Cranberry Crumble Bars

image via Diane Fields

With Thanksgiving nearly upon us and the LJC gang being major fan's of cranberries we thought this Martha Stewart recipe was the perfect snack time treat to share with you all. What's great about these bars is that you can store them for a few day's after baking, therefore if you have guests visiting over the holiday's you have some free time to focus on other area's of your Thanksgiving feast....

Serves | To prepare | To cook 

Ingredients 

Filling

• 1 can (14 ounces) whole-berry cranberry sauce
• OR
• 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries (7 1/2 ounces)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
• 3/4 cup cold water
• 6 tablespoons cranberry juice

Dough

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 3/4 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts (3 ounces)

Method

• Filling: If making your own, pulse dried cranberries and granulated sugar in a food processor until a coarse paste forms. Transfer to a saucepan. 
• Whisk cornstarch into cold water, then add to cranberry mixture, whisking to combine. 
• Stir in juice. Simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens and sugar dissolves, about 8 minutes. 
• Remove from heat; let cool completely.
• Dough: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan, and line with parchment, letting 2 long sides overhang edges. 
• Butter parchment, then flour parchment and sides of pan.
• Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. 
• Add brown sugar and butter, and stir until well combined. 
• Mix in egg and vanilla, then oats and walnuts.
• Press half the dough into pan. Spread the filling evenly over the dough, then crumble remaining dough on top of filling.
• Bake until golden and cooked through, about 40 minutes. 
• Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack, about 1 hour, then lift out using parchment. 
• Cut into 2-inch squares.

Tip- Bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.

LJC

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