Cranberry crumb bars feature a gooey cranberry jam mixture in between layers of shortbread crust that give you the perfect balance of tart and sweet. These bars are perfect for holiday gatherings or freeze to enjoy year-round!
Sometimes around the holidays its nice to take a break from traditional holiday dessert and cookies like peanut butter blossoms, pecan snowballs, and chocolate crinkle cookies and instead whip up something a little different, like these delicious cranberry crumb bars.
A buttery shortbread crust is topped with cranberries that bake down into a jammy filling topped with more sweet crumble topping. These bars have the perfect balance of tart and sweet flavor. It really doesn’t get better than this!
Ingredients
- flour
- sugar
- baking powder
- salt
- cinnamon
- butter
- egg
- milk
- vanilla extract
- cranberries
- cornstarch
- orange juice (fresh or bottled)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven and line a 9 by 13 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix up the dry crumble ingredients then cut in butter with a pastry cutter or two forks. Really work the butter in so it looks like fine sand. (See photo for reference)
- Add the egg, milk, and vanilla and mix well.
- Press about ⅔ of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Use your fingers or the back of a large spoon to make sure it is pressed compactly.
- In a medium bowl, combine cranberries, sugar, cornstarch, and orange juice. Stir to mix and coat the cranberries.
- Spoon the cranberry mixture over the crust, then top with the remaining crumble mixture. (No need to pack it down.)
- Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before removing from baking dish and cutting.
Tips for best results
- Don’t skimp on cutting the butter into the crumble mixture. You want it to resemble sand, not large coarse crumbs.
- If you don’t have parchment paper, coat the dish with nonstick cooking spray. Parchment paper does make removing the bars for cutting easier however.
Variations
If you are using freshly squeezed orange juice feel free to add some orange zest to the cranberry mixture to give it a little extra flavor kick. You can also top the bars with asliced almonds, a glaze, or cream cheese frosting.
FAQs
Yes you can use frozen cranberries in this recipe but if you do, do NOT thaw first.
Store covered in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator up to one week.
Yes, these bars freeze well. Place the bars in even layers in a freezer container with sheets of parchment in between layers. Freeze up to 3 months and thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
If you try this recipe, please comment and rate it below, I love hearing from you!
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Cranberry Bars
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 15 1x
- Category: dessert
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Cranberry crumb bars feature a gooey cranberry jam mixture in between layers of shortbread crust that give you the perfect balance of tart and sweet. These bars are perfect for holiday gatherings or freeze to enjoy year-round!
Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups granulated sugar, divided
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 sticks butter (cold, not softened)
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 12 ounce bag (about 3.5 cups) fresh or frozen cranberries (*see note below for frozen)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ¼ cup orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 9 by 13 inch pan with parchment paper.
- Combine flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl and whisk to mix.
- Cut butter into cubes and cut into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or two forks. Cut until completely combined and look like sand when mixed.
- Add egg, milk, and vanilla and mix well.
- Using about ⅔ of the crumb mixture, press into the bottom of the prepared pan. Reserve the remaining crumb mixture for the topping.
- In a medium bowl combine cranberries, 1 cup sugar, cornstarch and orange juice. Stir to coat the cranberries evenly.
- Spoon cranberry mixture over the crust, then top with remaining crumb mixture.
- Bake for 50 minutes or until topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Notes
If using frozen cranberries, do not thaw prior to baking.
Store covered in plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator up to one week.
Adapted from a recipe by Betty Crocker.
Keywords: cranberry bars
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