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As many of you know, this year has brought us dozens of new recipes as we have been cooking through the Magnolia Table cookbook entirely in a year. Each week we have explored different appetizers, side dishes, breakfasts, desserts etc. and rated them with those around our table. While this experience has been a bucket list item for me for many years and has been so much fun to try and share, it also has grown my cooking abilities and given me more confidence to launch out to try my own recipes. Fairly early on in our cooking through a cookbook journey, we were able to try Mina’s Lemon Bars and holy cow, they were delicious! They have been one of the few items that Charlie rated a 10, so I knew they would be a keeper for our family. As we have been enjoying the holidays and thinking of treats to give to neighbors and coworkers, I became inspired to transform this classic beloved recipe into a holiday version. Thus was born, from much trial and error, amazingly delicious Cranberry Orange Bars. Now, I know that cranberries can be polarizing for some people due to their sour bitterness, but I promise, these bars are the perfect combination of tangy and sweet that will provide all of the holiday feels.

Making The Cranberry Orange Bar Crust

Just like a classic lemon bar, the basis of these cranberry orange bars is a fabulous shortbread crust. Delicate and flaky, this shortbread adds all the buttery goodness you could ever hope for.

Start by spraying a 9×13 glass baking dish with baking spray to ensure you have an easy release for your bars.

Next, in a medium bowl, melt the butter and then add the flour, powdered sugar and salt. Using a fork, slowly combine the ingredients until a gentle dough forms. Be sure not to overmix the dough as the less mixing involved, the flakier the crust will be.

Pat down the dough with a spatula into a single layer on the bottom of the 9×13 baking dish.

Bake the crust in the oven for 23-25 minutes at 350 degrees or until the edges of the crust start to brown. While the crust is baking, start making the cranberry orange filling!

Making The Cranberry Orange Bar Filling

While lemon bars frequently just use lemon juice to flavor the filling, these cranberry orange bars utilize both fresh cranberries, orange juice and orange zest. By boiling and blending a cranberry orange mixture together, you can infuse the bars with a sweet and balanced flavor.

To start the filling, zest a large orange and mix the zest with the sugar to create an orange sugar. You can set this aside for now.

Next, juice the same orange you just zested and add the juice into a small saucepan. Add in the cranberries and three tablespoons of sugar. Mix together and cook over medium to medium high heat for about 8 to 10 minutes. In this time, the cranberries should burst to the point that you can smash them and the juice sauce mixture should thicken.

Once thickened, remove the orange cranberry sauce from the stove and pour into tall glass measuring cup. Use an immersion blender to fully blend the sauce until you have roughly ¾ of a cup of cranberry orange sauce. If you do not have an immersion blender, feel free to pour the sauce into a traditional blender or food processor to blend the sauce until it has no lumps.

After the sauce is blended, add 7 to 8 tablespoons of the sauce (a little less than ¾ a cup) to the orange sugar. Mix together and then add in the eggs. Stir until well blended.

Bringing It All Together

After well blended, pour the filling over the hot shortbread crust.

Place in the oven and cook for 15 minutes. To prevent the top from overbrowning, gently tent aluminum foil over the pan and cook for another 15 minutes or until the center is set when the pan is nudged.

Remove from the oven and let cool. Dust with powdered sugar and cool completely before cutting as they will cut much nicer squares when cool. Cut into 15 large squares, 20 medium or 30 small squares depending on your preference.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 1 week. These bars do not have to be refrigerated, however they are delicious cold as well.

Soft and chewy, the filling of the cranberry orange bars perfectly compliments the buttery and flaky shortbread crust! By cooking and then blending the orange cranberry sauce, you can have all the amazing flavors that condense and soften together without any bitterness. Whether you are making them for family, friends, neighbors or coworkers, they are sure to be a hit and disappear quickly.

Recipe

Cranberry Orange Bars

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 55

Cool 2

Course Dessert

Ingredients

Baking spray
2 cups All purpose flour
2 sticks Salted butter
¾ cups Powdered sugar, plus more for garnish
¼ tsp Salt
1 large Orange, for peel & juice
1 cup Fresh cranberries
2 cups + 3 Tbsps Granulated sugar
4 Eggs

Instructions

Shortbread Crust

Start by spraying a 9×13 glass baking dish with baking spray to ensure you have an easy release for your bars.
Next, in a medium bowl, melt the butter and then add the flour, powdered sugar and salt.
Using a fork, slowly combine the ingredients until a gentle dough forms. The less mixing involved, the flakier your crust will be.
Pat down the dough with a spatula into a single layer on the bottom of the 9×13 baking dish.
Bake the crust in the oven for 23-25 minutes at 350° or until the edges of the crust start to brown.
While the crust is baking, start making the cranberry orange filling!

Cranberry Orange Bar Filling

To start the filling, zest a large orange and mix the zest with the sugar to create an orange sugar. You can set this aside for now.
Next, juice the same orange you just zested and add the juice into a small saucepan.
Add in the cranberries and three tablespoons of sugar.
Mix together and cook over medium to medium high heat for about 8 to 10 minutes.
In this time, the cranberries should burst to the point that you can smash them and the juice sauce mixture should thicken.
Once thickened, remove the orange cranberry sauce from the stove and pour into a tall glass measuring cup.
Use an immersion blender to fully blend the sauce until you have roughly ¾ of a cup of cranberry orange sauce.
If you do not have an immersion blender, feel free to pour the sauce into a traditional blender to blend the sauce until it has no lumps.
After the sauce is blended, add 7 to 8 tablespoons of the sauce (a little less than ¾ a cup) to the orange sugar.
Mix together and then add in the eggs. Stir until well blended.
After well blended, pour the filling over the hot shortbread crust.
Place in the oven and cook for 15 minutes.
To prevent the top from overbrowning, gently tent aluminum foil over the pan and cook for another 15 minutes or until the center is set when the pan is nudged.
Remove from the oven and let cool. Dust with powdered sugar and cool completely before cutting as they will cut much nicer squares when cool.
Cut into 15 large squares, 20 medium or 30 small squares depending on your preference.

Notes

Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 1 week. These bars do not have to be refrigerated, however they are delicious cold as well. Enjoy!

Keyword Cranberry Orange Bars

Final Thoughts

Even though Charlie absolutely loves lemon bars, he was a little skeptical when I mentioned that I was going to make cranberry orange bars as frequently, cranberries are too bitter for his liking. With that said, after his first bite of these bars, he said they were tremendous! These bars give all the flavor without the bitter punch and when paired with a flaky crust, are simply amazing. So… if you are looking for a last minute Christmas party idea that you can make ahead of time, you must try these! Pin this recipe to save for later or send to someone you know could use it now!

Happy baking!