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Cranberry Crumble Bars

Cranberry crumble bars with a buttery oat crumble base and top, plus a ruby cranberry filling thickened until sliceable. Baked at 375°F until golden, then cooled fully for clean, jewel-bright bar layers.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings: 16 bars
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For oat crumble base and top
  • 2 cup rolled oats
  • 1.5 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 0.25 tsp salt
  • 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
For cranberry filling
  • 3 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
  • 0.75 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tbsp orange juice
  • 1 tbsp orange zest
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 0.5 tsp cinnamon
Powdered sugar for dusting
  • 1 powdered sugar

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan

Method
 

Preheat and prepare the pan
  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a 9x13 pan with parchment so the bars lift out easily after baking.
Make the oat crumble
  1. Combine rolled oats, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt, then cut in the cold unsalted butter until the mixture looks crumbly.
Bake the base
  1. Press 2/3 of the oat mixture firmly into the pan and bake for 10 minutes until slightly set.
Thicken the cranberry filling
  1. Cook fresh or frozen cranberries, granulated sugar, orange juice, orange zest, cornstarch, and cinnamon over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring, until thickened.
Assemble and finish baking
  1. Spread the cranberry filling over the hot base, then crumble the remaining oat mixture over the top.
  2. Bake for 25-28 minutes at 375°F until the crumble is golden.
Cool, dust, and slice
  1. Cool the bars completely before slicing, so the filling holds its shape.
  2. Dust with powdered sugar and slice into bars.

Notes

Pro tip: fully cool the bars before cutting—this firms up the cornstarch-thickened filling for neat squares. Store covered in the fridge up to 4 days; freeze bars (wrapped tightly) up to 2 months. For a gluten-free swap, use a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour blend in the crumble.