Cranberry Crumble Bars
These Cranberry Crumble Bars are a great use for those cans of cranberry sauce in the back of your cupboard: Stir them into a fruit filling for these sweet-tart-buttery bars.
By Yankee Magazine|Nov 15 2021|
Cranberry Crumble Bars
Photo Credit: Mark FlemingThese Cranberry Crumble Bars are a great use for those cans of cranberry sauce in the back of your cupboard: Stir them into a fruit filling for these sweet-tart-buttery bars. We love their bright ruby color and ease of preparation.
Yield:
12 bars
Total Time:
1 hour, 10 minutes minutesHands-on Time:
30 minutes minutes
For the shortbread
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 cup unsalted butter, chilled
Instructions
Use parchment paper to line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan so that the paper hangs over the sides of the pan. Spray with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 350° and set a rack to the middle position.
Make the shortbread: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt for 30 seconds. Using the largest holes in a box grater, grate the cold butter onto the flour mixture. Use your fingers to massage the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles cornmeal and holds together when you squeeze it. Pour the dough into the baking pan and press it into an even layer. Bake until just set, 15 to 20 minutes, then remove from the oven (leave the oven on).
For the filling
Ingredients
2 (14-ounce) cans jellied cranberry sauce
Instructions
Make the filling: Purée the cranberry sauce in a food processor or smash it with a fork in a large bowl until it has a spreadable consistency. Spread in an even layer over the shortbread crust.
For the topping
Ingredients
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
Powdered sugar, for garnish
Instructions
Make the topping: In a large bowl, whisk together the sugars, flour, and salt. Pour the butter over the flour mixture and stir with a spoon. You’ll likely have to switch to using your fingers to ensure that all the ingredients are evenly distributed and the mixture forms large clumps.
Sprinkle the topping evenly over the cranberry filling. (If you like a lot of crumble, use the entire batch; otherwise, you can freeze any remaining crumble for up to a month and sprinkle it on baked apples, muffins, etc.)
Transfer the pan to the oven and bake until the crumble starts to brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Allow to cool completely, then dust with powdered sugar and lift from the pan using the overhanging parchment. Cut into squares, which can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.
These are terrific! Buttery, tart, sweet. Easy to make and great way to use the extra cans of cranberry sauce. I used one whole berry can and one smooth. Thanks for this recipe!
I made my own cranberry sauce with half of the bag and used that as the filler. Everyone said it was their favorite The other half I made mini cranberry Loaves
Our family loves the flavor of orange and cranberry together. I added 2 Tlb of fresh squeezed orange juice and 1 Tlb of orange zest to the cranberry mixture and 1 Tlb of zest to the crumble mixture. It was a big hit and being added to our Thanksgiving pot luck table. Thank you Yankee.
I made these for Thanksgiving, they were awesome, the next time I will cut the recipe in half, and also put some apples cut into small pieces, so it was cranberry apple squares.
Can “salted” butter be used in place of “unsalted”?
I added ricotta cheese. I piped it over the cranberry then sprinkled the crumb over the top. It was awesome!
I always make my own cranberry sauce and substitute it for canned in recipes. I haven’t had an issue and the fresh cranberry sauce is so much tastier than canned.
Hi Ruthann, What’s your recipe for fresh cranberry s sauce?
I use salted butter and do not notice any difference
How would you go about using fresh cranberries in this recipe?
Does anyone have the recipe for making fresh cranberry filling?
I make my own cranberry sauce and use it year round with chicken and pork dishes. I also make Cranberry Vinaigrette and Cranberry BBQ Sauce.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste
Ground ginger, to taste (optional)
Zest of 1 orange, or to taste
4 cups fresh cranberries
Instructions
In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine orange juice and both sugars. Stir until dissolved.
Add cinnamon, ginger (if using), and orange zest and stir well. Add cranberries and stir occasionally for 10 to 15 minutes until the cranberries start bursting. Keep cooking for an additional minute or two, then remove from heat.
Its been a couple of years so you may have found one by now, but this is my fav and I’m happy to share!
Can’t wait to make these!
Add some chopped white chocolate to the crumble topping towards the end of baking.
this sounds good. yum
Looking forward to making this. My family loves cranberries & this sounds delish
I wonder if whole berry sauce can be used, maybe a can of each?
I saw where someone else asked about using fresh cranberries. I love making cranberry sauce. I just wrote the ingredients & soon off to the store , I’ll experiment now & hopefully will make this for Thanksgiving treat. Thank you for this recipe
Can’t wait to make these.
Sounds delicious. I’m buying canned cranberry sauce today. Can’t wait to try them. Thank you.
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I like the suggestion of mixing the whole cranberry with the jellied ☺️ Thanks
I never have leftover cans of cranberry sauce!
These are amazing, easy to make too, I’ve also made them with various jams…yum.
Keep in mind as we enter berry season.
It is my first time seeing this recipe and I can’t wait to make it. I’m pretty sure my kids will love it.
These are really good and very easy to make however there is so much butter in them we could not eat them. The cranberry needs some brightness added so maybe some lemon juice or zest.
Very disappointed, the shortbread couldn’t support the topping.
Since seeing this recipe in Yankee magazine I have made it at least 30 times (there’s a pan baking this very moment). Each & every time it has been perfect. I have used canned whole cranberry sauce as well as homemade. Sometimes I make a filling with apricots as well. As far as a previous comment where the poster stated that they never have any leftover cranberry sauce, I always make sure to have a few cans in the pantry & a frozen bag of cranberries in the freezer so when to urge to make these delicious bars hits I am ready to go. Easy to make & well worth the effort.. Definitely a 5 star recipe.
Can’t wait to make these!!!
Sounds like too much butter and sugar! Can’t it be cut?
I’m going try this myself. Hope it comes out O.K.
I saw this recipe and thought it was too easy to be as good – especially with a can of jellied cranberry sauce as a main ingredient. Boy was I wrong. This is an AMAZING recipe. It could not be any simpler. I did not want a 13 x 9 pan of this since I was making it for the first time so I cut all ingredients in half and made an 8 x 8 pan. It came out just fine – It is SO good that I cannot stop myself from eating it. I have already raved about it to several friends and shared the recipe with them. This is a keeper for sure. I plan to try other fillings as well. Yummy!!!!!