These cranberry crumble pie bars combine a buttery flaky shortbread crust, jammy cranberry filling, and crumbly almond topping. The crust and crumble topping are made from the same mixture, so there’s no need to dirty an additional bowl. Easy to eat, transport, serve, and freeze, pie bars are the best answer for a large crowd!
Let’s take a break from traditional pie and pie crust and whip up a batch of pie bars. Hey, don’t you know that it’s HIP to be SQUARE?!
These Cranberry Crumble Pie Bars Have:
- a buttery shortbread crust
- orange-hinted cranberries
- an irresistible buttery crumble topping
- sweet orange icing, obviously
Oh and the best part of all? The crust and crumble topping are from the same mixture, so you don’t need to make a bunch of separate layers. Same story for my strawberry rhubarb crumb bars and cherry pie bars, too!
AND AND AND! There’s no pre-baking or pre-cooking. Add the layers and bake.
Cranberry Crumble Pie Bars Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour: Flour is the base of this recipe.
- Sugar: Sugar sweetens the crust/crumble and the cranberry filling.
- Baking Powder: Baking powder keeps the crust/crumble on the lighter side. Without it, the texture would be a little too hard and dense.
- Salt, Cinnamon, & Vanilla: All 3 add flavor.
- Cold Butter: Just like pie crust, biscuits, and scones, cold butter is necessary for this recipe. We’re cutting the butter into the dry ingredients to create the same deliciously flaky and crumbly texture. The texture would completely change if we used softened butter.
- Egg: An egg binds the crust/crumble ingredients together.
- Milk: Along with 1 egg, milk is the wet ingredient to bind the ingredients together.
- Cranberries: Use fresh or frozen cranberries, just like we do for cranberry sauce. Do not use dried cranberries.
- Cornstarch: We’re essentially making a cranberry jam as the filling, so cornstarch is necessary to keep those cranberries combined.
- Orange: A splash of fresh orange juice and zest add flavor to the cranberry layer. Like orange cranberry bread in bar form!
Crust & Crumble Topping
If pie crust intimidates you, this is a wonderful place to start. You’re applying the same general mixing process, but without the headache of rolling out dough.
It’s so convenient that the crust and crumble topping come from the same bowl! Combine the dry ingredients together, then cut in the cold and cubed butter. If you don’t have a pastry cutter or if you don’t want to make it by hand, you can use a food processor to gently cut in the butter. By hand it takes a good 5 minutes to get that flour completely coated with little butter bits. (Photo above on the left.) Worth it!
The photo above on the right shows the mixture after we add the wet ingredients: egg, milk, and vanilla extract. Don’t be alarmed if it doesn’t totally come together—the mixture will have the texture of moist sandy crumbles.
- What’s next? You’ll have about 6 cups of crust/crumble mixture. Reserve 2 cups for the topping, then press the rest into a lined 9×13 inch baking pan.
No pre-baking the crust! Just hold on tight until we add the cranberry layer.
Success Tip: Lining the pan with parchment paper makes it much easier to remove the bars before slicing and serving. I use the same tip when making rice krispie treats and M&M cookie bars, too.
Jammy Cranberry Filling
This part is so easy. Combine the filling ingredients into a large bowl. Spread over crust. That’s it, you’re done with the filling.
Add the remaining crust/crumble on top of the cranberries. For extra flavor and texture, add a big handful of sliced almonds on top. So good with these flavors!
Optional Icing
You know how some baked goods rely on the frosting or icing? Like, they’re just not as good without that finishing touch? Totally not the case here. These cranberry crumble pie bars don’t even NEED the icing. But, alas, I never turn down the opportunity for a garnish—especially orange icing. If desired, take a little more juice from the orange you used in the filling and whisk it with confectioners’ sugar. Drizzle over the bars after they’re done cooling.
Do the bars need it? No. Do we love it? Yes.
I love serving brown butter pecan pie bars this time of year because bars are hand-held and easy to eat, great for freezing or transporting, and the recipe yields a nice big batch if you’re feeding a crowd. A welcome addition to your usual pumpkin pie, apple pie, and other Thanksgiving pie recipes! Same goes with today’s cranberry bars—they’re a convenient dessert that feels just as special as a slice of pie or cranberry cake.
This recipe is part of Sally’s Pie Week, an annual tradition where I share a handful of new recipes that fit into the pie/crisp/tart category. Join the community below!
PrintCranberry Crumble Pie Bars
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours (includes cooling)
- Yield: 18-24 squares
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These cranberry crumble pie bars combine a buttery flaky shortbread crust, jammy cranberry filling, and crumbly almond topping. The crust and crumble topping are made from the same mixture, so there’s no need to dirty an additional bowl.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk*
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- optional: 1/3 cup (30g) sliced almonds
Cranberry Filling
- 4 cups (400g) fresh or frozen cranberries (do not thaw)
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 1 Tablespoon (15g) fresh orange juice
Orange Icing (Optional)
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) fresh orange juice
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line the bottom and sides of a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides to lift the finished bars out (makes cutting easier!). Set aside.
- Make the crumble mixture for the crust and topping: Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Add the cubed butter and using a pastry cutter, two forks, or a food processor, cut in the butter until all the flour is coated and resembles pea-sized crumbles. (See photo above for a visual.) This takes at least 5 minutes of cutting in with a pastry cutter.
- Whisk the egg, milk, and vanilla together in a small bowl. Pour over the flour/butter mixture and gently mix together until the mixture resembles moist crumbly sand. See photo above for a visual.
- You will have about 6 cups of the crust/crumble mixture. Set 2 cups aside. Pour the remaining into the prepared pan and flatten down with your hands or a flat spatula to form an even crust. It will be a little crumbly—that’s ok. Set aside. (Almonds will be used in the topping in the next step.)
- Cranberry Filling: Mix all of the cranberry filling ingredients together. Spread over the crust. Sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture all over the cranberries. Sprinkle the almonds all over top.
- Bake for about 40-50 minutes or until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out *mostly* clean (with a few jammy cranberry specks!). Mine take about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the bars to cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack. After about 1 hour, I stick the whole pan in the refrigerator to help speed things up.
- Make the icing and cut into squares: Whisk the icing ingredients together. Add more orange juice to thin out, if desired. Drizzle over cooled bars, then cut into squares.
- Cover and store leftover cranberry bars (with or without icing) at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Iced or plain bars freeze well up to 3 months. Arrange in even layers in a large freezer container between sheets of parchment. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature before icing and/or serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links):Â 9×13-inch Glass Baking Pan or 9×13-inch Metal Baking Pan | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Pastry Cutter | Cooling Rack
- Milk: I use and recommend whole milk, but nondairy or lower fat milks will work too.
I am taking a dessert to a “Friendsgiving” ladies luncheon and wanted something a little different. I was worried that the recipe might not turn out, but decided (based on the reviews) to follow the recipe exactly. The luncheon is tomorrow and I just finished icing and cutting the bars this evening. Reviewers mentioned that they are even better the next day. Well, they are awesome right now, so if they taste even better tomorrow I will have the “HIT” of the party. This recipe is yummy and the bars are so attractive. Thank you for this amazing recipe and easy to follow directions.
This recipe is fantastic! The tart flavor of the cranberry is perfect with the crumb topping. I made mine without the icing on top but it still tastes delicious, even better on the second day. Can’t wait to make this at Thanksgiving!
This is one of my favorite recipes. I have made it at least a half a dozen times. I follow the directions exactly, but my dough is never crumbly like the picture. It’s always wet and hard to spread. I break it into small pieces to get the crumbled effect for the top. Any suggestions?
Hi Dani, this can happen if the butter is not cold enough. What are you using to cut it into the dry ingredients? A food processor or pastry cutter? The food processor can over-mix the butter in and create a very wet batter-like dough. Try again using extremely cold butter and a pastry cutter (or a fork and some arm muscle!). Or you can try reducing the milk down to 2 Tbsp (30ml).
Where I live fresh or frozen cranberries are not available, but there are dried cranberries
Is it possible to use them and if able to, how would you change the recipe?
Hi Susan, unfortunately dried cranberries won’t work the same here. It’s best to wait until you can get some fresh or frozen!
Another winner, Sally! I had a vacuum sealed bag of cranberries in my freezer from last year, so I decided to try these – delicious! I subbed the milk for unsweetened almond milk and used blood orange instead of regular orange. I will definitely be making these for the holidays. I love the combo of tart and sweet. I halved the icing recipe because I like the tartness of cranberries and didn’t want to overpower them. It was the perfect amount for me.
This recipe is a hit whenever I make it! I recently made it with blueberries & lemons instead of cranberries and orange for a more Springy approach and it was also amazing!
I had some fresh cranberries that were near their end of life and this was the perfect recipe to use them up! I love the orange icing, but probably would cut the quantity in half if making again. Easy to make and so delicious!
Sally, ever since our son first made these for us I cannot have enough of them! Your recipe is absolutely perfect as is, but sometimes I like to change things up a bit. I added 1/2 tsp almond extract to the dough, 1/3 cup rolled oats in place of 1/3 cup of the flour and a little grand mariner in the cranberry mixture. Either way, these are hands down my favourite bars!
Any chance I could make this plant based? I can’t have egg but I would love to make these. Thanks!
Hi Cynthia, we haven’t tested this recipe with plant based alternatives but would love to hear how it goes if you do.
Love this! Of course my bag of fresh cranberries were only 3 cups, but it turned out fine. Don’t use cow’s milk but the vanilla almond milk was fine too. Substituted orange extract as no orange juice in the house, also fine. This recipe is a keeper . Could be so versatile with apple, berries, pears, figs!
Hi there!
Can frozen mixed berries be used instead of cranberries?
Hi Cajji, feel free to use frozen berries. Do not thaw. The bake time will be a little longer. You may want less sugar in the filling since the berries you are using are sweeter than cranberries – you can reference this Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Bar Recipe.
Thank you! I can’t wait to try this.
Hi! I have some left over homemade cranberry sauce in my fridge already. Could I use that instead of the ingredients of the cranberry filling?
Hi Christine, you should be able to use cranberry sauce. Don’t add the sugar to the filling. Since the cranberry sauce has likely already thickened, we recommend using that and mixing it with 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and the orange zest (if desired) before spreading it on the crust.
Amazing – thank you so much! Excited to try it!
Thank you I can’t wait to make these!
Would I be able to cut this recipe in half?
Sure can! Simply cut each ingredient in half and use an 8 or 9 inch square pan, and keep an eye on them for baking time. It should be a little less than the full recipe bake time.
I love cranberries and this recipe did not disappoint! Delicious! My husband, Mr. Fussy Eater, loved them too!
I used my Nija to blend the butter and flour ingredients, easy!
Thanks for this recipe. It’s a keeper.
These were delicious! Everyone loved them.
I just made a batch of these for some neighbors. They are delicious, but took about 1 hour and 10 minutes to firm up in the oven!
Sally, I am so excited about these pie bars! I made them for a cookie exchange, mostly because I am impatient and don’t want to wait for 8 dozen cookies to come out of the oven. It took forever to choose from all your gorgeous recipes on Instagram. I’m glad I picked these because they are quick, beautiful, and tasty! Such wonderful cranberry flavor. I used 1/2 orange zest and 1/2 lemon zest because it is what I had in the cupboard. Mm! Thank you!
It was ok. Since I don’t like anything with an orange taste, I used lemon. Followed directions including cooling time. Strong sour cranberry taste before adding an almond glaze. I’ll let them sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours before I try another one.
Is there a way I could half the recipe!? Thanks so much!
Definitely! Simply cut each ingredient in half and use an 8 or 9 inch square pan, and keep an eye on them for baking time. It should be a little less than the full recipe bake time.
THESE ARE UNBELIVABLE!!! A word of caution though…let it sit for 24 hours for the sugar to absorb into the cranberries! I cut into it right away and it was so sour it was almost bitter so I made the glaze and put it on top then didn’t touch it again for 24 hours and now I am going to make another one a week later it is so good!!
I never post reviews but this was an absolute hit! I made it for thanksgiving this year and everyone loved it. I left the almonds out due to an allergy but it was truly incredible and will become a holiday staple for my family! Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
Omg !!!! These are AMAZING !!!!!
Do you think you could use leftover cranberry sauce (made using the recipe on the cranberry package)? Would you omit the sugar? I’m trying use up leftovers 🙂
Hi Nikki, you should be able to use cranberry sauce. I wouldn’t add the sugar to the filling. Since the cranberry sauce has likely already thickened, I would just use that and mix it with 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and the orange zest (if desired) before spreading it on the crust.
I needed a very fast recipe. I knew that I could do this one rather quickly. It came together easily; I used my leftover cranberry sauce as the filling. Great way to use up my leftovers. It was very soft and tasty, and not too sweet. We all really enjoyed it.
Hi! I saw this recipe and wanted to try it, but I realized I don’t have any orange. What can I use to substitute for orange? Is lemon ok?
Hi Liz, Yes you can use lemon for a different flavor. Enjoy!
Could fresh cranberries be used?
Yes!
Hi Sally! Do you think you could exchange the cranberries for blueberries and the orange for lemon? I’m worried that blueberries will have more moisture, how should I account for that?
Hi Lauren! Yes and yes– replace cranberries with blueberries and orange with lemon. Yum! Extra moisture isn’t a bad thing at all. The bars may take a couple extra minutes in the oven.
Did anyone else find it hard to spread the crust or was it just me.?Very sticky even though I followed the exact recipe. Will try with a different crust.
These cranberry crumble pie bars are AMAZINGLY GOOD! I didn’t realize how much I liked cranberry until I made these. They are perfectly sweet with a perfect amount of crumble to them. My family & friends are really loving pie bars over regular pie! This is the perfect holiday treat! So good!!