'Tis the season to indulge in the delightful symphony of holiday flavors, and what better way to celebrate than with these scrumptious Cranberry Shortbread Bars! The rich, tender shortbread crust serves as the perfect canvas for the vibrant burst of cranberries, infused with orange zest.
I love cooking fresh cranberries and infusing them with more flavor, like in these bars, my Jalapeño Cranberry Meatballs or my Creamy Cranberry Jalapeno Dip. Take advantage of the the crisp tart flavor of fresh cranberries with my Broccoli Salad with Cranberries and Sunflower Seeds.
Ingredients
- Fresh Cranberries
- Brown Sugar
- Fresh Orange (Juice & Zest)
- Flour
- Butter
- Vanilla
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350F with a rack in the middle position. Prepare a 9"x9" baking dish by spraying it with non-stick spray and lining it with parchment paper as pictured.
Start by creaming the room temperature butter with the brown sugar and vanilla, in a large bowl.
Sift in the flour and the salt into the butter mixture. Crumble the ingredients together with your hands to get a fine texture. It should not become a solid dough.
Place ⅔ of the crumble mixture (equivalent to 2 and ¾ cups) in the baking pan. Press it down with your hand and then bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
While the base is baking, prepare the filling. In a medium sauce pan on low heat, combine the cranberries, white sugar, orange juice and zest.
Simmer and stir the filling on low heat, until the cranberries break down and the filling thickens up. Cool to room temperature.
When the base is baked, spread the cranberry filling evenly, leaving a ¼ inch border around the edge.
Sprinkle the remainder of the crumble mixture on top of the filling. Very lightly press down on top of the crumble.
Place back into the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden. As soon as it comes out of the oven cut out the 16 squares while still in the pan and still soft.
Let the cranberry shortbread bars cool completely and the shortbread harden up, before taking them our of the pan.
Storage
Store the cooled Cranberry Shortbread Bars at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week. Keep these in freezer and take a few pieces out at a time, and enjoy them with a hot cup of your favorite tea.
Recipe
Cranberry Shortbread Bars
Equipment
- 1 9"x9" Baking Pan
Ingredients
Crumble Mixture
- 1½ cup Unsalted Butter at room temperature
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste or extract
- 2½ cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Cranberry Filling
- 2½ cups Fresh Cranberries (thawed if frozen)
- ⅔ cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 tablespoon Orange Zest
- ¼ cup Orange Juice (from the zested orange)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F with a rack in the middle position. Prepare a 9"x9" baking pan by spraying with non-stick spray or lightly buttered. You may line it with a piece of parchment paper, the width of the pan, going over the 2 sides, to help take out the pieces in the end.
Make the Crumble Mixture
- In a large bowl with a hand blender, beat the butter until light and airy.
- Add the brown sugar and the vanilla to the butter and mix it in well.
- Sift in the flour and salt into the butter mixture. Mix the flour in, to get a crumbled texture. Do not let the mixture come together completely into a dough. Set aside.
Make the Cranberry Filling
- In a medium saucepan on low-medium heat, combine all of the filling ingredients.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer while stirring. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the cranberries have broken down and the mixture has thickened.
- Remove from the heat and let cool down while you start on the crust.
Assemble and Bake the Bars
- Place ⅔ of the crumble mixture into the prepared baking pan. It should amount to approximately 2¾ cups of crumble. Press it down evenly in the pan.
- With a fork, poke holes in the pressed crumble. Bake the shortbread in your preheated oven for 15 minutes.
- Take the shortbread base out of the oven, and while still hot, carefully spread the cooked cranberry filing over it. When spreading the filling, make sure to leave ¼ inch border all around so that it doesn't burn or stick on the pan.
- Sprinkle the remaining of the crumble mixture over the filling. Very gently press down on the crumble so that it sticks to the filling.
- Place back into the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is lightly golden.
- When taking out of the oven, immediately cut 16 squares into the pan. This is done now because the shortbread is still soft.
- Let the bars cool down completely before removing them from the pan.
- Store at room temperature for 2-3 days in an airtight container. They keep very well in the freezer for when you want to enjoy at any time.
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