Cranberry Bars Recipe

Rating 5

"I keep cranberries in my freezer all year so I can make these bars whenever I get a craving for their tart cranberry flavor," shares Betty Noga, Milwaukie, Oregon.

  • Rate
  • Print
  • Grocery List
  • Recipe Box
  • My Savings
  • Email
[X]

Rate Cranberry Bars Recipe

Click on stars to rate
 

Would you make this recipe again?
[X]
Cranberry Bars Recipe
  • Prep: 30 min. Bake: 30 min. + cooling
  • Yield: 15 Servings
30 30 60

Ingredients

  • FILLING:
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon grated orange peel
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • CRUST:
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1-1/4 cups cold butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 cups quick-cooking oats

Directions

  • In a saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil. Add cranberries and cook until they pop, about 4-6 minutes. Add orange juice, orange peel, butter, cinnamon and salt. Cook 5 minutes longer or until mixture thickens. Remove from the heat; stir in walnuts and set aside.
  • For crust, combine the flour and salt in a bowl; cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Add sugar and oats; mix well. Spoon half into an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan; pat firmly into pan. Spread filling evenly over crust. Top with remaining crumb mixture; pat lightly.
  • Bake at 400° for 30-35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Yield: about 2-1/2 dozen.

Nutritional Facts 1 serving (2 each) equals 413 calories, 22 g fat (10 g saturated fat), 43 mg cholesterol, 242 mg sodium, 50 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 6 g protein.

Originally published as Cranberry Bars in Country Woman November/December 1996, p38

Recipe Slideshows

Browse slideshows featuring our best recipes, holiday ideas, easy how-tos, cooking tips, and more!

Get Recipes >

Top 10 Recipes

A collection of our favorite, highest-rated recipes—including the best dessert, dinner and holiday recipes.

Get Recipes >

Reviews for Cranberry Bars

Cranberry Bars

Tell us what you think of this recipe.
Did you modify it? Would you make it again? Rate it today! >

(1-4) of 4 reviews

Reviewed on Apr. 01, 2013 by jrolph

I like to see a picture of what I'm going to make, and this recipe didn't have one. (It may now?) It also only had 3 reviews, only 2 of which gave it a star rating. I had the ingredients available, and dislike any recipe calling for a cake mix, which this one did not. I decided to take the risk and make it for a fellowship potluck at my church.

This recipe is excellent!! Sweet, but not overpoweringly so. I would consider these an "adult" sweet. I will make this again and again.

What I did differently was use a food processor to incorporate the cold butter. It saved a lot of time and energy. I did not use it for the oats because I didn't want them pulverized. I also substituted lemon zest for the orange zest. I don't believe that substitution would make a noticeable difference in the recipe, but I didn't have fresh oranges on hand at the time.

Reviewed on Oct. 11, 2012 by Infosusan

Wonderfully tart and also forgiving.

I made these bars on the first cool day of fall and they were and instant hit at work. The recipe was forgiving because instead of walnuts (that I was out of) I used cashews and instead of quick cooking oats I used old-fashioned oats and everything turned out fantastic. Next time I make them I might sprinkle some nuts on top of the bars before baking.

Reviewed on Feb. 10, 2010 by lpeters65251

I made these for a Super Bowl Party and they were winners. I added a small can of crushed pineapple to the filling and used the pineapple juice instead of water to cook the cranberries and substituted pecans for the walnuts. I also used half brown sugar and half white sugar for the crust. These will be a year round favorite of ours!

Reviewed on Nov. 29, 2008 by ConnieD53

These were tasty; however, the topping was crumbly and messy. I'm thinking a bit more butter might have helped.

 
 

Memorial Day Recipes

Memorial Day Recipes
Advertise with us
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertise with us
ADVERTISEMENT

Follow Us

Advertise with us ADVERTISEMENT