Cranberry Oat Crumble Bars

These delightful Cranberry Oat Crumble Bars are a perfect blend of sweet and tart, featuring a buttery oat and brown sugar crust and a generous filling of fresh stewed cranberries. Enjoy them as a scrumptious breakfast treat or add them to your holiday cookie tray for a festive touch that everyone will love.

There’s something so wonderful about the flavor of tart cranberry in winter months. Is it coincidence that the berries are harvested just in time for holiday baking? I think not! Mother Nature gives us just what we need to wake up sleepy winter taste buds.

These bars hold a tart layer of jammy cranberry between two layers of vanilla-scented oat crust. They would be right at home on any holiday cookie tray, but I often found myself craving them for breakfast with coffee (oats = breakfast, right?).

Simple ingredients, big flavor.

These come together quickly because the ingredients are so simple. Chances are you have all the ingredients for the crust in your pantry.

The crust is held together with a whole cup (!) of melted butter. 

13×9 ease.

Brown sugar makes the crust packable. Above you can see half of the oat mixture pressed into the bottom of a 13×9 dish.

Cranberries are cooked down with sugar to a jam-like consistency. Be sure to cover the pan as you cook them! When they pop a little bit of hot berry juice will burst forth and could cause burns.

Just look at that red color! The jam is so pretty absolutely brimming with tart flavor. After the berries are spread over the crust, the remaining oat mixture is sprinkled on top.

Despite the ‘crumble’ in the recipe title, the bars slice rather cleanly. Large square bars make a hearty breakfst, but I plan to cut smaller pieces for holiday cookie trays. They are a cozy treat and so season appropriate!

This blog post is brought to you by Go Bold With Butter! Be sure to check out all their excellent recipes made with real butter and dairy!

Cranberry-Oat Crumble Bars

Heather Baird

These delightful Cranberry Crumble Bars are a perfect blend of sweet and tart, featuring a buttery oat and brown sugar crust and a generous filling of fresh stewed cranberries. Enjoy them as a scrumptious breakfast treat or add them to your holiday cookie tray for a festive touch that everyone will love.

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

20 minutes cooling time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12

Equipment

• 13×9 inch baking dish

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 4 cups fresh cranberries
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Combine flour, oats, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Stir in melted butter and mix until crumbly. Press half of the mixture into a greased 13×9-inch baking dish. Bake 8 minutes.
• Combine cranberries, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla in a large sauce pan; cover and cook over medium-high heat until berries pop. Reduce heat to medium and cook until mixture thickens to a jam-like consistency.
• Spoon the filling evenly over the crust; sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake 25 minutes or until the filling is bubbly and the topping is golden brown. Let cool 20 minutes, or until the filling is set. Cut into bars and serve.

Keyword breakfast bars, fresh cranberries, oats

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