Cranberry Bars are rich, buttery and so easy to make. Perfect for the holidays and a great way to use up any leftover fresh cranberries or cranberry sauce.
Do you love the tart kick of cranberries? There are so many great cranberry recipes out there but first…check out our favourite Cranberry and Walnut Muffins or these super easy Lemon and Cranberry Scones.
Sturdy Baking for the Win
The other day I was searching through Christmas cookie recipes when I decided to head off in a different direction. Bars! I tend to overlook bars because they’re often difficult to cut up and don’t travel well.
Any baking that isn’t sturdy enough to travel the ten hours to my parent’s house for Christmas is likely to get cut from the baking list.
Variety is the Spice of Life
So I was torn between wanting a variety of tastes and textures on my Christmas goodie platter or having everything uniform and travel ready. Of course, variety is the spice of life. Fingers crossed they make it to the farm intact I guess.
How to Make Cranberry Bars
The perfect place to start building a sturdy bar is the base. The base for these Cranberry Bars is similar to shortbread. There has to be enough butter in it to hold everything together, but not too much as to make it ooze.
Packing the crumbly mixture well, then baking it ensures that the bars will not crumble while you’re holding them.
The Cranberry Layer
Another draw with making bars is that they are usually super easy. For this recipe, I prefer the cranberry filling to be made with fresh cranberries. Why use canned cranberries when you can make your own?
However, if you do have some leftover cranberries you can use those and turn out the same results. The only thing to be aware of here is to cook them down just enough so that the middle layer doesn’t ooze when you cut the cold bars.
The Top Layer
Like onions, bars have layers. These Cranberry Bars are topped with more of that delicious shortbread crumble from the base layer. You just can’t go wrong with more shortbread!
The Most Delicious Cranberry Bars
These Cranberry Bars hit the mark on taste, texture, and travel-ability. They were a huge hit with the entire family and add variety to the Christmas goodie platter both visually and in taste.
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Cranberry Bars
Cranberry Bars are rich, buttery and so easy to make. Perfect for the holidays and a great way to use up any leftover fresh cranberries or cranberry sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 12 oz package of cranberries (if using cranberry sauce, refer to notes section below)
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup butter; room temp.
- 1 egg; beaten
Instructions
- Cook cranberries, sugar, and water in a pot. Stirring frequently for about 15 minutes until they thicken up. Let cool.
- In a bowl, mix sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Cut in butter until the texture is crumbly then add the egg.
- Sprinkle just over half of the mixture into a 9×13 pan then pack down into a solid crust.
- Spread the cooled cranberry sauce over top of the crust then sprinkle the remaining crumb over top.
- Bake in 350°F oven for 40 minutes until the top is golden.
- Cool, then slice into squares.
Notes
- *if using cranberry sauce, substitute 3 cups cranberry sauce for the cranberries, sugar, and water.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
20Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving:Calories: 196Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 28mgSodium: 166mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 1gSugar: 21gProtein: 2g
Nutritional calculation was provided by Nutritionix and is an estimation only. For special diets or medical issues please use your preferred calculator.
Simple and quick the way bars should be, nicely done looks awesome. Rather similar to lemon bars my grandma used to make, aside from the choice of filling.
Welcome to Dish ‘n’ the kitchen Sean 🙂
yes, thanks. I’ve made bars with a shortbread crust but never added an egg before. I think they’ll be a little more durable. It’s nice to have some different flavours like tart cranberry when you get sick of buttertarts and chocolate cookies 🙂
Have a very Merry Christmas!
Any way of some how using dried cranberries?
I’m sorry Lynn, I’ve only ever made the bars with leftover cranberry sauce or fresh cranberries.
Oooo. I like these. I really like bars yet I see what you mean about them becoming a huge mess if you have to “share” them outside your house. Love the tartness about these. Have a wonderful Holiday, and I found the perfect chocolate w/chili’s for you today…sending it you way!
Thanks Seana! I think they’ll be a refreshing change of pace, then again there is lots to choose this year. I may have gone a little nuts.
I’ll be watching my mailbox 🙂 Have a Super Christmas Seana!
Can I use frozen cranberries?
Yes, you can for sure use frozen cranberries Belinda.
Hi, How much sugar do you mix with the dry ingredients? I only see the sugar for the cranberries…
Hi Kristin, you are entirely correct! That one cup sugar amount is for the cranberries (though you can start with 3/4 cup and adjust to taste if you wish) and there should be a second cup for the crust. The crust mixture will be fairly dry but you should still be able to press it into the ban for baking.
I made these today except I made my cranberry orange relish to put in the middle. I use the cranberries, sugar, water and a tsp of corn starch. When that is done (all the cranberries are popped) I push it through a small strainer to get rid of most of the skins and then add 1 cup of orange marmalade. They came out great!
YUM! Adding citrus sounds like a great idea to me…especially marmalade!
Delicious – added half a cup of chopped walnuts to the topping.
That would be delicious…I like the way you think Jennifer!
I’m so excited to make these for Thanksgiving – wondering if they freeze well so I can double and pull out for Christmas cookie platters?
They sure do…if you have any left!!
Hi. These look delish. I want to make for Saturday. Can these be made Friday? How do I store. On counter or fridge?
Absolutely. They also freeze well for Christmas prep!
So. How how do I store them? On the counter or in fridge 😬😋
the counter is fine overnight.
Does the pan need to be greased?
Hi Donna! There should be enough butter in the crust to keep the pan well lubricated!
I made these bars today, using fresh cranberries and cooking them 15 minutes as recipe says.when pressing down bottom crust it helped if i floured my hands a little. These bars are delicious and will go in with my other favorite cookie/bar recipes! Thank you
Great tip Noreen, thanks for posting!
These are delicious and easy to make! Thank you for a new Christmas favorite!
Great to hear Joce! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year as well.
Wow!! These are fabulous! They ship great, and are wonderful tasting. I got rave revues.
Great to hear. Thanks for letting me know Colleen.
This looks so good! What a simple and and pretty dessert to make!
Thank you Suzanne!
THanks for sharing! How far ahead of time can I make them?
As far as you like…3 months? They freeze very well.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Thank goodness I stocked up on fresh cranberries! Easy & delicious, the perfect combo of sweet & tart. Bet you can’t eat just one good!!😍
These bars are so darn good!! Glad you enjoyed them Alli.
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I have the bars in the oven now; however, my crust is nowhere as thick as in the picture, and neither is the topping. Not with only 2 cups of flour. There’s no way I could’ve stretched it that far! Not in a 9”x13” pan. I’m hoping the topping will “stretch” out while it’s baking. I’m so disappointed. I hope they at least come out tasting good.
Hmmm. I’m not sure why you have had this issue…I’ve made these bars several times, and always get great feedback on them. The bulk of the biscuit combination is used in the base, while the rest is more of a crumbly top scattered on the topping. It’s okay if the topping isn’t a solid layer.
I made these yesterday.They are so good.I will definitely make again.Thank you for sharing your recipe.
So glad you loved them Betty. They’re a classic recipe in our family and a ‘must bake’ for the Holidays
Made these bars and I was pleased. I used three fourths cup of sugar for the cranberry sauce and it was just perfect! Very good!
That’s so great to hear Pam. So glad you enjoyed the bars and thanks for letting me know.
[…] it cool before serving, or serve slightly warmed. By the way, I also developed these Cranberry Bars to use up leftover cranberry sauce and they have been the most popular blog recipe for […]
Can I make the cranberry sauce Wednesday, bake them Thursday, for Saturday 😃
Sure! That’s technically ‘leftover’ cranberry sauce.