Cranberry Crumble Bars

These cranberry crumb bars have a buttery shortbread base, a sweet-tart cranberry filling, and a golden crumb topping that melts in your mouth. Each bite is soft, rich, and full of bright holiday flavor. You'll love how easy they are to bake for fall gatherings, Thanksgiving, or Christmas dessert trays. Pin it now so you'll always have this classic, festive treat ready for your next batch of holiday baking!

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Why is this the best cranberry crumble bar recipe

It's a simple recipe. This recipe uses only uses a few ingredients, and you probably already have them all in your pantry. If you need to go grocery shopping, all these ingredients are at your local grocery store.

It's very easy. All you have to do is create the cookie base with just a few ingredients, then mix cranberries with sugar and lemon juice, and then add that cranberry mixture to the top of the cookie base. Bake and devour!

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It tastes amazing! The combination of the fresh sugared cranberries with the golden brown, buttery shortbread crust and topped with an easy icing is out of this world good. These flavors make a perfect combination!

It's perfect for parties and potlucks, and all your holiday parties. These cranberry bars are always a hit with my family and friends. I bet yours will devour them, too!

What you'll need to make this easy cranberry bar recipe

Equipment

• Electric mixer - I use a simple hand mixer. It blends ingredients more thoroughly than mixing by hand, giving you a smoother and more even dough.
• 8x8-inch baking pan - This smaller-sized pan creates bars that are thick enough to be soft and chewy in the middle but with firm edges. 9x9 will also work, though the bars will be a wee bit thinner and will get a little more firm in the oven.
• Citrus juicer - I always use a citrus juicer or citrus press. If you don't have one, you can roll the fruit on the counter first with your palm to soften it, then squeeze it by and over a bowl, catching seeds with your fingers or a small strainer.

Ingredients 

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See the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page for all measurements and nutritional information.

• All-purpose flour - Most baked goods need flour. To make gluten-free cranberry bars, you can use a cup-for-cup gluten-free baking mix.
• Butter - I prefer salted butter in this recipe, but unsalted will also work just fine. You don't need to make any recipe adjustments to account for the difference in salt; there's so little that you won't notice.
• Brown sugar - This makes the shortbread base taste like a cookie.
• Egg - This makes the flour form a dough.
• Baking powder - This helps the dough to rise during baking.
• Baking soda - This also helps the dough to rise.
• Fresh cranberries - Make sure you pick out any spoiled berries, rinse them, drain them as well as you can, then pat them dry with paper towels (or run them through a salad spinner, if you have one). You don't want any extra moisture to make your cranberry bars soggy.
• White sugar - This will get mixed with the cranberries. You need something to sweeten the tart cranberries.
• Fresh lemon juice - Lemon juice balances the sweetness of the sugar and brightens the flavor of the cranberries. I would never use lemon juice from a jar because it does not taste the same as fresh lemon juice.
• Powdered sugar - This is to make the easy icing that you'll drizzle over the cranberry bars after they've cooled.
• Vanilla bean paste - This makes the icing taste better.
• Whole milk - You probably won't need this much. Use only as much as necessary to get the consistency you want for drizzling.

How to make cranberry crumble bars

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and coat an 8x8-inch baking dish with butter or coconut oilBeat the cold butter and both sugars with an electric mixer in a large mixing bowl until the sugar is completely incorporated. Beat in the egg.
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2. On a low speed, beat in the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
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3. Press about ⅔ of the cookie dough into the prepared baking dish and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
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4. While the cookie dough is in the oven, prepare the cranberry filling. Rinse and examine the cranberries for stones and spoiled berries. Stir together the fresh cranberries, lemon juice, and granulated sugar.
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5. Spread the cranberry layer over the cookie dough crust, and then sprinkle the remaining cookie dough over the cranberries.
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6. Bake in the prepared pan for another 30 minutes.
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7. Cool the cranberry bars for 30 minutes.
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8. Whisk the powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste, and a little milk in a small bowl. Continue adding milk, a teaspoon at a time, until you have the consistency you want. It should be thicker than orange juice but still pourable. Drizzle over the cooled bars. Slice and serve.

Baker's Tips for the Best Cranberry Crumble Bars

It is important to bake the shortbread cookie base before adding the cranberry filling. Otherwise, the base will be too soggy and won't set up properly.

If you don't let the cranberry bars cool long enough, they will be too soft to cut.

You can use frozen cranberries if that is all you can get your hands on. You'll want to let them thaw in the fridge before using them.

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Substitutions & variations

There are a few ways to make this recipe your own.

If you need a gluten-free recipe, use a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour blend.

For a dairy-free recipe, substitute coconut oil for the butter (it will give your bars a slight coconuty flavor) and plant milk for the dairy milk.

Instead of powdered sugar icing, drizzle melted white chocolate on top after baking or mix white chocolate chips into the cranberry filling for a creamy sweetness.

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Add a ½ teaspoon of almond extract and sliced almonds on top before baking.

Replace cranberries with a mix of raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries.

Fold chopped pecans or walnuts into the shortbread for extra crunch and flavor.

Storing leftovers

These bars can be stored on the counter covered in plastic wrap or in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can reheat a bar at a time in the microwave for about 10 seconds or enjoy them at room temperature.

Check out more delicious hand-held desserts:

• Apple Crisp Shortbread Bars
• Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownies (AKA PB Cream Cheese Brownie Bars)
• Toasted S'mores Bars
• Easy Key Lime Pie Bars
• Mini Pecan Pie Cheesecakes

And these delicious cranberry recipes:

• Cranberry Fluff Salad
• Cranberry Brie Appetizer Bites with Puff Pastry
• Panera Copycat Cranberry and Orange Muffins Recipe
• Cranberry Lemonade
• Orange Cranberry Sauce (Stove top recipe)
• Instant Pot Cranberry Sauce with Orange Juice

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