Cranberry Crumb Bars

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These tart yet sweet cranberry crumb bars are a perfect addition to your Thanksgiving day feast. Cranberries have been ridiculously cheap for the upcoming holiday and I couldn’t pass up these tart red berries. I won’t go into exactly how many bags I bought 🙂 , but my freezer and refrigerator is well stocked. For this recipe you can use fresh or frozen cranberries.

If you use frozen, don’t worry about thawing, just throw them into the pan and bake! This recipe uses almond meal which if you cannot find in your local grocery store, you can easily make your own. Just throw some almonds in a food processor and pulse until ground. Be careful not to pulse too much or you will end up with almond butter! This was the first time I had used almond meal in a recipe. It is commonly used as an alternative to wheat flour for low carb, gluten-free or no-grain diets.

I could not find any in my local grocery store so I ended up making my own. The almond meal gives these cranberry bars a nice nutty flavor and an extra boost of protein. Give these crumb bars a try for a wonderful breakfast, snack, or non traditional Thanksgiving dessert.

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Cranberry Crumb Bars

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Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup [almond meal]
1 cup cold butter, 2 sticks
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
juice of 1/2 of an orange, about 3 tablespoons
4 cups fresh cranberries
2/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon cornstarch

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 9×13 inch pan. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up the two short sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. Spray with nonstick spray.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together 1 cup sugar, flour, almond flour, salt and baking powder. Add the butter and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture. Mix on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small peas. Mix in the egg until it all comes together. Pat half of the dough into the prepared pan. Place reserved half aside.
In another bowl, stir together 2/3 cup sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, and orange juice. Mix in the cranberries. Sprinkle the cranberry mixture evenly over the dough in the pan.
Add 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon to the remaining dough, then crumble dough over the berries. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until top is a light golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack then transfer to the refrigerator to chill before cutting into squares. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.