Black Forest Streusel Bars

The spelling of this recipe is harder than the making of them. This bar has the same top as the base but the top is crumbly and a bit crunchy. It's not an overly sweet recipe but it's very tasty, especially with a dollop of ice cream. Whipping cream would probably tastes good too. I used my own canned cherry pie filling which isn't as sweet as store bought so that may have made a difference.

I'm off to Kamloops in the morning, the dreaded 5:30 in the morning off! How on earth do people get up that early and still function throughout the day? Mind you they probably don't stay up 'til midnight, but I'm a night owl, what can I say?

So technically it's 12:17 AM and I'm going to try out Blogger's new "Scheduled Publishing." We'll see if this post will magically appear at 6:30 AM, heck I'll only be an hour away from the airport by then :)

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Black Forest Streusel Bars
Base & Topping:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup margarine, softened
1 tablespoon milk

Filling:
1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a bowl, add flour, sugar, cocoa and salt. Add margarine and milk and stir until mixture is well combined and crumbly. Use your hands to make sure the moisture is evenly distributed-- the mixture will resemble fresh bread crumbs.
Remove 1 cup of the crumbs; set aside. Press the remaining crumbs into the bottom of an 8x8 inch pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Spread pie filling over the base and sprinkle with remaining crumbs.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until bubbly around the edges. Cool in the pan on a wire rack, then chill in the refrigerator.
Makes about 12 bars.