Cherry Bars

I made these for Women's Bible Study last week.  I thought they looked so yummy.  I love shortbread, so I was imagining a shortbread crust with cherry filling.  They were good, but not exactly what I was expecting.  I think the almond flavoring threw it off a bit (for me, anyway...).  This is from the latest issue of Simple & Delicious.  They looked so nice in the pan...when I cut them up to put them on a plate, they lost a bit of their curb appeal...no picture of that though...

Cherry Bars
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cans (21 ounces each) cherry pie filling 
GLAZE:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 to 3 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extracts. Gradually add flour. Spread 3 cups batter into a greased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Spread with pie filling. Drop remaining batter by teaspoonfuls over filling. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. In a small bowl, mix confectioners' sugar, extracts and enough milk to reach desired consistency. Drizzle over top. Yield: 5 dozen.

I like to be sneaky like a spy sometimes.  I was sitting with one of my friends on an upper bleacher in the gym, and I saw someone below me on a lower bleacher about to take a bite of one of my bars.  I said to my friend, in a sneaky whisper "she's about to eat the dessert I made.  Let's see if it looks like she likes it."  But the lady heard me and turned around.  So I did not get an honest opinion out of her.  So I had to be even more sneaky.  A few minutes later I saw another friend with cherry residue on her plate.  I said to her, very casually, "oooh did you have that cherry thing?"  And she was like, "yeah it was good did you try it?"  And I said "I made it!"  If she said it was gross, she and I would have both felt very bad.  So I can see that this will not be the best technique going forward.  When I went to get my (empty except one) plate after the study, a girl I don't know at all said "Oh, did you make those?  They were SO good."  So that counts as an unbiased opinion, and might make you think I don't need to be Sneaky Peeky Spying anymore.  But that is, of course, not the conclusion I have drawn.  (Cue Mission Impossible theme song)