Cranberry Cookie Bars
I always have left over cranberry sauce and never know what to do with it. Due to my preference for sweets and distinct lack of interest in turkey (or any other kind) of sandwiches that only use a teaspoon or two at a time anyway, it is always a challenge to use up. I’ve finally found something that tastes great and uses a lot at once – cookies!
These aren’t really anything original, mostly replacing the traditional raspberry jam with the cranberry sauce in a very simple cookie crumble dough, but it was a nice combination and looks very festive.
Printable Recipe for Cranberry Cookie Bars
Ingredients:
3 cups flour
3 cups powdered sugar
3 cups ground toasted pecans or walnuts
1 1/2 cups butter
1/12 teaspoons cinnamon
3 cups cranberry sauce
Procedure:
Heat the oven to 375 degrees. In a 9 x 13 pan, place a piece of foil across the bottom and spray with vegetable spray. (I do have better pans but of course I like to use the ugly one – oh well didn’t really notice until I saw the picture.)
Make a foil lifter
In a large bowl stir all the ingredients except cranberry sauce together mixing well. Using your fingers, make sure that there are “lumps” and pieces to give it some texture.
Mix
Pour all but 2 cups of the dough into the pan and flatten it out using the heel of your hand or a cup. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the crust is golden brown.
Press dough in the pan
Cover with the cranberry sauce.
Add the filling
Crumble the remaining dough on top, keeping various sized chunks and leaving some open space. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.
Crumble the dough on top
Cool then remove from the pan using the foil handles and cut into pieces. Sprinkle with a little powdered sugar and serve.
Cranberry Cookie Bars
Enjoy!
wow, looks fantastic!
What a clever thing to do with cranberry sauce! I absolutely cranberry sauce so I’m printing this recipe to try ! With my sweettooth, I’d probably make these year round! Thanks for sharing!
Yummm, do I have to wait until I have leftover cranberry sauce;)
These look so wonderful!
They look lovely! what a great idea!
Can you email me a batch!!!!
I wish I could figure out a way to do that – it would definitely save on the holiday shipping!
It looks so good, but too bad I hate baking 🙁
These are gorgeous and a handy solution 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Latest: Rich Sticky Date Pudding w/ Butterscotch Sauce
Just made these and they are so easy and delicious! Thanks for the great idea!
3 cups of leftover cranberry sauce? The recipe looks delicious but I can’t imagine having this much leftovers.
I know, I made way too much because I just used the while bag of cranberries and then had a smaller than usual crowd.
Can I make and freeze?
Sure, they will freeze nicely and should last a couple months or more if wrapped well.