Easy 4 Ingredient Cherry Cake Bars are a great sweet treat. They require only pantry basics, including cake mix, oats, cherry pie filling, and butter.
Cherry Cake Bars Recipe
I love spring baking! It is so much fun to make recipes with great ingredients, knowing we can eat them outside and soak up some sunshine.
These Cherry Cake Bars are so easy to make. They only take four ingredients, and most of them are pantry staples. Mix them, bake, and enjoy! You know we love easy-peasy recipes that come together quickly!
We aim to share recipes that take little time to make so you have time to do everything you want and need to do! A few minutes saved in the kitchen means more time to soak up the sun, read a great book, enjoy family time, or relax!
Life is a little wild right now, and I spend as much time in the kitchen baking to help relieve stress and worry during this unusual time for the world.
Being able to bake a delicious recipe that makes the house smell great and taste amazing is one of my favorite things right now.
Ingredients
Here is a quick overview of the simple ingredients for making epic Cherry Cake Bars! The printable recipe card at the bottom of the post includes specific measurements and step-by-step instructions.
- Yellow Cake Mix
- Quick-Cooking Oats
- Butter
- Cherry Pie Filling
Equipment Needed
- Butter Cover: These microwave covers are fantastic! They help to prevent the butter from imploding in the microwave and causing more things to clean up.
- Large Mixing Bowl: We are big fans of this glass batter bowl with a handle. It makes it easy to mix ingredients and keeps the mixing bowl steady on the counter.
- Kitchen Spoon or Whisk
- 9x13 Baking Pan
How to Make Cherry Cake Bars
I've included complete instructions in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post, but here's a quick version.
Don't forget to preheat the oven.
- In a large bowl, mix the cake mix and the oats. Add in the butter and continue to mix until crumbly.
- Grease a 9x13 pan and pour ½ of the mixture into the pan. Pat into the bottom of the pan to form a crust.
- Pour the cherry pie filling evenly over the top of the crust, and sprinkle the remaining mixture over the top of the cherry pie filling.
- Bake in the oven
Preparation and Storage
Make Ahead: You can prep the cake batter mixture and refrigerate it in an airtight container for up to a day before you plan to bake.
Storage: Store leftovers of these Cherry Cake Mix Bars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days or in the fridge for up to five days.
Freezing/How to Freeze: For grab-and-go Cherry Cake Bars, you can freeze leftovers by wrapping individual bars in plastic and foil and transferring them to a large, freezer-safe Ziploc bag. You can also cover the baking dish in plastic and foil and freeze the entire block. Enjoy leftovers within three months.
How to Reheat: You can enjoy these dessert bars at room temperature, from the fridge, or briefly reheated in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
Recipe Variations + Tips for the Best Cherry Cake Bars
Substitutions: We made this recipe with yellow cake mix, but other cake mix flavors that pair with cherry, like chocolate, French vanilla, or spice cake mix, would also be delicious!
You could drizzle a cream cheese glaze over these cherry bars to make them even more decadent.
Change it up and try it with blueberry pie filling or a peach pie filling.
Vegetarian Option: This recipe is naturally vegetarian.
Vegan Option: Replace the yellow cake mix and butter with plant-based alternatives to make this recipe vegan.
Gluten-Free: Look for gluten-free labels on the boxed cake mix and quick-cooking oats to ensure your Cherry Cake Mix Bars are safe for a gluten-free diet.
Smaller Serving Size + Larger Group/More Servings: The written recipe makes 16 servings using one box of yellow cake mix and one 21-ounce can of cherry pie filling. You can halve, double, and triple it easily.
Make It Spicy: Add a few dashes of ground cinnamon for Cherry Cake Bars with warm spice.
Sugar-Free:
The written recipe contains 14 grams of sugar per serving. Make it sugar-free with a sugar-free yellow cake mix and no-sugar-added cherry pie filling.
Please remember that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used.
What to Serve with Cherry Cake Bars
These Cherry Cake Bars begin with a boxed yellow cake mix and canned cherry pie filling and are an easy, no-fail way to celebrate this late summer fruit. Here are other summertime menu planning suggestions.
Sides: Grilled Avocados, Air Fryer Corn on the Cob, Pulled Pork Parfait, Kool-Aid Pickles, Easy Macaroni Salad, Broccoli Slaw, Bacon Wrapped Asparagus, Creamy Spinach Artichoke Dip
Main Dishes: Grilled Balsamic Chicken Skewers, Easy Crab Rolls and Sliders, Jalapeño Beer Brats, Sweet and Spicy Chicken Skewers, BLT Burger with Avocado Aioli
Desserts: Slow Cooker Strawberry Crisp, Homemade Blueberry Lemonade Cupcake, Copycat Carl's Jr. Pop Tart Ice Cream Sandwich, Watermelon Cupcake, Nutella Popsicles
Drinks: Bahama Mama Popsicle, Strawberry Basil Lemonade Cocktail, Watermelon Agua Fresca, Make-Ahead Freezer Strawberry Margaritas, Blueberry Mojito Popsicle
When to Serve
- Summer
- Potlucks
- Fourth of July
- Labor Day
- Anytime you want delicious dessert bars made from pantry staples!
Great Recipe Collections
Cherry Pie Filling Recipes - These cherry pie filling recipes, which range from Crock Pot favorites to boxed cake mix treats, are made instantly with ruby red cherry pie filling in a can, but they can also be made with any quality pie filling you have.
Cake Mix Recipes - Boxed cake mix used intentionally can be a canvas for scrumptious yet creative cookies, brownies, cakes, and desserts.
5 Ingredient or Less dessert recipes - check out the epic desserts you can make with only 5 or less ingredients.
Cool Whip Recipes - You will love how many ways you can use Cool Whip in Recipes.
3 Ingredient Recipes - Easy 3 Ingredient Recipes that taste amazing! Drinks, entrees, and desserts you can make with a few ingredients.
Do you love recipes? Check out our copycat recipes, dessert recipes, and our CrockPot Recipes.
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Cherry Cake Bars Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 box Yellow Cake Mix
- 2 ½ cups Oats quick cooking
- ¾ cup Butter softened
- 21 Ounce cherry pie filling
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix and the oats. Add in the butter and continue to mix until crumbly.
- Grease a 9x13 pan and pour ½ of the mixture into the pan. Pat into the bottom of the pan to form a crust.
- Pour the cherry pie filling evenly over the top of the crust, sprinkle the remaining mixture over the top of the cherry pie filling.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until slightly brown, cool, cut, and serve.
Nutrition
Recipe originally shared April 26, 2015. Updated March 23, 2020
Chef DeKiifner
These are in my oven right now, only I used a devil's food cake mix (all I had) and a jar of 'Bake Good' cherry pie filling (no sugar/sweetener added), but was only 15.5 oz. I'd been wanting to make something to use it. I did add some (maybe 1/4 c) vanilla yogurt. I think choc cakes tend to be dry and the yogurt helps keep them moist. Can't wait for it to come out. Wish I'd had pink n red Valentine sprinkles to garnish. Thanks for a GREAT inspirational recipe. I can see me making this in a variety of combinations often (lemon cake -- blueberry pie filling)
Jenna Wood
I can see cherry is a theme lately 🙂 These look perfect for a nice treat my league-mates would love!
Dawn
Oh, man. Now I need something sweet! I'm so making these this week! Thanks!
valmg
I could go for one of these right now, they sound tasty. I like how easy they are to make.
Amy Kelsch
Hello Tammilee,
These cake bars look amazing!!!! I love your use of the cake mix- so clever and a wonderful and easy way to make something special. Brilliant!
Thank you!