These Black Cherry Walnut Bars have the perfect amount of sweetness and crunch. Decadent enough for dessert, but healthy enough to stand in as a grab and go breakfast option.
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Naturally Sweet, soft, wonderfully tangy Black Cherry Walnut Bars.
Decadent enough to serve as a desert, but healthy enough to stand in as a grab-n-go breakfast option that you keep on regular rotation for frantic mornings.
With a walnut- oat- maple-syrup-cookie-like base, and a thick, sweet and tart layer of dried black cherries and dates in the middle, topped by a sprinkle of a streusel-like crumb top, well.. your going to need to be making these.
The crust is simple and delicious and made mostly from pantry ingredients that are likely already hanging out in your kitchen.
- walnuts
- oats
- maple syrup
- apple sauce
- egg
- coconut oil
- vanilla
And yes, you're going to to want to sample it, over and over. I know you're not supposed to eat raw eggs and all that, but really? I don't think you're going to be able to pass up a few crumble chunk nibbles. I mean seriously, good luck with that.
On to the filling. This is also eat with a spoon delicious. I like this dried-cherry/fig combo better than using jam because sometimes jam-filled bar are just a little too sweet, you know what I mean?
For this layer, we are talking about primarily:
- dried dark cherries
- Medjool dates
- lemon juice/zest
It's thick.. similar to the texture of a loose peanut butter.. no total-filling-puddle-situation happening around here.
The goal here is that you will pull these bars from the oven and see the fruit filling look like barely-bubbling hot lava. That's how you know it's perfect. That's how you know that it's going to hold together and that you're about to slice some really GOOD LOOKIN BARS.
Time Saving Tips and Tricks:
Prep Ahead: Since the recipe comes together almost exclusively in the food processor there is no chopping required! You can skip the prep for this one.
Make Ahead: The bars need to cool completely before being removed from the pan, therefore, there is no reason not to make this recipe in advance! Just store cooked bars in a covered dish in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve them.
Freezer: Why not make a double batch and store the extras in the freezer. Perfect for a grab and go breakfast or an easy desert! I like to store them in individual Ziplock bags and defrost as needed when I need a sugar craving buster!
📖 Recipe
Black Cherry Walnut Bars
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 16 bars 1x
- Category: Dessert/Breakafst
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These Black Cherry Walnut Bars have the perfect amount of sweetness and crunch. Decadent enough for dessert, but healthy enough to stand in as a grab and go breakfast option.
Ingredients
For The Crust:
- 2 ¼ cups walnuts, divided
- 2 cups rolled oats + extra for topping garnish
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 TBS maple syrup
- 1 TBS coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. fine grain sea salt
For the Filling:
- 1 cup dried cherries
- 1 cup of medjool dates, pitted
- 1 TBS cinnamon
- ½ tsp. ground ginger
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
For the Crust:
- Cover a rimmed baking pan with parchment paper. Place 2 cups of chopped walnuts on pan and place in oven (reserve ¼ cup of walnuts). Heat oven to 350 degrees. (The pan should be in the oven while it is pre-heating). Bake walnuts until they are lightly toasted, about 5-10 minutes. Keep your eye on them... they burn fast! Remove from oven, and allow to cool.
- Lightly oil a 9×9" pan and line with parchment paper (to avoid bars sticking to pan).
- To the base of a food processor, add 2 cups of oats and process until consistency is similar to flour. Add toasted walnuts, and blend until mixture has the consistency of rough sand.
- Add egg, ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla. Pulse until fully incorporated.
- Take ⅔ of the crust "dough" (reserve the other ⅓) and press it into a 9 inch square baking pan. Wet your hands a little to help prevent the dough from sticking.
For The Filling:
- To the food processor, add cherries, dates, cinnamon, ginger, applesauce, and lemon zest. Blend on high until the mixture is smooth. Spread mixture evenly over crust.
To Assemble:
- Crumble the remaining crust evenly over the filling layer. Top with remaining ¼ cup of walnuts and some extra rolled oats. Sprinkle with salt. Lightly press the pie crust crumbles and nuts/oats into the filling. Bake 25-30 minutes or until the topping is golden brown. Allow bars to cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- Make the recipe gluten free by using gluten free rolled oats.
- Make the recipe vegan by subbing 1 Tbs chia seeds mixed with 3 Tbs of water
- Store the baked bars in the refrigerator... they don't have any preservatives, and thats a good thing!
- If you can't find black cherries.. you can use a different variety or swap them for your favorite dried fruit.
Let's Connect:
- Prep-Ahead recipes are my all time favorite! Join the BRAND NEW Simply Sissom Community Private FB Group and let’s meal prep together! Each week I share an exclusive recipe in the group via FB Live that is REALLY simple and make-ahead friendly. Join us!
- You can also find Simply Sissom on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook. Check it out and if you like what you see.. follow!
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Grego
Looks yummy! I don't think you meant onions in the instructions 🙂
Bailey Sissom
Thanks Grego! I sure didn't. Fixing now:)
Terri
Great recipe~!
Bailey Sissom
Thanks Terri! Let me know if you give them a try!!!
Carolsue
I follow you on Pinterest as cezovski9
Gail
These look great but I can't eat chia seeds. :-(. Any ideas on what I could use as a substitute?
Bailey Sissom
Hi Gail! I would imagine that you could substitute an egg or a ("flax egg" if you follow a vegan diet). With that said, I have never tried that specific combination with this recipe so I can't vouch for the finished product. If you give it a shot, let me know how it goes so I can update the recipe! Hope this helps:)
Diego Lopes
These bars look amazing. Looking forward to make them (and eat them all!)
Bailey Sissom
Hope you love them!