Cranberry Crumble Bars

‘Tis the season for all things cranberry! These Cranberry Crumble Bars have a soft cookie base with a juicy cranberry filling with a crumble cookie top.

Cranberry Crumble Bars

As we roll in December, cranberries are all the craze! I love finding fresh cranberries in the grocery stores. They are perfect for all those different desserts this holiday season like white chocolate cranberry cookies, and sparkling cranberry chocolate cupcakes. Any excuse to make something besides cranberry sauce is my jam!

Speaking of jam, these cranberry dessert bars have a cranberry filling similar to jam. It is not overly sweet and not too tart, but lets the cranberry flavor shine through. Adding orange juice and orange zest is totally optional but they are very complimentary of each other in this dessert. If you really want to taste the orange, add the orange zest. If you just want a light flavoring, do the orange juice. Of course a fresh-squeezed orange is best but you can use orange juice if you are in a pinch.

I love that these cranberry bars go fabulously with coffee on a cold winter morning or for an afternoon tea. Any excuse to have dessert for breakfast is a winner in my book.

I should have made these as a Thanksgiving dessert and if you have the chance too you should! As much as I would like to make this dessert year-round, something about the holidays makes it so much better. Mainly because you want to use fresh cranberries. This is a must in with these dessert bars! So wait for those delicious round fruits to be in season.

How to Make Cranberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars

These bars are simple to make! The base is the same as the crumble topping making this even more simple. It’s easy to whisk by hand and takes no more than 15 minutes to whip up and about 30 mins to bake. You can easily make the base while the cranberry filling is cooking. Just remember to stir the cranberry filling occasionally.

To start, preheat your oven to 350F. Grease your 8×8 glass pan and set aside.

In a medium saucepan with tall edges, add in fresh cranberries, sugar, and orange zest and juice. Again, orange juice and zest are optional if you like the flavors. Allow to come to a boil for 1-2 minutes and then lower heat to simmer. Then, stir in cornstarch. Allow simmering for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While cranberry filling is cooking, let’s make the base and crumble topping. Melt butter in a microwave-safe bowl for about 30 seconds or till completely melted. Add in both sugars and almond extract. (You can certainly use vanilla extract, but almond really compliments the cranberry orange flavors perfectly.) and stir until combined.

Add in flour, ground cinnamon, whole rolled oats, (You don’t want to use instant!) and a pinch of salt. Whisk together. Your mixture should be clumpy, just keep stirring until fully combined.

Save 1/3 of mixture for topping and add dump the rest of the base mixture into your pan. Press down mixture into the pan to make the cookie base. Then, pour cranberry mixture on top of the base, spreading evenly across the top. Last, sprinkle the remaining 1/3 of the base mixture on top in chunks.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. (I prefer using a glass dish as opposed to a metal pan. Glass tends to let it cook a little after as glass is a conductor, so as it starts to turn golden brown, take it out.)

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Print

Cranberry Crumble Bars

Ingredients

Cranberry Filling

• 2 cups fresh cranberries
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup orange juice optional
• 1-2 tsp orange zest optional
• 2 tsp cornstarch

Bars

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• pinch salt

Instructions

Cranberry Filling

1. In a medium saucepan, heat on high cranberries, sugar, orange juice, and orange zest. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally until sugar becomes liquid.

2. Reduce heat and add cornstarch. Simmer on low stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes.

Bars

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 8×8 pan and set aside.

2. While the filling is simmering. Melt butter in microwave (approximately 30 seconds in the microwave).

3. In a medium/large bowl, combine melted butter, both sugars, almond extract, and cinnamon.

4. Add in flour, oats, and salt and stir till combined.

Assembly

1. Transfer all but 1/4 of the mixture (about 1/2 cup) into the pan and press down to the bottom of the pan.

2. Pour filling on top of the bar mixture.

3. Add the rest of the bar mixture in crumbles (pieces) on top.

4. Bake for 30 minutes or until it starts to turn golden brown.

Recipe Notes

You can use vanilla extract instead of almond. 

I use my pyrex casserole dish for easy cleanup, but since it is glass it tends to cook things after it is out of the oven. I took mine out right when I started to see golden edges as it will cook a bit after its out of the oven. 

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