Make your holiday dessert table shine with these festive cranberry bars! With a buttery crust and crumbly streusel topping, this cranberry dessert will be a holiday favorite!
When the first crisp air of Fall arrives, fresh cranberries are in season. Jump at the chance to bake with them! Although they are very tart on their own, a little bit of sugar sweetens cranberries, making them perfect for using to bake cranberry desserts!
Of course, you can use them to make cranberry sauce or compote for Thanksgiving, but don't stop there! Use them to make sweet treats, like filling for a cranberry pie, a batch of muffins, or these streusel-topped cranberry bars.
Why you'll love this recipe
- Dessert bars are easy to make.
- You can double the recipe to feed more people. To make 24 bars, double the ingredients and follow the instructions in my recipe. Then, bake the cranberry bars in a 9x13-inch pan instead of a 9-inch square pan.
- This cranberry dessert is portable, so it's great for office parties, potlucks, and bake sales.
Looking for other easy desserts to make for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas? My favorites are pumpkin snickerdoodles, no bake caramel apple cheesecake, and apple crisp.
Ingredients needed for cranberry bars
There are three different parts to this dessert- the crust, the filling, and the streusel topping. None of the components are difficult to make, but there are quite a few ingredients you'll need.
Substitutions and recipe variations
- whole cranberries: If you're unable to find fresh cranberries in the produce section, you may be able to find them in the frozen fruit aisle of the grocery store.
- all-purpose flour: If you'd like to make this recipe gluten free, substitute the AP flour with any cup-for-cup brand of gluten-free all-purpose flour. Two reliable brands are Bob's Red Mill and King Arthur Flour.
- white granulated sugar: To reduce the calories, you can swap the sugar for any cup-for-cup variety of granulated sugar substitute. Monkfruit sugar is a good option. Light brown sugar can be used as a substitute, but it does give the cranberry bars a tiny bit of molasses flavor.
- salted butter: To use unsalted butter, add ¼ teaspoon of salt to the crust and streusel ingredients.
Although I haven't tested this recipe with a plant-based butter substitute, most of them work well. - orange juice: If you don't have any orange juice, apple juice will work. You just need a tiny bit to help offset the tart flavor of the berries.
- vanilla extract: If you need an alcohol-free flavoring, you can use vanilla essence.
Variations
Instead of making the filling as written, you can use 4 cups of cranberry pie filling.
How to make cranberry bars
Summary only. The complete recipe instructions are in the card at the bottom of this post ⬇️
📖Tasty Time-Saving Tip
To save time, I suggest that you start by making the filling. It needs to simmer, so make the crust when the filling is cooking. While the crust bakes in the oven, mix up the streusel.
- Cook the cranberry filling. Add all of the filling ingredients to a saucepan except for the cornstarch and water.
- Thicken the filling with cornstarch slurry.
- Combine the butter, sugar, and flour for the crust. If the mixture seems crumbly, don't worry, it will all come together in the oven.
- Bake the crust. Press the crust mixture into the bottom of the baking pan.
- Spread the cranberry filling over the baked crust.
- Make the streusel and sprinkle it evenly over the top of the unbaked cranberry bars.
- Finish baking the cranberry bars, then let them cool in the pan for an hour before slicing.
Liz's tips for the best cranberry dessert bars
- To prevent them from falling apart, let the bars cool in the pan for an hour before slicing.
- For easy removal, line your baking pan with a parchment paper sling. Simply leave a couple of inches of parchment hanging over the edges of the pan. You'll use them to lift the dessert out of the pan.
Storage
After they cool, cut the dessert bars into squares, then place them in an airtight container. They'll stay fresh for up to 4 days at room temperature.
Unfortunately, streusel topped desserts don't freeze well. You can freeze it, but the streusel topping tends to become very mushy as it thaws out.
FAQs
Sure! Reheat the cranberry bars in a 325°F. oven for about 15 minutes, or for a minute or two at 50% power in the microwave. For reheating in the oven, I recommend covering the pan with aluminum foil to prevent the streusel from burning.
Yes, the recipe can be doubled. However, you will need to bake the dessert in a 9x13-inch baking pan rather than a 9-inch square pan.
Other Easy Dessert Bars to Make
Cranberry Bars
Equipment
- 1 9-inch square baking pan
Ingredients
For the Crust
- ½ cup salted butter softened (1 stick)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
For the Filling
- 4 cups fresh cranberries or frozen whole cranberries (no need to thaw)
- 1 ¼ cup granulated white sugar
- 2 tablespoons apple juice or orange juice
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolve in a teaspoon of water before adding
Streusel Topping
- ¼ cup salted butter melted (½ stick)
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup granulated white sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan with butter or non-stick baking spray. Additionally, line the pan with a parchment paper sling for easy removal of the bars. Set aside.
Make the Filling
- Set a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat on the stove. Add all of the cranberry filling ingredients except the cornstarch and water. Stir to combine.
- Simmer for about 25 minutes, or until the cranberries burst and the filling reduces slightly.
- In a small measuring cup, combine 1 teaspoon cold water and 1 teaspoon cornstarch, stirring to dissolve. Stir the slurry into the cranberry filling and cook for 2 minutes, or until filling is thick. *Keep in mind that the filling will continue to thicken as it cools. The finished filling will be the consistency of a thick jam.
Make the Crust
- *Do this step while the filling is simmering.
- Using a fork, pastry blender, or the whisk attachment on an electric mixer, combine butter, flour, and sugar until a crumbly dough forms.
- Press the crust mixture into an even layer in the bottom of the greased baking pan. *Don’t be alarmed if it is crumbly, it will come together as it bakes! Bake in the preheated 350℉ oven for 15 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. *Leave the oven turned on.
- While the crust is baking, make the streusel topping.
Streusel Topping
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk melted butter, flour, sugar, cinnamon and ginger together to create a crumbly topping.
- Remove the crust from the oven. Pour cranberry filling into the crust and use an offset spatula or spoon to spread it into an even layer. Sprinkle an even layer of streusel topping over the filling.
- Bake cranberry bars in 350℉ oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the streusel is golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool the bars in the pan for 1 hour before cutting into squares.
Helpful Notes and Tips From Liz
- You can substitute the filling in this recipe with 4 cups cranberry pie filling.
- To prevent them from falling apart, let the bars cool in the pan for an hour before slicing.
- For easy removal, line your baking pan with a parchment paper sling. Simply leave a couple of inches of parchment hanging over the edges of the pan. You'll use them to lift the dessert out of the pan.
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