Sweet Tea is a tradition in the South. Every family event, party or church event has included gallons upon gallons of sweet tea. If we don’t have at least three gallons available during a holiday meal, the kids ask, “Where are you hiding the tea?” When Southern Breeze Sweet Tea partnered with me, I knew I could expound on the joys of drinking tea, but did you know you can cook with Sweet Tea? After sampling some tea cookies a friend made, I knew I had to get in on this trend! I planned on making cookies for the holidays and found a recipe for fig bars. I knew the kids wouldn’t eat figs so I reworked the recipe to include cherries, my secret ingredient- sweet tea-and a yummy white chocolate drizzle. The results were a-maz-ing. The tea gives i tht a subtle flavor and white chocolate drizzle and cherries make it a festive addition to any holiday cookie platter. These bars are best when served within the first 24 to 48 hours as the crust can get a little mushy after that, making it more like a cobbler. If that happens, warm up the bars and serve a la mode.
Ready to get cooking? Begin by spraying a 9″ by 9″ baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350. Mix the crust ingredients together and pat into the bottom of the dish. Bake for 9-11 minutes. The top of the crust should be firm and the inside should be crumbly.
Mix together the cherries, Southern Breeze Sweet Tea, cornstarch and sugar. Bring to a boil. Stir until thickened. This should take about three to four minutes after the mixture begins to boil. Remove from heat and spread over crust mixture.
Mix together the ingredients for the crumb topping and sprinkle over the cherry mixture. Return to the oven and bake for fifteen to twenty minutes.
As soon as you remove the dish from the oven, sprinkle with white chocolate chips. Allow them to melt. Use a knife to spread them around the crumb topping.
Now comes the hard part–for these to cut properly they must cool completely. If you’re not picky about how they look, serve them warm with a scoop of ice cream. Your family will love you for it!
What’s different about Southern Breeze Sweet Tea? It comes with sweetener already in the bag to sweeten as it brews. With zero calories and real tea leaves, you’ll be able to enjoy as many glasses as you want or share with friends and family if you are feeling hospitable. Southern Breeze Sweet Tea is available in original and in three flavors, natural peach, raspberry or lemon.
- Crust:
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- Filling:
- 1 (12 ounce package) frozen dark cherries
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup Southern Breeze sweet Tea
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- Crumb Topping:
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup quick cooking oats
- 1/4 cup pecans
- White Chocolate Layer: 6 ounces white chocolate chips
- Preheat oven to 350 and spray 9″ pan with cooking spray. Mix together butter, vanilla, sugar and flour. Spread crust mixture across the bottom of pan. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven,
- Mix frozen cherries, tea, sugar and cornstarch together in sauce pan. Cook on medium high heat until mixture comes to a boil. Stir for 2 to 3 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Spread cherry mixture over crust.
- Mix flour, sugar, butter, oats and pecans together until blended. Sprinkle evenly over cherry mixture. Bake 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and top with white chocolate chips. Allow chips to melt and then spread across the crust with a knife.
- Allow to cool completely. Cut into squares.
What is your favorite dish to cook with tea?
I don’t drink tea (or coffee for that matter) and I have never cooked with it, but I do like beauty products with tea in them! LOL
These bars look great, I would just make em sans tea.
That looks so good! I bet that’d be a great holiday treat to serve.
These look so delicious! I have to do my Christmas baking yet so I’ll have to make these!
I’ve never used tea in a recipe before. These look good. I like that you get too recipes out of it the cookie an the coobler.
Oh I love Cherries!! These look like something my family would really enjoy and eat right up!
My mother loves cherries so she would really enjoy this dessert. I’m going to have to make it for her when I am on vacation.
My middle child is all about cherry. I need to whip some of these up for a fun surprise. Yum!
I love anything with cherries and strawberries and basically anything in that category. These would be perfect to snack on.
This looks like a fantastic dessert for the holidays. I will have to try making it this weekend.
Good tip on eating them quick. I’m sure that’s something easy to comply with too. 😉
My mom makes something similar with Blueberries and it is delicious. Ice cream tastes good on something like this as well.
I love that this is so easy to make, my middle child LOVES cherry recipes so I must try to make this for him!
Yes, I agree. Actually, I’ve been looking for a recipe like this. Glad I came across this blog.
I’m a big fan of cookies and any recipe about cookies will surely grab my attention. Thanks for sharing this.
The cherry cookie bars look mouth watering! I can’t wait to try your recipe.
These bars sound amazing! I have actually been craving some kind of cherry pie lately, but I bet these bars would satisfy that craving nicely!
These look yummy. I love making fruit bars, compotes, crisps and cobblers. So yummmmm…I would probably pass on the white chocolate. The fruit makes it plenty sweet for me.
I’d love to try some cherry cookie bars. This sounds great! I should start doing more recipes with tea.
These look like tasty cookies.
Your pictures are excellent.
My mom used to love sweet tea.
These bars look so good! I would totally love to make them.
This sounds like a recipe my sister used to make. My Hubs loved it. He could probably eat it all himself.
That looks so delicious! I can’t wait to whip up a batch for these. I think they’d be great as a quick breakfast.
I didn’t even think about serving them for breakfast. I may have to make a batch for our annual family Christmas breakfast we are hosting this Sunday!
I love desserts with cherries! I need to make these – STAT!
I might have to make these for christmas dessert. My parents would love them!
This looks so yummy. I love any dessert that has cherries in it.