Cherry Squares

ooh boy it's been a while. Yeah, it's been busy, and I haven't had time to do much baking lately. That and it's been too hot to even want to bake, but I did make a couple things recently. I've always loved the combination of the taste and smell of cherries and almonds. There's something warm and cozy about it. My mom used to make Cherry Squares as we fondly called them when I was younger, and I always loved them. When she wrote out a lot of recipes for Christmas for me a few years ago, this was one she gave me. mmm despite it being hot out, I could still go for one now. It's called a coffee cake, but I think it has more of a cookie/blondie texture than a cake. mmm...


Cherry Swirl Coffee Cake

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine softened
1/2 cup shortening (Crisco)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
4 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 can (21 ounces) cherry pie filling

glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350'F

Generously grease jelly roll pan, 15 1/2" x 10 1/2" or 2 square 9"x9"x2". Blend sugar, butter, shortening, baking powder, vanilla, almond extract, and eggs in a large bowl on low speed, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed, scraping bowl occasionally, 3 minutes. Stir in flour. Spread 2/3 of the batter in jelly roll pan or 1/3 in each square pan. Spread pie filling over batter. Drop remaining batter by tablespoon onto pie filling. Bake until light golden brown, about 45 minutes. Prepare glaze; drizzle over warm coffee cake.

Note: my mom and I usually put in 2 tsp. almond extract because we like the flavor so much