Why I love this cranberry bars recipe
Butter, sugar, flour, cranberry sauce and granola. Just five ingredients. That’s all you need to make these incredibly satisfying cranberry bars with crumb topping. I’ve always loved desserts like these, but I still can’t believe how simple they were to make.
I used leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving that I had in the freezer. I forgot to bring it to Thanksgiving dinner, and I even forgot it when I went to my parents to have leftovers. I couldn’t think of a better way to use it though. The tartness of the cranberries went so well with the sweet, nutty flavor of the streusel.
My homemade cranberry sauce had a bit of cinnamon in it, but if you’re using store bought sauce – which you should totally do because it saves time – you might want to add about 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon to spice the bars up a bit. There’s just something really festive about the combination of cinnamon and cranberry, but it’s totally up to you.
More easy dessert recipes: dairy free chocolate mousse / grilled pineapple / peanut butter cornflake cookies / dairy free ice cream pie / strawberry tart
Ingredient notes:
- All-purpose flour – I haven’t tried this with other types of flour, and I haven’t made them gluten free. This recipe may not work if you substitute this.
- Butter – We normally bake with Earth Balance sticks. I prefer the taste of them, and I think they bake very similar to butter. Other brands of dairy free butter should work. Vegetable shortening and dairy-based butter will work if you prefer to use that, too.
- Cranberry sauce – I have successfully used store-bought whole cranberry sauce, as well as my own homemade cranberry sauce recipe. I do not recommend using jellied cranberry sauce.
- Granola – I have used a few different types of dairy free granola for this recipe. Most recently, I used Bob’s Red Mill, but I’ve also used Cascadian Farms. Be sure to check labels to find one that suits your needs.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
How to make cranberry bars
Mise en place. Preheat your oven to 375˚F and make sure your ingredients are measured and ready to go before beginning. Then, grease and flour a 8×8″ baking pan.
Make the shortbread. Add the crust ingredients to a food processor and pulse until a crumb forms and there are no pockets of dry flour. Transfer the mixture to your baking dish and press it into a uniform layer.
Next, spread an even layer of cranberry sauce on top of the shortbread.
Make the crumb topping. Add the topping ingredients to the processor and blend until a crumb forms. Crumble the mixture over the cranberry sauce layer
Bake the cranberry bars. Pop the bars into the oven for 40 – 45 minutes. When the bars are done, remove them from the oven and allow them to rest until cooled before removing them from the pan or slicing. This will allow the cranberry sauce to set and thicken a bit more.
More cranberry recipes: cranberry orange cookies / cranberry margaritas / cranberry salsa
Easy Cranberry Bars
Ingredients
For the cranberry bars:
- 12 tablespoons vegan butter, softened
- 2 cups all-purpose flour + extra for flouring pan
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 3/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
For the streusel:
- 1/2 cup granola*
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons cold vegan butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375˚F.
- In a food processor, blend shortbread ingredients until large crumbs/balls form. Remove from bowl and press into an 8-inch baking dish. Top with cranberry sauce.
- In food processor, combine flour, sugar and butter for streusel topping. Blend until a small crumb forms. Add granola and process until granola is incorporated into crumb. Crumble evenly over cranberry sauce.
- Bake for 40 – 45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely (at least 20 minutes) before removing from pan and slicing.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
Just 5 ingredients?? Talk about budget friendly food! These bars are totally gorgeous!
I know! It doesn’t get much better!