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If you want a deliciously easy and ultra tasty dessert this holiday season your need these Cranberry Pie Bars in your life. Absolutely delicious and addictive.
I love cranberry desserts, always have, always will. Baking with cranberries is always fun and I would absolutely do it all year long if they were available.
Unfortunately the grocery stores only think that it is acceptable to have fresh cranberries during the winter months, so I get my cranberry fix then!
I also looooove bars, these Cranberry Pie Bars are really easy to whip up and are so tasty. You get a nice burst of cranberry in each bite.
Coupled with the delicious orange in the crust and filling the flavor of these bars are exactly what you need. Cranberry and orange are two flavors that go very well together.
Some of my other favorite cranberry recipes we have on our site include Apple Cranberry Pie, Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies and Apple Cranberry Sauce.
We love cranberry around here, just ask anyone so anything made with cranberries is not off limits, sweet or savory, we will take it!
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- This makes a large pan to serve a larger amount of people, but you can double it for more servings.
- It is really easy to put together, there is multiple ingredients but pantry staple ingredients
- These are done from start to finish in about one hour!
We make these bars every year during the holidays, we make them at least 3 times between Thanksgiving and Christmas because they are always asked for.
This recipe is also one that I get asked for a lot, so finally I’m putting it out there for everyone to have because I think everyone needs these Cranberry Pie Bars in their life!
HOW TO MAKE CRANBERRY PIE BARS:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Line a 9×13 baking dish with cut parchment paper to fit, set aside.
- For the crust and crumble, place the butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, salt, orange juice, orange zest, and cinnamon in the body of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix until fully combined.
- Reserve 1 & ½ cups of the crust.
- Press the remaining crust into the bottom of the prepared baking dish, set aside.
- In a large bowl add the cranberries, sugar, flour, butter, orange juice, orange zest, and ginger, stir together until combined.
- Pour this on top of the crust. Add dollops of the remaining crust/crumble on top.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes until the edges are crisped and light golden brown. Let cool completely in the dish on a wire rack, cut into bars, and serve.
I know that this recipe looks hard, but seriously it’s so so easy, you really just have to mix things together, press it down sprinkle and bake.
That to me is not hard, they really really are an easy bar recipe to whip up and one you will want to whip up, trust me.
CAN I USE FROZEN CRANBERRIES?
Yes absolutely, usually with any recipe that calls for cranberries you can substitute frozen ones even without having to defrost.
We do it a lot of the time, like I said I love cranberries and luckily we are able to get frozen cranberries during all seasons so that is a win for me.
I do like to use fresh over frozen for these Cranberry Pie Bars if you can find them, but I wanted to let you know that yes, you can substitute them out with no issues.
ALTERNATIVES/ADD ONS:
In the past we have switched up these bars and added some extra things some things you can also do to these bars add chopped nuts. Make a glaze for the top a vanilla powdered sugar or an orange powdered sugar glaze are delicious.
We love both the options and when we feel like it do it that way, but the bars are amazing the way they are these are just when I want to put a little special touch on them.
With this Cranberry Pie Bar recipe you will get a crisp but chewy bottom, a gooey center and a nice crispy crumble on top. All the things I love with layering bars.
Plus the colors of these bars are just stunning, I love how the red from the burst cranberries really poke through and you have this beautiful combination of colors.
They make a really festive holiday treat not just by the looks but by the flavor which we already talked about. I’m just completely in love with these.
HOW TO STORE:
These bars are stable at room temperature so you can place in an airtight container or a ziptop bag and leave them out and they should keep for about 1 week.
These can also be frozen! What I like to do is cut the bars and place in layers separated by parchment paper and put in a Tupperware container or ziptop bag.
To eat just defrost on the countertop over night. You can heat these up if you want your bars a little warm, just place in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.
These Cranberry Pie Bars are really something special too me. It took me a long time to perfect just the right flavor combination and texture and I’m so proud of these.
These are one recipe that I will make over and over again for people and give as gifts because we love them so well, and I know that you will too!
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- You can use fresh or frozen cranberries (we prefer fresh)
- These bars can be frozen, see my tips above.
- You can add nuts or a drizzle to the top if you like.
- These make a large batch but you can easily double to serve more people.
- Use old-fashioned oats for this recipe and not instant.
If you are looking for the perfect holiday dessert this season? Look no further, these Cranberry Pie Bars will satisfy everyones needs.
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried these CRANBERRY PIE BARS let me know in the comments how it turned out! You can follow me over on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK to find some more of our mouthwatering recipes!
Cranberry Pie Bars
Ingredients
For the crust and crumble:
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups light brown sugar packed
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon orange juice fresh squeezed
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the filling:
- 4 cups fresh cranberries 12 ounces
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1 tablespoon orange juice fresh squeezed
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Line a 9x13 baking dish with cut parchment paper to fit, set aside.
- For the crust and crumble, place the butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, salt, orange juice, orange zest, and cinnamon in the body of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix until fully combined.
- Reserve 1 & ½ cups of the crust.
- Press the remaining crust into the bottom of the prepared baking dish, set aside.
- In a large bowl add the cranberries, sugar, flour, butter, orange juice, orange zest, and ginger, stir together until combined. Pour this on top of the crust.
- Add dollops of the remaining crust/crumble on top.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes until the edges are crisped and light golden brown. Let cool completely in the dish on a wire rack, cut into bars, and serve.
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Made this for our Thanksgiving dessert tonight. Tart, sweet, and buttery. Served small slices with vanilla bean ice cream. Was asked for the recipe. Will definitely make again!
So glad, thanks for letting us know!