Good salad for the summer!
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Additional Time: | 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 45 mins |
| Servings: | 36 |
| Yield: | 3 dozen |
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup chopped red and green candied cherries
- ½ cup crushed candy coated milk chocolates
- 1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
- 5 teaspoons warm water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and almond extract. Combine the flour and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. Mix in 1/2 cup of the cherries. Press the dough into an ungreased 9×13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with remaining cherries and crushed candies. Press in lightly.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are lightly browned. Cool completely in the pan before icing. To make the icing, mix together the confectioners’ sugar and water until a drizzling consistency is reached.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 131 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 19 g |
| Cholesterol | 19 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 1 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 59 mg |
| Sugars | 13 g |
| Fat | 6 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I make this every year. Quadruple recipe, with white chocolate or royal icing glaze. They are perfect every time.
Great tasting – like shortbread. Too much icing (only used half). Also used vanilla extra instead of almond due to allergies. Kids loved it too!
Tastes great! Leave the green cherries out of it…they looked like jalapeños!
I used a pastry roller to flatten the dough into an even depth all around, and I didn’t have any trouble with burnt edges. Second batch I took out the green cherries, and used crushed candy canes sprinkled on top. Looked great, and tasted delicious!
These looked very pretty however, they tasted pretty awful. I would not make these again.
Absolutely gorgeous cookie bar!(and delicious)…. I did NOT chop up the mini M&M’s, only used red/green (obviously) haha. It DID take a long time to bake at 300, it probably took a good 37 minutes. Keep and eye on it, don’t let edges get brown! I’m about ready to ice them, but I will definitely be making these EVERY Christmas!!!
I love this recipe. Have been making it for years. During a move, I lost it. Thank you so much for posting it. Can’t wait to make it again.
Its the middle of July and I had box of candied cherries, so what do I do??? Made this wonderful recipe and omitted the M&Ms. Instead I sprinkled sliced almonds on top and added almond flavoring to glaze. So very good!!!
WOW! These squares are simply delicious and festive looking too. I didn’t change a thing in this recipe. MMMMMM…so good!
Had my son pick out the red and green coloured mini ‘chocolates’ while I prepared the dough. Baked these much longer to cook the ‘middle’ but still it was kinda gooey while the edges were becoming overcooked. A hit at the family Christmas tho and will make again.
I’ve made this the past several christmasses and they are a hit. Not to mention, they look so christmassy
I got this recipe from my mother-in-law. She uses red cherries only, does not chop the chocolate candies, and bakes them in a jelly roll pan. They look beautiful and taste great!
It just is not the holidays without these yummy cookie bars. A family friend has been making these for over twenty years and I started making them last year. It is fun and sticky to make but well worth it. A wonderful holiday tradition for the family.
This short-bread type bar is excellent. It’s hard to really describe – but it’s great. I took it to a gathering of diverse individuals and everybody loved it!!
What a simple, tasty treat! The only bad thing was that it took forever to bake at the recommended heat, since I’m at high altitude; next time, I’ll try it about 25′ hotter. On the other hand, the slow baking ensured that it baked evenly all the way through – no gooshy middle. Another idea (specifically for the holidays) is to use just red or red and green candy pieces, to make it look more appealing; one of the other reviews for this was right – the multi-colored candy shells makes them look funky. By the way, if you have a mixer, use it! Mixing this by hand takes a lot out of your muscles.
I made these for Xmas and I loved them. They were ugly but they tasted awesome. I think the fruit and chocolate thing deterred people from trying them but once they did they really liked them. If I make them again, I think I will try to conceal the m & m ‘s a little better.
A definite do-over and very pretty too! I followed the directions exactly and I did not have any problems. The bars cooked evenly. I would think in a larger pan they would be extremely flat—almost cracker like. I tinted my glaze red.
Make this recipe in a 10×15 inch pan and cook for 25 – 30 minutes, and it turns out very well. This delicious cookie is a favorite of my family. The red and green candies with drizzled white frosting make this a pretty cookie that is easy to decorate.
This is one of our all time favorites. Tastes like a shortbread cookie. Helpful Tip: I keep an eye on this while it is cooking as my oven cooks unevenly. If the edges are browning before the middle is finished, I cover the edges with foil and use a toothpick in the center to check doneness.
This was a holiday mess! They were over done on the other edges, and underdone in the middle.