Paleo Cranberry Bars

These Paleo Cranberry Bars are a great way to use up leftover cranberry sauce!

You just need 5 ingredients to make these wholesome bars with a shortbread crust and a crumb topping.

Plus this Paleo cranberry dessert is gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free and vegan!

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Paleo Cranberry Bars

One of the best parts of Thanksgiving is, of course, the leftovers.

And while leftover cranberry sauce is perfectly fine on its own, why not use it to create a simple, wholesome treat?

These Paleo cranberry crumb bars are great either as a dessert or a snack.

With only five ingredients, they’re so easy to make.

And when those ingredients are whole, natural foods like ground almonds and maple syrup, you can feel good about them.

I use my Paleo and Whole30-friendly Date and Orange Cranberry Sauce but you can use whatever cranberry sauce you have on hand.

And if you need another Paleo leftover cranberry sauce recipe idea, check out my Leftover Cranberry Sauce Vinaigrette with 3 variations!

 

What you need for Paleo Cranberry Bars

Ingredients:

• a heaping half cup of cranberry sauce (about 9 heaping tablespoons), such as my Date & Orange Cranberry Sauce
• 1/2 cup palm shortening
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2.5 cups superfine blanched almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

 

Equipment:

• an 8×8″ baking dish
• parchment paper
• measuring cups
• measuring spoons
• a large mixing bowl
• a medium mixing bowl (microwave safe)
• a whisk
• a spatula (the kind for stirring, not flipping)
• a cooling rack
• a knife for cutting the bars

How to make Paleo Cranberry Bars

Line the 8×8″ baking dish with parchment paper. Make sure the paper comes far enough up the sides so you can lift the bars out after they’ve baked.

If your cranberry sauce is especially thick and difficult to spread, mix it with a bit of water to loosen it up.

In a medium microwave-safe mixing bowl, melt the palm shortening in the microwave (should take about 60-90 seconds). Let cool slightly.

Whisk in the maple syrup and vanilla until blended.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the almond flour and salt.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles wet sand and clumps easily if you squeeze it with your hand.

Remove 1/3 cup of the mixture and set aside.

Pour the mixture (not the 1/3 cup) into the lined baking dish and use your hand to press it into an even layer.

Chill both the dish and the reserved 1/3 cup mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350°.

Bake the shortbread crust in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove it from the oven but leave the oven on.

Carefully spread the cranberry sauce evenly over the crust (no need to wait for the crust to cool so be careful, the dish will be hot).

Depending on how thick the sauce is, you might need a bit more to fill any gaps.

Remove the reserved 1/3 cup crust mixture from the fridge and use your hands to crumble it evenly over the jam.

Return the dish to the oven and bake for another 25-30 minutes, or until the crumbs on top become lightly golden.

Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Let cool completely.

Use the parchment paper to lift the bars out of the pan onto a cutting board.

You can cut 2 down and 2 across to create 9 large bars.

You can then cut those bars in half to create either 2 smaller rectangles or 2 triangles for 18 pieces total.

Or instead you can cut 3 down and 3 across to create 16 smaller bars.

Make ahead and storage

Once full cooled, you can chill the bars in the fridge for up to 5 days. The longer it sits, the more the crumb topping might start to dissolve into the cranberry sauce layer.

You can also freeze the bars for up to one month. To freeze the whole batch before you cut it, use the parchment paper to remove it from the baking dish. Then wrap the entire bar in plastic wrap and place in an airtight container or baggie. Freeze flat on a shelf so it doesn’t bend or break.

Or you can wrap individual bars in plastic wrap and place in an airtight container or baggie.

Thaw frozen bars overnight in the fridge.

 

Substitutions and variations

• You can use honey instead of maple syrup (but then it won’t be completely vegan)
• I haven’t tried using anything other than palm shortening. If you do (such as ghee or coconut oil), please let me know how it goes!
• If you want a nuttier flavor, you can replace the vanilla extract with 1/4 teaspoon almond extract and scatter sliced almonds on top before baking.

 

Other recipes you might like:

1. Paleo Crumb Bars – any flavor!
2. Date & Orange Cranberry Sauce (Paleo, Whole30)
3. Leftover Cranberry Sauce Vinaigrette – 3 ways! (Paleo, Whole30 vegan)
4. Crunchy Chewy No-Bake Breakfast Bars (Paleo, vegan)

 

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