Homemade Cranberry Pecan Bars

Bake these delicious homemade cranberry pecan bars, and fill your home with holiday aroma. These sweet & tart bars are full of warm cranberries, and topped with a crumbly pecan mixture.

Table of Contents

1. For this recipe you’ll need these ingredients
2. Check out the recipe below, give it a try, and tell me what you think! Don’t forget to share and follow me on Pinterest and Facebook!
3. Homemade Cranberry Pecan Bars

Happy holiday cousins! I know, I know! It may be a little too early for some of you, but honey it’s right on time for me. I already have my Christmas tree up( yes, before Halloween!), and I’ve been baking a lot of holiday goods! One of the first holiday desserts that I made were these delicious homemade cranberry pecan bars! This is one of the many recipes that I must make as soon as it turns fall! There’s something about these delicious gooey warm bars that just does it for me, and once you try this recipe, you’ll see exactly what I mean!

For this recipe you’ll need these ingredients :

• all purpose flour
• granulated sugar
• baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt 
• unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 6 Cups fresh OR frozen cranberries
• unsweetened applesauce 
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• fresh orange
• vanilla extract
• almond extract
• salt
• cornstarch 
• cold water
• pecan chips

When I bake these cranberry bars, I line a 9×13 bake dish with parchment paper, and I make sure to preheat the oven to 350 F. I also like to make sure that all of my ingredients are at room temperature. This helps when I have to mix, and stir everything.

Check out the recipe below, give it a try, and tell me what you think! Don’t forget to share and follow me on Pinterest and Facebook!

Homemade Cranberry Pecan Bars

Nothing says holidays like a tart and sweet cranberry dessert! A yummy shortbread base is filled with tart cranberry filling and topped with a crumbly, crunchy pecan topping.

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Course Dessert / Treat

Cuisine American, holiday

Keyword cranberry, cranberry pecan bars, holiday dessert, holiday recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 Cups flour
• 1/2 Cups sugar
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Cup unsalted sweet cream butter softened
• 1 large egg

Cranberry filling ingredients

• 6 Cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• 2/3 Cup sugar
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 Cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• Zest of one large orange
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tbsp cold water
• 3/4 Cup pecan chips

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 9×13 baking dish with parchment paper.
• Using a standing mixer, mix together the flour, sugar, and baking powder until well combined.
• Mix in the butter until it’s nice and crumbly.
• Beat in the egg until combined. Set aside about 1 cup of the crust to use for the topping.
• Press the remaining crust into the baking dish set aside.
• Using a large saucepan, combine 3 cups of cranberries, white & brown sugar, applesauce, almond extract, vanilla extract, orange zest, and salt.
• Place the saucepan over medium heat, and bring to a boil.
• Gradually mix the cranberries.
• Once cranberries get nice and soft, reduce the heat to simmer.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, and water until combined.
• Pour cornstarch mixture into the saucepan and mix until combined.
• Cook for 2 minutes or until cranberry filling is thick
• Mix in the remaining cranberries, and spread the filling onto the prepared crust
• Sprinkle remaining crust onto the cranberry filling, and top with pecan chips.
• Bake in the oven for about 35-40 minutes, or until the top is a slight golden brown.
• Remove from the oven, and allow to cool completely before cutting into bars!
• Enjoy!

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Recipe by: I Heart Recipes