Sweet, chewy, and with a bit of almond crunch, these easy-to-make cherry blondies are a great way to use fresh summer cherries (or frozen!). Blondies are like the sweeter, cocoa-free sister to brownies and are the best dessert if you have a real sweet tooth. Made with only brown sugar, they have a hint of caramel flavour.
Love cherries? Try our chocolate cherry cake or cherry crumble cake - both can be made with fresh cherries. If you want to try something like this but with chocolate, you can substitute cherries for raspberries in these chocolate raspberry brownies.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Cherries: you can use fresh or frozen cherries. We recommend pitting the cherries, which you can do with a cherry pitter or the end of a metal straw.
- Almonds: slivered almonds can be used in place of sliced if you'd like more texture.
- Brown sugar: use light or dark brown sugar for this recipe.
- Almond extract: if you don't have it or don't like it, just use more vanilla.
- Add-ins: try adding a cup of white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate to the batter along with the almonds if you'd like.
- Make it dairy-free: use a high-quality vegan butter that comes in block or stick form.
Method
Step 1: pit the cherries with a pitter or metal straw (see recipe notes).
Step 2: mix the dry ingredients with a whisk.
Step 3: whisk the wet ingredients together in a large bowl.
Step 4: add the dry ingredients and the almonds to the wet.
Step 5: fold until halfway mixed, then add the halved cherries.
Step 6: keep folding gently to incorporate the cherries.
Step 7: spoon the batter into a square tin and smooth with the back of a spoon.
Step 8: bake your cherry blondies until lightly golden, about 50 minutes, and cool before slicing.
Top Tips
- Cool completely: like most brownies and blondies, cherry blondies are delicate until completely cooled. Make sure they're not warm before slicing or they may fall apart.
- Don't reduce the sugar: this is a common pitfall. Reducing the sugar will result in dry, dense blondies (remember that sugar becomes liquid when baked).
- Add the cherries partway: this helps to prevent over-mixing, which makes for tough cherry blondies. Fold until half mixed, then fold in the cherries for perfectly tender bars.
Recipe Notes
Pitting cherries can be quite messy. If you don't have a cherry pitter, insert a metal straw into the bottom of each cherry and push it straight through the middle towards the stem. The pit will pop out easily this way! Please don't wear clothing you care about to do this, as the cherry juice will splatter.
You can probably use an 8-inch square tin if that's all you have, but it'll need a little longer in the oven. We haven't tested with a smaller tin.
How to Store
Storage: keep your cherry blondies in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or refrigerate for up to a week. They're nice chilled, too.
Freezing: transfer fully cooled blondies to an airtight container and freeze for up to a month. Slicing and freezing individually means you can take one out at a time, just right for a little treat.
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Cherry Blondies With Almonds
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons or a digital kitchen scale
- Cherry pitter or metal straw
- Mixing bowls
- Whisk
- 9-inch (23-cm) square baking dish
- Wire rack
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cherries, fresh or frozen, approximately 30-32 cherries
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup salted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons almond extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Lightly grease a 9-inch (23-cm) square pan and line it with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Wash the cherries and remove the stems. Use a cherry pitter or the end of a metal straw to remove the pits. Slice the cherries in half and set aside.8 ounces cherries
- Add the flour, baking powder, to salt in a mixing bowl and whisk until well combined. Set aside.2 cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- In a second mixing bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, and extracts until creamy and smooth.1 cup salted butter, 1 ½ cups brown sugar, 2 large eggs, 1 ½ teaspoons almond extract, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Add the flour mixture and sliced almonds to the bowl of wet ingredients and fold together halfway. Add the halved cherries.1 cup sliced almonds
- Gently fold the batter together until the flour is just mixed in and the cherries are well distributed. Spoon the batter into the prepared baking pan and gently smooth it into an even layer.
- Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the batter no longer looks wet and shiny. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.
Notes
- You can use fresh or frozen cherries. We recommend pitting the cherries to avoid broken teeth.
- Pitting cherries can be quite messy. If you don't have a cherry pitter, insert a metal straw into the bottom of a cherry and push it straight through the middle towards the stem. Please don't wear clothing you care about to do this, as the cherry juice will splatter.
- You can use an 8-inch (20-cm) square tin; however, the baking time may change.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate and is provided as a courtesy. For precise nutritional data, please calculate it independently using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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