Cranberry Shortbread Crumble Bars
A delicious cranberry bar recipe made with a shortbread crumble and crust and a fresh cranberry filling.
Servings: 12 bars
Equipment
- 9x11 pan
- hand mixer or stand mixer
Ingredients
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
- 12 oz fresh cranberries
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large orange juiced (about ¼ cup)
- 1 lemon zested and juiced (about 2 tablespoon of juice)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
Shortbread Bars
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter 3 sticks of butter at room temperature
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 12 oz cranberry citrus sauce see above for recipe
- ½ cup light brown sugar firmly packed
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- powdered sugar for serving (optional)
Instructions
Cranberry Filling
- Add your fresh cranberries, orange juice, lemon juice and zest, sugar, vanilla and salt to a medium sauce pan.12 oz fresh cranberries, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 large orange, 1 lemon, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- Simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer for another 10-15 minutes or until the cranberries begin to burst and the sauce thickens. To test for the right thickness of the sauce, dip a spoon into the cranberry sauce and coat it well. Remove the spoon from the sauce and run your finger down the back of the middle of the spoon. If the line you made through the sauce on the spoon stays and does not fill up again with the sauce from the sides then it is ready.
- Once done, remove from the stove and allow to come to room temperature. The sauce will thicken a bit at this point.
Shortbread Bars
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
- Spray or butter a 9x11-inch pan well so your shortbread comes out easy after baking.
- In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, combine the butter sugar (brown and white) and beat until smooth.1 ½ cups unsalted butter, ½ cup light brown sugar, ½ cup granulated white sugar
- Next, add your vanilla and salt and mix that in.1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon salt
- Now, add your your all purpose flour into the butter mixture and mix on low-speed until the mixture starts to form a ball (about 2-3 minutes) .3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- Divide your dough in half and wrap up one half and place in the refrigerator until later. Press the other half of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan to form the bottom crust.
- Bake the crust until it is just beginning to turn light brown, around 20 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for a few minutes.
- Place your cranberry sauce over top of the shortbread crust and spread evenly.12 oz cranberry citrus sauce
- Now, take your reserved half of the shortbread out of the refrigerator and crumble the dough over the cranberry sauce to make your crumbled topping, being careful to not have really large pieces.
- Return the pan to the oven and continue baking for another 30-35 minutes until the crumble topping turns golden in color. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
- Once cooled, your can slice up your Cranberry crumble bars and serve!
- Dust with powdered sugar (optional)powdered sugar
- Enjoy!!
Notes
If using already prepared cranberry sauce:
You will need about 2 -2 ½ cups or enough to spread into a layer across the shortbread without it being to thin (about ½ inch thick).
Making ahead:
These cranberry bars are a great dessert to make ahead of time. Just let cool completely then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Place in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Nutrition
Calories: 485kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 61mg | Sodium: 225mg | Potassium: 96mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 728IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 25mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition Values are estimates only.
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