Cherry Crumble Pie Bars

Cherry Crumble Pie Bars (adapted from Wicked Good Kitchen)

Crust & Crumble:

3½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1¼ cups granulated sugar

1¼ tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt, or ¾ tsp table salt

1¼ cups cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

2 large egg yolks lightly beaten

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

½ tsp pure almond extract

Cherry Pie Filling:

4-5 cups fresh or frozen pitted cherries

1 cup sugar

2 Tb cornstarch

a pinch of salt

½ teaspoon pure almond extract

Combine filling ingredients in a large saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture reaches a boil. Lower to a vigorous simmer until the mixture is thickened and reduced by about half

Remove from heat and stir in almond extract. Set aside to cool. (In the fridge works great!)

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Arrange rack in lower third of the oven. Line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper or foil, leaving an overhang on each side, creating a sling to remove the bars after cooling. Grease the lining. (I made mine in two 9x9 pans)

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add butter chunks and toss to coat with flour. Cut the butter in, using a pastry cutter, fork, or food processor until the chunks are no larger than small peas. In a small bowl, whisk extracts into beaten egg yolks. Add to the flour mixture and stir together until moistened and dough starts to hold together in crumbles or lumps. (I used my fingers) This is a very crumbly dough that is not going to come together in one ball, so don't worry!

Remove 2 generous cups of the crumb mixture and set aside for the topping. Press remaining dough evenly into prepared baking pan. Spoon the cherry filling evenly over the dough and sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.

Bake for 45-55 minutes, until filling is bubbling and topping is golden brown. If your topping is browning too quickly, cover with a sheet of aluminum foil. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack before lifting the bars out and cutting them. (They cut best if you refrigerate them for about an hour first)