Buttery, fruity cranberry crumble bars have a crumbly crust and a jammy cranberry filling that melts in your mouth for a delicious semi-homemade dessert you will want to sink your teeth into.
Ingredients
17.5ouncessugar cookie mixprepackaged, I used Betty Crocker
3tablespoonsall-purpose flour
½cupquick oats
½cupbuttermelted, salted
1largeeggbeaten
⅔cupwhite sugar
4 1/2 teaspoonscornstarch
2tablespoonscranberry juicesweetened, orange juice can also be used
4cupscranberriesabout 12 ounces, fresh or frozen. See notes for frozen
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with parchment paper or spray with cooking oil evenly.
In a large mixing bowl mix together sugar cookie dough mix, all-purpose flour and quick oats. Add the melted butter and mix with an electric hand mixer. Crack and beat the egg in a small bowl with a fork, then add it to the cookie dough and mix again thoroughly with an electric hand mixer until a crumbly dough forms.
Press about 3/4 of the dough into the bottom of the pan. Leave the rest of the dough to the side for the topping.
In a second large bowl, combine white sugar, cornstarch, and cranberry juice (or orange juice) together and stir well by hand with a spatula. Combine cranberries to the sugar mixture and stir until the berries are well coated.
Spoon cranberry mixture evenly on top of the dough in the baking dish. Crumble the remaining mixture from the dough in your hands and sprinkle evenly across the top of the cranberry layer to form the crumble topping.
Bake the mixture in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until the topping browns. The filling will be bubbling and the cranberries won't look whole, they will look jammy. I let the bars cool completely and then slice into small squares. Then enjoy!
Notes
Swapping Orange Juice For Cranberry Juice
I used cranberry juice in this recipe because it gave it more cranberry flavor but orange juice gives the perfect sweetness also and tastes delicious with these bars. You can use juice from a fresh orange if you prefer, most oranges will contain at least two tablespoons of juice.
Using Frozen Versus Fresh Cranberries
Frozen cranberries can be swapped for fresh cranberries but sometimes need to be cooked slightly longer, expect it will likely take 5-10 minutes more. One way to keep an eye on if the bars are done cooking is the cranberries should go from looking whole to looking more jammy.Add frozen cranberries into the sugar mixture still frozen for the best results.Don't defrost the cranberries before adding them to the bars. Defrosted cranberries can cause the bars to become too watery and liquidy.
Carefully Add Cranberries To The Dough
You don't want to stir the cranberry mixture much once it is on top of the dough base in the pan as it could pull the sugar cookie base away from the bottom. This could cause holes in the dough, causing the filling to leak out more. Instead, mix the cranberry mixture well in a bowl and gently spoon the berries over the cookie dough crust.