Cherry Cobbler Bars

The cookbook continues its slow, steady climb. Forty thousand copies. FORTY THOUSAND. Katherine called with the number and I sat at the kitchen table and tried to imagine forty thousand kitchens with Mama's book on the counter and I couldn't imagine it because the number is too big for my imagination but not too big for the truth. Forty thousand people bought a book about a woman from Cascade Heights and a can of spice and the daughter who kept cooking. The book that started on a nightstand has reached forty thousand nightstands. Mama is in forty thousand homes. The line extends beyond what any kitchen can see.

The book tour continues — sporadic now, a city here and there, mostly on weekends. I went to a church in Mobile, Alabama, and a woman named Dorothy (ninety years old, in a wheelchair, with a cane and a smile) held my book and said, "I knew your mother." I said, "You knew Brenda?" She said, "No, baby. I knew your mother because I was your mother. Every woman who cooks for her family is your mother. The book is about all of us." I held Dorothy's hand and I said, "Yes, ma'am." And she was right. The book is about Brenda. The book is about Dorothy. The book is about every woman who has ever stood at a stove and refused to stop. The book is about the line. And the line includes everyone.

After that afternoon in Mobile — after Dorothy held my hand and told me the book was about all of us — I drove back to my hotel and I thought about what a recipe looks like when it belongs to everyone. Not a fancy recipe. Not a showoff recipe. Something that a ninety-year-old woman in a wheelchair could have made, something her mother made, something I could make tonight in a strange city kitchen with ingredients from a corner store. Cherry Cobbler Bars felt exactly right: a buttery, pressed crust, a filling that is as generous and honest as cherry pie, and enough servings to share down the whole long line.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 38 minutes | Total Time: 53 minutes | Servings: 16 bars

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups fresh or frozen pitted cherries (or two 21 oz cans cherry pie filling)
3 tablespoons cornstarch (omit if using canned pie filling)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (omit if using canned pie filling)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan and set aside.
Make the dough. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, 1 cup of the sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or your fingertips, work the cold butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces remaining. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and stir until the dough just comes together — it will be crumbly but should hold when pressed.
Press the base layer. Transfer about two-thirds of the dough into the prepared pan and press it into an even layer across the bottom. Set the remaining dough aside.
Prepare the cherry filling. If using fresh or frozen cherries, combine them in a medium saucepan with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and almond extract. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 6–8 minutes until the mixture thickens and the cherries soften. If using canned cherry pie filling, simply stir in the almond extract and proceed.
Assemble. Spread the cherry filling evenly over the pressed dough base. Crumble the reserved dough in small pieces over the top of the filling, covering it as evenly as possible.
Bake. Bake for 35–38 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbling at the edges. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack.
Cool and cut. Allow the bars to cool completely in the pan — at least 1 hour — before slicing into 16 bars. This step is important; cutting too early will cause the filling to run.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cherry Cobbler Bars — A Recipe for Every Kitchen on the Line