These fresh blueberry and cherry cake bars are chewy and bursting with flavor. They are one of my favorite summer desserts for parties. If you’re looking for some easy summer desserts with few ingredients, then you’ll love them! Today’s version is a mixed berry dessert, but you can use all cherries, or all blueberries or add in any other berry you like. Fresh or frozen. So let’s get to baking these fresh blueberry and cherry cake bars!
In July I made these berry cake bars five times… Once as a potluck dessert. Once because I bought wayyyy too many cherries at the farmers market. Another time to bring to a baby meetup. And then a couple more times to bring for dessert at family dinners.
I’ve also made the bars with just blueberries, and they turned out amazing as always.
Love easy fruit desserts? Try this lemon olive oil cake – it will turn into one of your favorite summer desserts with berries.
Ingredients to make fresh blueberry and cherry cake bars
The batter for these berry cake bars is made with butter, sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. This recipe uses fresh blueberries and fresh cherries, but you can try any berry you’d like! Scroll down for tips on using frozen berries.
How to make fresh blueberry and cherry cake bars – step by step
Prepare an 8″ metal square pan with parchment paper. The paper should come up the sides, so once the dessert bakes, it’s easy to remove it from the pan. Grease the parchment paper with a stick of butter or butter spray.
First, melt the butter and sugar together on the stove in a pan on medium heat. Stir regularly with a whisk until the mixture is smooth, about 5 minutes. Add the vanilla and give the mixture a final stir.
Pour the mixture In a large bowl. Slowly mix in the eggs, while stirring the mixture with a whisk. Add in the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Mix the batter until combined.
Then gently fold in the fresh blueberries and cherries to make the cake bar batter.
Using a spatula, transfer the batter into the pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.
When are cake bars done cooking?
The berry cake bars are done cooking when they are golden brown with a texture similar to a brownie. The edges will cook faster than the center, which is perfectly fine and adds to the chewy texture of the bars. If the center of the batter looks very wet, keep the cake bars in the oven for a few more minutes.
How long to let cake bars cool?
Once the cake bars are done, let them cool for 15 minutes. Remove the dessert from the tray, let it cool for another 15 minutes. Then slice into bars. Two cuts in each direction will yield 9 bars.
How to store berry cake bars
Store the fresh blueberry and cherry cake bars in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. They taste great cold, too!
Tips for using frozen blueberries for baking
When a friend tested this recipe for me, she forgot to purchase fresh blueberries. Not a problem! It’s easy to substitute frozen blueberries for baking cake bars. For best results, keep the frozen blueberries in the freezer until it’s time to add frozen blueberries to the batter. Before adding them in, make sure they are broken into individual blueberries instead of clumps. Then work quickly to fold the frozen blueberries into the berry cake bars. This technique, using the berries completely frozen and not thawed, will reduce the likelihood of blue streaks in the batter.
How to remove cherry pits for baking
The easiest way to remove cherries pit for baking is with a special tool. One of the best tools to quickly remove cherry pits is this bulk cherry pitter. You have to see it to believe it! It removes the pits from a handful of cherries at a time. This is a funny cherry pitter. And I have this cherry pitter.
How to pit cherries without a cherry pitter
So you don’t have a cherry pitter? Try these tricks to pit cherries without a pitter.
- Pit cherries with a straw, poking the pit out from the center.
- Use a chop stick to pit cherries by pushing the chop stick through the center, poking out the pit.
- Use a knife to cut the cherries in half, around the pit, then push out the pit with your fingers (this is the messy way, but it works!).
Tasty tips & notes for baking fresh blueberry and cherry cake bars
- Do you need parchment paper? Yes. Using greased parchment paper in the metal pan helps turn the edges of these fresh blueberry and cherry cake bars golden brown. It also makes it easier to remove the baked dessert in one piece.
- How do you remove cherry pits? To remove the cherry pits, use a bulk cherry pitter, straw, chopstick, or manually cut the cherries with a knife and remove the pits with your fingers.
- When are dessert bars done cooking? The bars are done cooking when the texture is similar to a brownie. The edges cook faster than the center, adding to the chewy texture of the bars. If the center of the batter looks very wet, keep the cake bars in the oven for a few more minutes.
- Any tips for serving this dessert? Serve cake bars on a pretty tray. I like this white one because it looks pretty to serve a square food item on a circular tray.
Try these other tasty recipes with fresh berries
- Fresh Raspberry Puff Pastry Turnovers
- 15 Easy Puff Pastry Recipe Ideas For Parties
- Mixed Berry Galette
Let me know when you make these fresh blueberry and cherry cake bars. Be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe. It means so much to hear from Sip Bite Go readers and I love seeing photos of your food! Don’t forget to tag me @sipbitego on Instagram so I can see how the recipe turned out. And sign up for the Sip Bite Go newsletter.
Fresh Blueberry & Cherry Cake Bars Recipe (Sip Bite Go)
Video
Ingredients
- 8 tbsp butter unsalted
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract substitute almond extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup flour all-purpose
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup blueberries fresh
- ½ cup cherries fresh
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8" metal square pan with parchment paper coming up the sides, so it can be used to remove the dessert after it bakes. Grease the parchment paper with a stick of butter or butter spray.
- Melt the butter and sugar together on the stove in a pan on medium heat. Stir regularly with a whisk until the mixture is smooth, about 5 minutes. Add the vanilla and give the mixture a final stir. Turn off the heat, letting the mixture cool down for a few minutes while you work on the next step. If the mixture cools completely, you’ll need to heat it up to lukewarm so it’s easy to pour and work with in the next step.
- Pour the butter/sugar/vanilla mixture In a large bowl. Slowly mix in the eggs, while stirring the mixture with a whisk. Add in the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Mix the batter until combined. Then gently fold in the fresh blueberries and cherries to make the cake bar batter.
- Using a spatula, transfer the batter into the pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the top of the berry cake bars are golden brown. The edges will cook faster than the center, which is perfectly fine and adds to the chewy texture of the bars. If the center of the batter looks very wet, keep the cake bars in the oven for a few more minutes. The texture should be similar to a brownie.
- Once the cake bars are done, let them cool for 15 minutes. Remove the dessert from the tray, let it cool for another 15 minutes. Then slice into bars. Two cuts in each direction will yield 9 bars. Store the fresh blueberry and cherry cake bars in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. (They taste great cold, too!)
Notes
- Do you need parchment paper? Yes. Using greased parchment paper in the metal pan helps turn the edges of these fresh blueberry and cherry cake bars golden brown. It also makes it easier to remove the baked dessert in one piece.
- How do you remove cherry pits? To remove the cherry pits, use a bulk cherry pitter, straw, chopstick, or manually cut the cherries with a knife and remove the pits with your fingers.
- When are dessert bars done cooking? The bars are done cooking when the texture is similar to a brownie. The edges cook faster than the center, adding to the chewy texture of the bars. If the center of the batter looks very wet, keep the cake bars in the oven for a few more minutes.
- Any tips for serving this dessert? Serve cake bars on a pretty tray. I like this white one because it looks pretty to serve a square food item on a circular tray.
Kathy Carrillo says
Made this for dessert tonight and it was a hit. My husband said, “this isn’t something we should make often”. He could have eaten the entire pan by himself, he liked it that much! Every time he went into the kitchen, he was excited when he found a crumb. He was holding himself back from having another piece of this cake. I doubled the recipe to put some in the freezer for a sweet treat but I’m not sure it’ll make it in the freezer.
Laurel Grady says
Can you freeze this cake? I’d like to make it, cut it into squares, and then freeze each one.
Jenna Passaro says
I haven’t but I would. They are kindof like blondies.
Kiona Ellis says
My aunt made this for me with just cherries and cut them into squares, she froze them and i just put them in the microwave for a few seconds and they were even better reheated!
Loretta Poveromo says
Always looking for new desserts that use summer fruits. This was perfect. Liked that it’s different than all my cobbler, crisp, etc. recipes. Also nice size for just the two of us. My husband said to add it to the rotation.
Huge compliment, coming from him!
Kathy says
I had some frozen cherries and blueberries in the freezer. This was a very good recipe. I would say that a crumb topping makes it even sweeter. 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and 1/2 stick of soft butter. Sprinkle on top and bake and it’s delicious!
Jenna Passaro says
That does sound good
Linda Horinko says
Really good summertime treat! I made it as directed except I doubled it and made it in a 9×13″ pan. Good flavor, good texture and one I’ll make again. It might be fun to try different combinations of fruit.
Jenna Passaro says
Hey Linda, glad you enjoyed it. Yes, it’s quite easy to double. Blackberry and raspberry bars are good options, too. Cheers!
alexandra cook says
It is indeed a lovely place to explore, Such great captures I must say that and your description is lovely and the food looks really good.
eli says
Yum this sounds really delicious. I love a sweet treat every now and then and this looks like my kind of thing.
Irina Karulina says
Oh, WOW! So easy and summery! My guests have to be ready for this summer treat tonight. I am gonna make these them NOW!
Julie Wallace says
Drooling! This cake is so gorgeous. I love how easy it comes together too. You really need that when it’s this hot outside… :/ I want to try this!
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy says
The perfect dessert for bbq parties. Easy to make. Easy to take along. It would be a hit with the guests for sure. Add some vanilla ice cream…and serve.
Caitlyn Erhardt says
Love the combo of flavors! this cake sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try it!
Andrea Metlika says
Cherries and blueberries go so well together. These little bites look very addicting.