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!
