• Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove cream cheese and eggs from the refrigerator. Add pecans to a fo choppern and pulse 3-4 times to roughly chop into large pieces. Remove half of the pecans and reserve for crumb topping. Pulse remaining pecans into fine pieces for crust.

Crust

• Combine flour and brown sugar in a large bowl. Use a pastry cutter to cut in shortening. Press down on shortening into the flour and brown sugar until the mixture starts to form larger clumps and there is no free flour and brown sugar to incorporate. Mix in finely chopped pecans and coconut. Remove 1/2 cup of crumb mixture and set aside from crumb topping. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture evenly over baking dish and press firming with hand to form a crust. Place on the bottom rack of oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Cream Cheese Layer

• Next mix cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl with a hand mixer until well blended. Add in eggs, one at a time and mix until blended. Add in vanilla and beat until smooth. Pour and spread evenly over baked crust. Return pan to the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
• Add almond extract to cherry pie filling and lightly mix. Spread evenly over baked cheesecake layer. Mix reserved crust mixture with remaining pecans and sprinkle evenly over cherry layer. Press crumb mixture in hand to form larger crumbs. Return to the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
• Remove pan from oven and cool on a wire rack until room temperature. Cover pan and place in the refrigerator for several hours until ready to serve. Cut into bars to serve.