Spiced Cranberry Orange Cookie Bars
Settle into the Holiday season with this recipe for Spiced Cranberry Orange Cookie Bars. These bars are flavored with the tartness of cranberries, fresh orange juice and warming, aromatic spices. Bake up a tart pan of these delectable, crunchy and chewy fresh fruit bars and share with family and friends during the Christmas Holiday season.
These bars really are the flavors of Christmas in a bite. The vivid red color of cranberries literally pops off plate when these bars are sliced and served up. Indulgent, chewy and not too sweet; Spiced Cranberry Orange Cookie Bars are a sure hit any holiday gathering throughout the colder months. These dessert bars are right at home served at a holiday tea celebration or as a sweet bite during Christmas tree trimming festivities.
Fresh cranberries baked with the traditional flavors of the Holiday Season create these delicious cookie bars. Using classic Thanksgiving and Christmas ingredients, you too can make these chewy bar cookies at home.
The ingredients in these baked goods are simple and create a cinnamon infused, tart unique cookie recipe. Almonds are used two ways in this recipe, however the almond flavor is not overwhelming and mingles beautifully with the tart cranberries and zesty orange juice. A cookie crust made with All Purpose Flour on the bottom holds all the ingredients in place and creates a sweet snap in each bite.
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- Almond nuts are ground up and used in the batter of these festive cranberry cookies. This creates a bouncy, sugar filled layer over the cranberry filling.
- Sliced Almonds are spread over the batter before baking and sprinkled with sugar. The toasted almonds sprinkled with sugar caramelize creating a crunchy topping!
- Cranberries are cooked down with sugar and cinnamon sticks, creating a bubbling, thick fruit filling.
- A pop of orange juice added at the end, brightens the cranberries and creates those clandestine Christmas flavors of citrus and spice we all know as tradition.
Holiday Cookie Gift Giving
Bake this classic cookie recipe with cranberry and orange into a new tart pan and give it away as a sweet Christmas present to a Holiday open-house host or hostess. The tart pan is theirs to keep, doubling up the gift giving!
Cranberry Cookie Bar Storage
- Store these make-ahead cookies in the fridge, whole and unsliced directly in the tart pan and covered in plastic wrap.
- Only slice a bar at a time if you are enjoying them at home (and not sharing at a cookie swap!)
- Cranberry orange cookie bars will last 5 days in the fridge.
Spiced Cranberry Orange Cookie Bars
Sweet, spicy and bursting full of fresh cranberries, these spiced cranberry orange cookie bars are a welcome edition to any dessert table or cookie swap. The tartness of cranberry is sweetened with zesty orange and spiced cinnamon. Almonds are mixed into the batter and layered over top, addiing nutty flavor and a bit of crunch!
Equipment
- Tart Pan with removal bottom
- Food Processor
Ingredients
Cranberry Filling
- 1 ½ Cup Fresh Cranberries
- 1 Cup Sugar white
- 3 Tbsp Orange Juice freshly squeezed
- 1 Stick Cinnamon or ½ tsp ground cinnamon, but honestly the cinnamon stick works so much better for this recipe.
Crust Dough
- 1 ½ Cup Flour All- Purpose
- ½ Cup plus 1 tsp Butter unsalted
- 2 Tbsp Sugar white
- 1 yolk Separate from whole egg save white of egg for another use
- 1 Tbsp Cold Water
Almond Batter
- ½ Cup Butter unsalted
- ½ Cup Sugar white
- 1 Cup Almonds ground in food processor until they are fine or you can sub almond flour
- ½ Tsp Vanilla Extract you can also use ¼ tsp vanilla paste if you prefer
Crispy Almond Topping
- 2 Tbsp Slivered Almonds
- 1 Tbsp Sugar white
Instructions
Cranberry Filling
- Make the cranberry filling first by adding the cranberries, and sugar to a small saucepan. Bring to a low boil over medium heat.
- Slowly cook until the sugar has melted and the cranberries soften, about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- When the cranberries have broken down in the sugar, add the cinnamon stick or ground cinnamon and orange juice. Cook for another 7 minutes.
- Remove saucepan from stove and allow to cool.
Crust Dough
- Preheat oven to 400℉
- Sift flour into a medium bowl and crumb butter into flour. You want a fine breadcrumb texture to your beginning dough.
- Stir in egg yolk, sugar and water until you have a firm dough.
- Wrap in plastic wrap or a covered bowl and chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes or until the dough if firm enough to roll flat.
- Roll dough out and place into tart pan, I like to use my rolling pin that is already covered in flour to to move the crust over to the baking pan I'm using.Prick bottom of crust with fork, see photo.Place pan in fridge for 15 minutes to chill.
Almond Filling
- While the crust chills preheat oven to 350℉ and start on the almond filling.
- Beat the butter and sugar together in a medium bowl until until light and the butter mixture has a light lemon color and is fluffy. Add the ground almonds, vanilla, and eggs. Beat and combine.
Construct Your Cookie Bars
- Remove chilled crust from fridge and layer cranberry filling over the crust, spreading evenly.
- Next spread almond filling over the top of cranberry filling.
- Sprinkle sliced almonds over the almond batter and put the tart pan into oven.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until set. 10 minutes before pulling from oven, sprinkle a little sugar over almonds for some added sparkle and sweetness if you prefer.
- Pop out of tart pan and slice into 1 inch slices and serve. These bar cookies will last 5 days in you refrigerator (I prefer to keep them unsliced if storing).
Nutrition
Serving: 1 SliceCalories: 576kcalCarbohydrates: 68gProtein: 5gFat: 33gSaturated Fat: 15gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 185mgPotassium: 192mgFiber: 4gSugar: 45gVitamin A: 736IUVitamin C: 7mgCalcium: 103mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
What perfect timing for this recipe. Cranberries are being harvested in the field next to our home. A gallon of cranberries will turn up at my door! This is a gorgeous recipe. Cheers Virginia
Wow! That must be a real treat, and thank you for your compliments on my recipe, I hope you try ( with freshly harvested cranberries!) the cookie bars and adore them.
wow!! 87Roasted Butternut Squash, Apple Mac and Cheese
These look delicious and filling! Perfect for the holiday season and to bring to a holiday party. I can’t wait to make them (as soon as I acquire a tart pan)!
This recipe looks delicious!