Cranberry Orange Oat Crumble Bars
A buttery brown-sugar oat base and topping sandwiching a bright, jammy cranberry-orange filling. Easy to slice, great for lunchboxes, and a natural fit for the holiday season.
2 hrs
1 batch of 16
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
- 3 cups Cranberries, fresh or frozen
- 1 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour
- ¾ cup Unsalted Butter, melted; 1 1/2 sticks
- 1 ½ cups Old-Fashioned Oats, rolled
- 1 Orange, zest only; zest of 1 orange
- ½ cup Sugar, granulated
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¾ cup Light Brown Sugar, packed
- ¼ cup Orange (Juice), fresh
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Directions
- Heat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8-inch baking pan with parchment, leaving an overhang on two sides.
- In a saucepan, combine the cranberries, granulated sugar, orange zest, orange juice, and cornstarch. Cook over medium heat, stirring, 6–8 minutes until most berries burst and the mixture thickens. Let cool slightly.
- In a bowl, stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add the melted butter and vanilla and mix until crumbly and evenly moistened.
- Press about two-thirds of the oat mixture firmly into the pan. Bake 12 minutes.
- Spread the cranberry filling over the warm base, then scatter the remaining oat mixture over the top, squeezing some into small clumps.
- Bake 25–30 minutes, until the topping is golden and the filling bubbles at the edges.
- Cool completely in the pan (about 1 hour, or chill to speed it up), then lift out and cut into 16 bars.
