Cranberry Almond Shortbread Crumb Bars

Homemade cranberry sauce has become a tradition in our home every Thanksgiving. I just love the way the cranberries burst and thicken the sauce as they’re simmered, the scent of the spices, and that beautiful ruby red color of the sweet and tart sauce. And one of my favorite things to bake with leftover cranberry sauce after Thanksgiving is these cranberry almond crumb bars.

My cranberry crumb bars have a buttery shortbread crust and crumble topping, filled with cranberry sauce and sweet almond paste, and they are just so good. Sometimes I make extra cranberry sauce, just to make sure I have enough left to make a batch of these delicious crumb bars. These need to be on your holiday baking list!

Looking for more cranberry recipes? Don’t miss these cranberry orange pecan shortbread cookies, cranberry Christmas cake, and seedless cranberry jelly.

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Homemade Cranberry Sauce vs Canned Sauce

You can get my recipe for homemade cranberry sauce in this post. As noted in that recipe, I sometimes pair the cranberries with raspberries, and sometimes with orange. Both versions work equally well in these bars. Cranberries contain a lot of natural pectin, so the sauce thickens and gels as these bars bake.

If you choose to use canned sauce to make your cranberry crumb bars, I’d recommend a “whole berry” type of sauce, not the jellied kind. While I haven’t personally made this recipe using canned sauce, I imagine it would work just fine. But it’s so easy to make your own cranberry sauce, and it tastes so much better.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

• All-Purpose Flour. The base of these cranberry crumb bars is a shortbread crust, and the flour binds the crust together. You can easily substitute a gluten-free flour.
• Granulated Sugar. A little sugar sweetens everything, as well as promotes browning in the crust and topping.
• Coarse Kosher Salt. Salt balances the sugar, adding a nice salty sweet flavor.
• Cloves. The cloves complement the cranberries beautifully, giving them a lovely holiday flavor that’s perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
• Vanilla + Almond Extract. I added both vanilla and almond extracts to the crumble mixture itself, to complement the flavor of the cranberries and almond paste.
• Unsalted Butter. The butter moistens the crumble mixture, adding richness and flavor.
• Almond Paste. A layer of almond paste adds sweetness and flavor. Almond paste should not be confused with almond pastry filling; they are very different products.
• Homemade or Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce. And, of course, the cranberry sauce is a must in these cranberry almond crumb bars! For another flavor, though, substitute your favorite canned or homemade pie filling. These bars would be fantastic with blueberry or peach filling.

TIP: The crumble mixture for the crust, also doubles as the streusel topping, which makes this a really quick and easy recipe to prep.

Instructions

Make the Crumble Mixture.

• Preheat the oven to 350 F, and line an 8×8 inch baking dish with parchment paper.
• In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt and cloves. Drizzle with the vanilla and almond extracts, then scatter the butter over the flour mixture. Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour mixture until moistened and crumbly.
• Reserve 1 cup of the crumbs for the topping, and press the remainder of the crumbs evenly against the bottom of the pan.

Bake the Crust.

• Bake the crust on the center oven rack for 20 minutes. The reason to bake it first, is just to give it a little extra time in the oven to brown and cook through, before adding the filling.

Add the Filling and Crumb Topping.

• Remove the pan from the oven.
• Grate or crumble the almond paste over the hot crust.
• Spread the cranberry sauce over the almond paste.
• Sprinkle the reserved 1 cup of crumbs over the cranberries. (The bars look prettiest if you let some of the cranberries show through the crumbs.)

Finish Baking.

• Bake the bars on the center oven rack for 35-40 minutes, until the filling is bubbling, and the crumb topping is crisp and pale golden brown.

Cool and Serve.

• Cool the bars completely in the pan before cutting and serving. Serve warm, or at room temperature.
• These cranberry almond crumb bars are fantastic with vanilla ice cream!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use canned cranberry sauce instead?

If you choose to use canned sauce to make your cranberry crumb bars, I’d recommend a “whole berry” type of sauce, not the jellied kind. While I haven’t personally made this recipe using canned sauce, I imagine it would work just fine. But it’s so easy to make your own cranberry sauce, and it tastes so much better.

Can this recipe be doubled?

You can double the recipe and bake the bars in a 9×13 pan.

Will this recipe work without the almond paste?

Yes, you can leave out the almond paste and extract if you prefer.

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