Traditional Cherry Slice Cookie Bar Recipe

My Traditional Family Recipe; Cherry Slice Bars

TIP:  I use an extra long piece foil to cover a 13 x 9 pan, turn pan upside down
to form another pan,( dull side up ) then insert this into the baking pan leaving the ends to use as a handle. This will act like a liner and when bars are completely cool, ( I place in fridge ) after bars are completely cooled, use the extra length to lift the bars out of the pan ( before icing ) and peel the foil away from the edge of cookies. I then cut the bars with a long knife into squares, then drizzle icing, making them individual bars.

1st Layer-Cookie Crust:
1 cup flour
1 cube butter
2 Tbsp powder sugar
Mix this until ingredients are crumbly, press in 9x13 pan bake ONLY 12 minutes 375

2nd Layer
In small bowl mix ingredients well
1 cup sliced maraschino cherries (reserve juice from cherries)
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 t. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of sale
1 cup chopped nuts (your choice)
Mix together and spread over crust, bake 25 minutes or until
toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool

Icing:
1 cup powder sugar
1/2 Tbsp. milk
3/4 tsp. reserved cherry 
Mix together milk, ½ teaspoon almond extract and powdered sugar.

Whisk together until there are no more lumps. I spoon the icing into a zip lock bag, snip a tiny hole in corner and drizzle over the cooled bars.
Cut into 1 ½ inch squares and serve.

You can freeze these without the icing.

I have made this adapted version of cherry bars which I always called Cherry Slice from a recipe that used candied fruit, and I reduced the granulated sugar using powered sugar in the crust instead.

When my kids were teens, they all had to have their own pan of Cherry Slice!

This has become a holiday tradition and I have only made this during Thanksgiving and Christmas, with an occasion to take for a desert to friends house.

Hint: These are best when made the day before you want to serve.