These cherry bing bars are the perfect fruity flavors and chocolate combination. The cherry pie filling and pie crust combination of a cherry pie has always been one of my favorite desserts. These cherry bing bars bring the cherry flavor and the crunch combination that I love in a cherry pie, but in a delicious bar form! The combination of cherry, chocolate mixture, and peanut butter has always been a family favorite so I knew I needed to learn how to make these for my friends and family.
I had never really tried making these myself, until I read the recipe and decided these Cherry Bing Bars actually looked pretty easy.
Sure enough, they were so easy, and so delicious. They have just the right amount of cherry and chocolate. This has now become a family tradition at our house.
Whenever I ask my kids what holiday dessert they want to start with in December, they almost always ask for these bars. I think the combination of chocolate, peanut butter, and cherry is the perfect mix that pleases everyone in the family!
One of the best ways to impress your friends and family will be with this easy bake dessert. It seems like a difficult dessert to muster up upon first taste and impression but it really is so easy. When the Christmas ads start playing and the kids want to enjoy the joys of christmas time, this is one of the first treats I make. The cherry pie bars are one of the best things that we have to look forward to throughout the year. Everytime I make these bars I think about the first time that I tried this treat, and the inspirational story that came with it.
The first time that I had these cherry bing bars was when I was around ten years old at one of my best friends’ family holiday parties. I remember they were displayed on a 3-tiered dish meant for cupcakes. These bars were bright red on the bottom, with a delicious brown topping, and a bright red cherry individually placed on each slice. I looked around the room at all of the treats and I knew that it would be the best one. I made my way over to the table and reached to grab one of the delicious little treats. As I reached over to grab one, my friend’s grandma stopped me.
“Come on!” I thought, although I smiled at her and waited for her to speak. She went on to tell me the family history of cherry bing bars. She told me that her family was originally from South Dakota where this treat is most popular. When she was young she tried these bars for the first time and she learned how to make them quickly. Her mom let her try out this recipe and was very impressed by how quickly she had learned how to make them. Her mom suggested that she share this treat with the family to see what they thought of these yummy bars.
She made them for her family and everyone was extremely impressed. She was only 8 years old at the time and she had created a new Christmas tradition (one that would continue for years to come).
She explained that while these bars are a simple recipe, they flared her love for baking and she continued on to make a career for herself from her love of baking. She went from making cherry bing bars, to creating her own pastries, cookies, and cakes! She would create batches of these delights and then sell them at whatever fairs, festivals, and bake-shops she could find. She continued to bake, sell, and improve. Every year her family thought she would grow sick of baking and move onto something else, but she never did.
Once my friend’s grandma was 16 years old she had earned enough money from her freelance baking business to open up her very own shop. She named this shop, “Cherry Bing’s Bakery” after her original baking inspiration. She went on to run this shop for 50 years before passing the reins to her daughter who still continued to run the shop to that very day.
She explained that the Cherry Bing Bars had been a massive inspiration for her and that she thought of her incredible life every time she looked at the bars. When someone in her family would ask her to teach them how to bake, she always taught them how to make Cherry Bing Bars, very first. She explained that these bars are easy but the delicious and unique flavor creates an excellent pairing to create an early love for baking. She taught all ten of her grandchildren how to make these bars, along with many of her other recipes.
She additionally let me know that she continued to make Cherry Bing Bars every single year with her children and her grandchildren. Every year they would switch it up, some years they would add almond extract in addition to peanut butter, and other years they would do cashews or almonds instead of peanuts and peanut butter altogether. This tradition was something extremely special to her, and she was thrilled to be able to share this with the people who she loved the very most.
Once my friend’s grandma was done explaining this heart-warming story I understood why she stopped me. She wanted to share her inspirational story with another young girl who might have a spark of baking passion inside her. Luckily for me, this was extremely true! I didn’t learn how to make Cherry Bing Bars until recently but the passion for baking was always within me, and that story certainly helped me discover that passion. Once I was finished listening to her story she encouraged me to take my first bite. Wow! These bars were incredible and I understood the passion behind her story even more in that moment. The display of the bars, the taste of the bars, and the ease of the recipe, all combined into the perfect holiday dessert!
I have no idea if her business is still open today but I will never forget the inspiring story. It is very inspiring to hear where individuals find their passion and it is very cool to have that passion tied to a specific recipe. So after hearing this story, it goes without saying, it’s just not Christmas without these Cherry Bing Bars!
The story behind these Cherry Bing Bars
In honor of our cookbook, 12 Days of Christmas with Six Sisters’ Stuff, we hosted a recipe contest to find YOUR favorite holiday recipes.
After a lot of baking, cooking and sampling we have chosen 12 of our reader’s favorite recipes. Thanks to everyone who participated.
Today we are featuring Cherry Bing Bars submitted by Robin Plante.
This is one of Robin’s favorite Christmas goodies. She found it crazy that you could never find cherry chips other than the holidays.
Robin and her sister would get so excited when they would see them in the cupboard. That meant mom was going to be making Cherry Bing Bars soon.
They didn’t last long at her house. This is a delicious dessert, all the way from South Dakota. These are so easy to make and our family loved them too.
What could I use in place of the peanut butter and peanuts?
I am a huge peanut butter fan. I am the person that goes at it with a spoon.
However, I have recently found a love for almond butter. It is so delicious, and has the best texture – thick and creamy, with an amazing almond flavor.
If you don’t like peanuts, you could also switch out the peanuts for almonds as well.
I’ve also tried making this with cashew butter and almond butter and it was also very yummy. You could also replace the peanuts with cashews, and it will still be a holiday hit. Everyone will love it.
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How to make Cherry Bing Bars:
Just a few simple ingredients come together to make these amazing Cherry Bing Bars.
If you have a hard time finding the Cherry Chips, you can always find them on HERE.
- Start by combining the sugar, evaporated milk, marshmallows, and margarine in a pan. Cook over medium heat and bring to a boil stirring constantly. Leave it at a full rolling boil for 5 minutes and stir the entire time.
- Remove from heat and add cherry chips and vanilla.
- Pour into a 9 x 13 inch pan that has been lightly sprayed with non stick cooking spray. Let cool and set up. You can stick it in the fridge to speed up the process.
- Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Add in the peanut butter and chopped peanuts. Stir together well.
- Spread the chocolate layer over the set up cherry layer very carefully. Chill in the fridge until set.
- When they are set up, slice and serve.
Watch all of our favorite holiday recipes:
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We take you through each recipe, step by step, and show you exactly how to make our recipes, so they turn out perfectly every time.
Looking for more holiday treats? Here are a few of our favorites:
Cherry Bing Bars Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- ⅔ cup evaporated milk
- 12 large marshmallows
- ½ cup margarine
- 10 ounces cherry chips
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 11.5 ounces milk chocolate chips
- ¾ cup creamy peanut butter
- 1 cup salted peanuts, chopped
Instructions
- Combine sugar, milk, marshmallows and margarine in a saucepan.
- Cook over medium heat and bring to a boil stirring constantly.
- Boil for 5 minutes at a rolling boil and stir the entire time.
- Remove from heat and add cherry chips and vanilla.
- Pour into a 9 x 13 inch lightly greased pan and let cool and set up. (Speed up the process by placing in the fridge.)
- Melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and add peanut butter and chopped peanuts.
- Mix together well and spread over the cherry mixture and chill in fridge until set.
Notes
Nutrition
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