Cranberry Crumble Bars
These cranberry crumble bars feature a buttery, crumbly crust layered with bright cranberry filling and finished with more golden crumble topping. This easy festive dessert is perfect for holiday gatherings, afternoon treats, or using up leftover cranberry sauce.
With all the noise around pumpkin early in the season and then so many sweets from gingerbread to sugar cookies later in the season, cranberry gets woefully overlooked.
And one bite of these cranberry crumble bars and you’ll be thinking what a shame that is.
The combination of buttery crumble and tart cranberries that makes these bars especially hard to resist.
The cranberry filling is sweet and tart, sort of a dessert palate cleanser.
Plus, bar desserts are so much easier to serve than a whole cake or pie, which makes them more versatile.
They’re perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas cookie trays, potlucks, bake sales or simply satisfying a sweet tooth.
Ingredients
To make these you’ll need:
- Cranberry Sauce– Leftover smooth, jellied cranberry sauce works perfectly.
- Sugar– Granulated for the cranberry filling and brown for the crumble crust and topping.
- Flour– All purpose.
- Salt– To balance the sweet.
- Butter– Melted.
How to Make
These cranberry crumble bars are very easy to make.
Just whisk the cranberry sauce and granulated sugar together in a small skillet set over medium heat.
Cook the mixture, stirring often, for 3-5 minutes or just until the sugar dissolves.
Remove the mixture from the heat and set it aside while you make the crumble topping and crust.
Stir together the oats, flour, brown sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl until everything is evenly combined.
Add the melted butter to the mixing bowl, cutting it in with a pastry cutter or fork until everything is incorporated and the mixture is crumbly.
Press 2 cups of the crumble mixture out in an even layer in a 9×9″ dish you sprayed with nonstick spray.
Spread the cranberry filling out in an even layer over the crumble crust.
Sprinkle the remaining streusel mixture evenly overtop.
Bake the crumble at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until the crust is lightly golden brown.
At this point, take the dish out of the oven and let it cool completely.
Slice into squares, serve, and enjoy!
Storing
Store the bars tightly covered in the baking dish or in an airtight container.
They will last on the counter for 2 days or up to 5 days in the fridge.
Tips and Tricks
- Jazz them up even more by adding some orange zest into the cranberry mixture.
- You could whip up a quick icing drizzle with a cup of powdered sugar, tablespoon or two of milk, and teaspoon of vanilla. Drizzle it over the chilled bars before serving.
- Let the bars cool completely before you cut them. This gives the filling a chance to set.
Other Cranberry Dessert Recipes
Cranberry crumble bars are a festive, delicious dessert to end any merry occasion.
Make them and enjoy!
Looking for other cranberry dessert recipes?
Try these:
- Cranberry Fluff Pie
- Instant Pot Cranberry Applesauce
- Cranberry Bread Pudding
- Cranberry Crisp
- Cranberry Christmas Cake
- Chewy White Chocolate Chip & Cranberry Cookies
If you’ve tried these CRANBERRY CRUMBLE BARS, or any other recipe on the site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!
Cranberry Crumble Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup cranberry sauce
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 3/4 packed cup brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 stick butter melted
Instructions
- Add the cranberry sauce and sugar to a small skillet set over medium heat. Whisk to combine then cook, stirring often, for 3-5 minutes- just until the sugar's dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.1 cup cranberry sauce, 1/4 cup sugar
- To a mixing bowl add the oats, flour, brown sugar, and salt. Stir everything together until evenly combined.1 cup flour, 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats, 3/4 packed cup brown sugar, 1/4 tsp salt
- Add the butter to the mixing bowl and cut in using a pastry blender until evenly incorporated and the mixture's crumbly.1 stick butter
- Spray a 9x9" square baking dish with with nonstick cooking spray. Add 2 cups of the streusel topping to the dish and press out in an even layer.
- Add the cranberry sauce and spread out in an even layer overtop. Sprinkle the remaining streusel mixture evenly overtop.
- Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes, until the crust's lightly browned.
- Remove the dish from the oven and let it cool completely.
- Slice into squares, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
- Jazz them up even more by adding some orange zest into the cranberry mixture.
- You could whip up a quick icing drizzle with a cup of powdered sugar, tablespoon or two of milk, and teaspoon of vanilla. Drizzle it over the chilled bars before serving.
- Let the bars cool completely before you cut them. This gives the filling a chance to set.
Nutrition
