhile, mix together all filling ingredients until smooth.  Carefully stir in cherries.  Pour filling over crust and crumble remaining third of oatmeal mixture evenly over top.  Bake for an additional 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown and center is set.  Cool to room temp and serve.  Store in the refrigerator.