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These Cranberry Bars are a delicious way to use up your leftover cranberry sauce. All you need is 1 bowl and a few minutes to whip up the crust & crumble topping.
Why You’ll Love Them
These Cranberry Bars are:
- Lightly sweet & tart
- Dairy-free, with a crisp, buttery texture
- Gluten-free
- Prepped in 1 bowl
- and super-easy to make!
If you don’t have leftover cranberry sauce on hand, you can also use any jelly or jam instead. Chia seed jam would be great here. I really like raspberry jam as a swap, to get a similar sweet & tart flavor.
How to Make the Crumble Bars
The crust and crumble topping are made at the same time, in the same bowl. No special equipment required!
You’ll reserve 1/2 cup of this mixture for the crumble topping, then press the rest of it into the bottom of an 8-inch square dish. I like to line the pan with parchment paper, so the bars will easily come out later.
Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then let it cool briefly and spread on the cranberry sauce.
Sprinkle the reserved 1/2 cup of the crust mixture over the top of the cranberry sauce, and use your hands to lightly press it into the cranberry sauce. Bake until the topping is lightly golden, about 30 minutes.
How to Serve Them
These bars will be very soft and fragile when you remove them from the oven, so it’s important that you let them cool completely before slicing into them.
I let them rest on the counter for at least 4 hours so they will firm up at room temperature.
To speed things up, you can place the pan in the fridge to cool until firm. Use the parchment paper to remove the bars from the pan, then slice into 16 small squares.
I think these taste best at room temperature, but you can also serve them chilled from the fridge for a longer shelf life.
Substitution Notes
I always try to use less oil in my recipes, compared to traditional versions, and in this case I tried these bars two different ways.
The version with 6 tablespoons of oil definitely has the best texture, which is why I include it in the printable version below. There is a slight hint of coconut oil flavor, so if you don’t care for that, feel free to use a good quality butter, if you’re don’t need a dairy-free recipe.
I also tested this recipe with only 4 tablespoons of oil, making up the difference with water. The result is a totally acceptable & delicious bar, it’s just not as crispy & buttery as the version with more oil. The more oil you use, the more it will taste like a dessert from a bakery. So, just keep that in mind!
I hope you’ll enjoy these bars as much as I do.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups oat flour (145 grams)
- 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (88 grams)
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar (112 grams)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (3 grams)
- 6 tablespoons melted coconut oil (81 grams)
- 1 tablespoon water (15 grams)
- 3/4 cup leftover cranberry sauce (226 grams; or other jam or jelly)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and line an 8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper. I like to spray the dish with oil first, so the paper will stick in place. In a large bowl, combine the oat flour, oats, sugar, and salt, and mix well.
- Add in the melted coconut oil and water, and stir well, until the dough looks crumbly and sticks together when you press it between your fingers. Reserve 1/2 cup of this mixture for later.
- Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan, then bake at 350ºF for 10 minutes.
- Spread the cranberry sauce evenly over the top of the crust, then sprinkle the reserved 1/2 cup of crumble over the top. Press it lightly into the cranberry sauce, then bake until the top is lightly golden, about 30 minutes at 350ºF.
- Let the bars cool completely, about 4 hours, before slicing into them. They are very fragile when warm, but they will feel firm and dry to the touch when they are cool. Slice into 16 pieces and serve at room temperature. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Have Extra Cranberries?
If you have even more leftover cranberry sauce, try making my Cranberry Vinaigrette, which is delicious over any salad combination. Need to use up fresh cranberries? Try my Cranberry Orange Muffins.
If you try these Cranberry Bars, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like them. And if you make any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too! We can all benefit from your experience.
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Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite way to use cranberries?
Double batched and used blueberry jam. Delicious and quick to out together. Thank you!
I will make these over and over. We didn’t have any oat flour so I substituted with GF all purpose flour and a lot of GF oatmeal. Absolutely delicious!
Hi Megan, I was wondering if I could swap the oat flour for gluten free 1:1 flour? Thank u for this awesome recipe.
These are great! Had a tub of cranberry sauce, so i probably doubled the amount of cranberries! Wonderful with a dab of plain yogurt on top! I know what I’m bringing to holiday dinners from now on!
Could I use almond flour instead of the oat flour? Love your recipes! I may try this one with strawberry rhubarb jam!
I’ve made this recipe so many different ways – as written, with strawberry jam, raspberry jam, cinnamon spiced apples, chocolate chips, etc. The base itself is the perfect vehicle for many different fillings. Thanks Megan, have been a follower for years, and really enjoy your recipes!
Think this would work with homemade applesauce? I have some and am thinking about trying it with this.
This was the perfect recipe for using up my remaining fresh cranberries from Christmas! I made Megan’s delicious cranberry sauce 1st, & didn’t have quite enough sauce so I topped up with organic strawberry jam, (thank you to a previous reviewer for that idea!). I accidently forgot to bake the bottom layer/crust for 10 minutes. Regardless, the bars were perfect & absolutely yummy!!!! Next time I’ll cut back on the coconut sugar, just my personal preference. Amazing with a dollop of coconut yogurt!
I looked forward to making these bars with your cranberry recipe but I didn’t have any leftover. So I made more cranberry sauce just to make these bars. They are delicious and so easy to make.