Description
Easy homemade cranberry bars with a buttery shortbread base, tart fresh cranberries, and a rustic crumble topping. Perfect for holiday gatherings, Christmas cookie exchanges, or Thanksgiving desserts. Simple pantry ingredients, one bowl, and absolutely delicious!
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups cake flour (or all-purpose flour)
- 1½ cups fresh cranberries, rinsed and patted dry
Instructions
Set it to 350°F. Do this first because ovens take forever.
Mix your butter and sugar together for maybe 2-3 minutes. It’ll get lighter and fluffier looking. My arm gets tired when I do this by hand.
Toss in the salt and vanilla. Mix until it’s all one color.
Add the flour and stir until you stop seeing white streaks. Then stop stirring. I used to keep mixing “just to be sure” and my bars always came out tough. Don’t do that.
Tear off a piece of parchment paper and line your pan. Let it stick up over the sides so you can grab it later. This saves so much hassle.
Take most of the dough—eyeball about two-thirds—and smoosh it into the bottom of your pan. I use my hands. It sticks to your fingers but whatever, just work with it.
Pour the cranberries on top. Push them around with your hand so they’re spread out pretty evenly.
Grab chunks of the leftover dough and drop them on top of the cranberries. Don’t try to cover every cranberry. It’s supposed to look messy.
Put the pan in the oven. Set a timer for 45 minutes and check it. If the edges are turning brown, it’s done. If not, give it 5 more minutes.
Take it out and put the pan on a cooling rack. Wait until you can touch the pan without burning your hand. Then wait some more. Seriously, they need to be completely cool or they’ll fall apart when you cut them.
Notes
- Use frozen cranberries in a pinch: If you can’t find fresh, frozen works! Use them while they’re still slightly frozen—no need to thaw completely. Just pat off any ice crystals.
- Make the dough easier to work with: If your dough feels too sticky, pop it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes. It’ll firm up just enough to be more manageable.
- Line your pan with parchment: Seriously, this makes removal SO much easier. Leave about 2 inches of overhang on two sides to use as “handles.”
- Don’t overbake: Watch those edges! Once they turn golden, your bars are done. Overbaking will dry them out and make them crumbly instead of tender.
- Size matters: An 8×8 pan will give you thicker bars; a 9×9 will give you slightly thinner ones. Both work beautifully!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45-50 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American