The cherries have been really good this year. My husband loves cherries – they are such a favorite that he used to spend his allowance on them when he was a kid. Unfortunately, though, he has an allergy to the skin of stone fruit so can’t eat them unless they’ve been cooked. I really wanted to make some baked dessert that would feature cherries so he could enjoy the cherries I brought home.

While he remembered having something like these bars at home when he was younger, we couldn’t find this recipe in his family cookbook. I cobbled this together from a few different recipes and it turned out really well. We also had some apricots that needed to be eaten up so I tossed some of those in one corner of the pan too. Fair warning, they do use a lot of butter, but we all enjoyed these and I will be making them again.

Summer Stone Fruit Bars

CRUST (Follow the recipe from Pecan Squares from the Silver Palate Cookbook, or you can use the Krusteaz shortbread cookie mix and follow the directions below from step 3.)
• 2/3 cup confectioners sugar
• 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• ½ pound (2 sticks) sweet butter, softened
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 12 inch baking pan.
2. Sift sugar and flour together. Cut in butter, using two knives or a pastry blender, until fine crumbs form.
3. Pat crust into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes; remove from oven and set pan on cooling rack.
4. Lower oven temperature to 325°F.

FILLING:
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 4 oz. (1/2 pkg) cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 (heaping) tablespoon all purpose flour
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract
In a mixing bowl, beat butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, flour and vanilla. Mix well.
Pour over crust and spread to edges.
Cover cream cheese layer with halved, pitted cherries (tossed in 1-2 tsps sugar, optional).
Bake for 35-40 minutes at 325°F until top bubbles at the edges and just turns golden brown.