Baking Away in Margaritaville, Vol 2 (Cherry Lemonade Yum-Yums)

These bars were the other new hit at our Buffett tailgate this past weekend. I'll warn you, they're not pretty.  They're not easy to photograph and come out looking mouthwatering.  You're going to have to trust me, they smell and taste a hundred times more beautiful than they look.  I'm sure if I had more time and energy, I could have found a way to make them lovely.  I would have decorated them with little gray construction paper shark fins glued onto toothpicks.  Or I would have dusted them with a dash of powdered sugar.  Or I would have found the (nonexistent) spot in my house that gets great light.  But let's face it - there was a tailgate to get to.  The spirits were calling me...

Let me tell you what these are.  They're sweet and sour with a soft crust.  Someone described them as inside out Pop Tarts, which I know was meant as a compliment, but honestly, I hate Pop Tarts.  Never much liked them when I was a kid.  Dry biscuits with some food colored stale jam in the middle. Therefore, these will not be called Pop Tarts.  These will be called:  Cherry Lemonade Yum Yums.  Many thanks to fellow Parrothead Jon Ward who coined the "Yum Yum" term for last year's cinnamon dessert, giving me a ready made name for most of my homemade treats.

Chew a little juicy fruit...

Cherry Lemonade YumYums
(adapted from Cheeky Kitchen)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounce maraschino cherries, with juice
1/2 tablespoon corn starch
3 eggs
1-1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

Mix the butter, 1 cup flour, powdered sugar and salt together until combined into a wet dough.  Using the back of a spoon, press onto the bottom of a 9x9 glass baking dish.  Blend the cherries with juice and corn starch for 1 minute or until combined but cherries still a little chunky (the Magic Bullet did a great job at this in about 5 pulses).  Pour over the crust and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  In the meantime, whisk the eggs, sugar, flour and lemon juice together.  Pour over the baked crust and cherries (I didn't allow any cooling time and the layers mixed, so probably if you wait 2-3 minutes you could avoid that).  Return to oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until top is set and doesn't wiggle.  Cool completely before cutting.