Fresh Cranberry Bars layer tart, jammy cranberries between a buttery shortbread crust and crumble topping ~ bright, simple, and made for the holidays.
When I spotted the first stack of fresh cranberries in my supermarket the other day I lunged at them. These easy cranberry shortbread bars were in the oven before the other groceries were even unpacked. So good.
➡ The filling for these crumble bars is simply raw cranberries ~ just toss them in! They bake up into tart little jammy pockets.
➡ There’s only one bowl to worry about, no nuts to chop, no spices to measure.
➡ These are perfect for pot-lucks, bake sales, book groups, office parties, all that stuff. They pack and travel well, and can be eaten with fingers or forks.
Simple shortbread dough in 3 ingredients
The crust and crumble of these cranberry bars are made with the same simple shortbread dough. Pat some of it into your pan for the bottom crust, and crumble the rest over the berries for the topping.
Butter: I use a good quality salted butter. Cheap butter can contain extra water and doesn’t bake up as nicely.
Sugar: I use white sugar for this classic shortbread crumble, but you can also use light brown, or even maple sugar.
Flour: regular AP flour is standard. A good gf baking blend also works.
Using fresh cranberries
Just give them a rinse and dry well. They’re ready to go. Tumble them right onto the bottom crust.
Note: if you find cranberries too tart on their own you can cook them down with a splash of water and a little sugar in a saucepan until they start to pop. Then let cool and spread over the bottom crust.
cranberry shortbread bars are a versatile holiday treat
- For dessert: serve them with coffee after dinner. Dust with powdered sugar for a festive look.
- For breakfast or brunch: fresh out of the oven in the morning.
- Take along: perfect for the office, bake sale, church supper.
- Holiday cookie collection: once cooled these bars are quite sturdy. You can even cut them into small squares and add them to a cookie platter.
- Get a head start: they freeze well.
the flavor of cranberries blooms in the oven
They get soft and jammy, and become even more brilliant red when they bake, so these bars are especially pretty. I use vanilla in these cranberry bars, but you can also use almond extract, and then the cranberries take on a cherry flavor.
Reader wisdom: tips, tweaks & little discoveries
Over the years, readers have left some really useful ideas in the comments:
- You guys have had great luck using frozen cranberries straight from the freezer ~ no thawing needed, and no soggy bars.
- Orange is a favorite addition. A little orange zest in the dough or cranberries, or a simple orange glaze on top, comes up again and again.
- Almond is another popular direction. Readers have added almond extract, sliced almonds, and even a little almond paste.
- A double batch works beautifully in a 9×13 pan, which is handy for holidays, potlucks, and bigger groups.
- One reader solved a too-hard bottom crust by pressing the dough in more lightly and pulling the bars as soon as the edges started to turn golden.
- You’ve also played with extra cranberries, white chocolate, walnuts, coconut, cinnamon, and a little sugar sprinkled over the top.
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Fresh Cranberry Bars
Equipment
- 9×9 baking pan you can also use an 8×8 pan
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F
- Line an 8×8 or 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper or foil with overhanging edges, this will make it easy to lift the bars out of the pan for cutting. Alternatively you can just lightly spray the pan with non-stick spray.
- Cream the 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature and 2/3 cup sugar together. Beat in the 1/2 tsp salt and 1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste, or vanilla extract.
- Mix in the 2 cups AP flour, just until combined. The dough will be crumbly, but should hold together when pressed between your fingers. Mix long enough so that there is no dry flour left.
- Using your fingers, pat 2/3 of the dough into the bottom of the pan. The dough will be soft and sticky, do your best to cover the entire surface of the bottom, but you don't need to compact the dough, just firmly pat it down.
- Spread the 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, rinsed and patted dry out across the dough, and then, using your fingers again, crumble the remaining dough on top. Try to get the dough in smallish crumbles, but don't worry about covering all the cranberries, they will show through.
- Bake for about 45-50 minutes until just beginning to get golden around the edges.
- Cool on a rack before slicing.
Nutrition
you can never have too many cranberry recipes
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When Fresh Cranberries Hit the Stores, I Make These Muffins.
Nantucket Cranberry Pie
Nantucket cranberry pie is a vintage inspired dessert with tart juicy cranberries baked beneath a sweet almond cake layer.
Fresh Cranberry Recipes
Fresh cranberry season is short, so I make the most of it ~ muffins, cakes, pies, sauces, preserves, and savory recipes that put those tart little berries to work. fresh cranberry recipes for cranberry season This is what you do with those bags of crimson gems you score in October through December.
These have become a Thanksgiving tradition for my family. Wonderful recipe.
Love that so much, Happy Thanksgiving Jennie 🙂
I add the zest from one lemon and a couple teaspoons of sugar to the cranberries before I put them on top. Then while it cools I take that orange and juice it with a cup or two of confectioners sugar (until you get the right consistency) and drizzle it over the top before cutting. I have a catering company and we get requests for it ALL THE TIME!! I am making a batch right now!!
Oh wow, thanks Nick, I love that!
Our family and friends loved this recipe! The rich shortbread and the tangy cranberries are a great combination. Simple recipe. Thank you!
Delicious recipe, one of my favorites for Christmas! So pretty too! Really special!
I’ve made this recipe to rave reviews many times, but this time I added a bit of orange juice and the zest of 2 medium oranges to the crumb mixture. OUTSTANDING results!!
I’ve been making these for years and they are delicious! I use salted butter (just because that’s what I always have on hand) and omit the salt. These are simple, and always enjoyed anywhere I take them. The tartness of the cranberries against the sweet shortbread is perfect.
Thanks Dusty ~ Happy Thanksgiving!
I wish I could give it 100 stars! I’ve been making this for years!! I’ve done fresh cranberries, blueberries, raspberries and canned cherries and apples! Topped with chocolate drizzle, Caramel or icing. I just love these that much!
I made your cranberry bars but I think your ingredient measurements need to be checked. When I mixed the 6 cups of flour into the butter/sugar mix, it was NOT soft and sticky as recipe says. It was sooo dry and could not be patted into the baking pan. Also, there was enough dough to fill a 9″x13″ pan rather than the 8″x8″ pan you called for. You called for 3 cups butter and said 2 sticks. 2 sticks = 1 cup butter. Please help me out and let me know what I did wrong. Thank you.
Lorraine the recipe calls for 2 cups of flour! I hope you try again, you’ll have great luck, I promise!
The 3x button at the top of the recipe got clicked which triples the recipe to 3 cups butter and 6 cups flour. The parenthetical “2 sticks” of butter doesn’t change. Recipe proportions worked great for me! Excellent recipe.
This recipe is fantastic! The cranberry bars are beautiful and colorful! Very Christmassy! And delicious. They are one of my most favorite items to bake! So lovely on a tray. Everyone loves them!
This is an older recipe that doesn’t get enough attention, thanks for your review CR!
I’ve made this recipe in the past and it was a hit! I wanna make it again for Thanksgiving tomorrow but I’m wondering two wings, 1) my berries are frozen. Do I need to thaw them before baking? And 2) Are these just as good the next day or should I make them tomorrow morning instead? Thanks!
No need to thaw your berries, and I always recommend baking fresh, the issue with fruit bars is that the fruit filling will soften the crust and topping over time. Still good, but not 100% as good as fresh.
Made this recipe adding only some sliced almonds and a bit of almond extract. They turned out fabulous! Thanks so much.