Soft Cranberry Oatmeal Bars
A rendition of my ever popular oatmeal fig bars, these soft cranberry oatmeal bars are the perfect version for the holidays. A crumble topping also acts as the crust for this super easy, hearty three-layer breakfast bar. It's the best baked fruit bar!
Servings 16
Equipment
- stainless saucepan I use a 2 qt
Ingredients
Cranberry filling
- ½ cup water
- 1 ¾ cup sugar
- 12 oz bag of fresh cranberries
- 1 orange zested and juiced. See below
- ½ cup orange juice might be only ½ of orange depending on size
- 1 lemon zested
- Sprinkle of salt
Crust & topping
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened at room temp
- 1 ¼ cup brown sugar packed
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 C oatmeal
- 1½ C flour all purpose
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt *see note below if doubling
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
For the cranberry filling
- To a small 2 qt. stainless saucepan, add the sugar and water and cook over medium heat to dissolve the sugar which should take about 2 minutes.½ cup water, 1 ¾ cup sugar
- Add the cranberries along with the orange juice and zest and lemon juice and continue cooking on medium heat until the cranberries pop for 5 minutes. Lower heat and simmer until thickened about 10-15 minutes. It will continue to thicken as it cools. Cool completely (see notes below).12 oz bag of fresh cranberries, 1 orange, ½ cup orange juice, 1 lemon, Sprinkle of salt
For the crust
- Grease or lightly spray a 9" square baking pan.
- Cream butter in mixer until creamy.½ cup unsalted butter
- Add brown sugar to butter and mix until lightened and well blended, about 2 minutes.1 ¼ cup brown sugar
- Add eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Add in vanilla.2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla
- Combine next 5 ingredients in a medium bowl and lightly stir with a fork.2 C oatmeal, 1½ C flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon
- Add dry ingredients into mixing bowl and mix on low until worked in completely.
- Pat ⅔ of mixture into bottom of prepared pan. If needed, use a piece of parchment paper sprayed with cooking spray to help spread it evenly in the pan as the dough will be somewhat sticky.
- Evenly spread the cooled cranberry filling over the crust.
- Place (plop!) the remaining crust over the cranberry layer and lightly press down.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, checking for a golden color on top.
- Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting into bars.
Notes
Cranberry Notes:
- Don't have fresh cranberries? Use frozen ones straight from the freezer and follow the recipe as written.
- Allow the cranberries to cool completely or they won't be thickened.
- When cooking the cranberries and to avoid a mess on your stove., make sure to simmer on low so they don't bubble over!
- The filling can be made a couple of days ahead and stored in the fridge in an airtight container.
