Oatmeal Cranberry Bars
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Layers of oats, fresh cranberries and a delicious crumb topping make up these Oatmeal Cranberry Bars. They’re perfect for the holiday season and easy to make gluten free! Whip these up for a sweet Christmas breakfast or wonderful winter snack.
Originally inspired by my gluten free recreation of Starbucks Blueberry Oatmeal Bars, these bars are the perfect way to use fresh cranberries when they’re in season! And when they’re out of season, you can still make them anytime of the year with frozen cranberries!
Table of contents
Can we talk about how gorgeous these bars are for just a minute? I mean in addition to being totally delicious, the bright bursts of cranberry also make these bars so beautiful!
Are they breakfast, dessert, a sweet snack? Yes, yes and yes! They can be all of the above! My family has been making the Blueberry Oatmeal Bars for years and will eat them for breakfast or a mid-day snack.
I took these Oatmeal Cranberry Bars to a holiday party this year and they were a HUGE HIT! People have actually been asking me for two weeks when the recipe would hit the blog!
I also plan to make two batches of these Oatmeal Cranberry Bars to keep around the week of Christmas for people to snack during the day or dig into in the mornings. No matter whether you serve these bars around the holidays or whip them up on a winter weekend, this is a great recipe that I guarantee will be a hit!
Ingredients
- All purpose flour
- Brown sugar
- Butter
- Rolled oats
- Baking powder
- Sea salt
- Cranberries – fresh or frozen cranberries will work just fine in this recipe, with no alterations needed. I recommend buying a few bags of fresh cranberries while they’re in season at the grocery store and storing them in the freezer. That way, you’ll always have a bag on hand!
- Ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Prepare the oatmeal base.
- Spray a 9″ x 13″ baking dish with cooking spray.
- Quick tip! You can also line the baking pan with parchment paper for easy removal of the bars after they’ve baked and cooled completely.
- Combine flour, brown sugar, rolled oats, baking powder and sea salt together in a large bowl.
- Add cold, cubed butter and mix with your hands to form a crumbly mixture.
- Press the mixture into the prepared pan.
- Spray a 9″ x 13″ baking dish with cooking spray.
- Add the cranberries and brown sugar crumble.
- Spread a layer of fresh or frozen cranberries over the oatmeal base.
- In a small bowl, combine flour, brown sugar and ground cinnamon.
- Add cold, cubed butter and mix into a course crumble.
- Sprinkle the brown sugar crumble over the cranberries.
- Bake the oatmeal cranberry bars.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Place the cranberry bars in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the cranberries begin to burst and the crumble is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing into the bars.
- Note: If you try to slice the bars before they’re cool, they will likely crumble and fall apart. For guaranteed nice, uniformly sliced bars, wait 1 hour and allow the bars to cool completely before slicing.
How to make them gluten free
Simply replace the all-purpose flour with a 1 to 1 gluten free flour and make sure the oats used are gluten free.
As I mentioned, the original inspiration for these Oatmeal Cranberry Bars came from my Gluten Free Blueberry Oatmeal Bars, so I can guarantee you that the gluten free version is just as delicious as the original version of this recipe!
Should I refrigerate uneaten bars?
The bars do not have to be refrigerated, but I do recommend it to make them last longer. Stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, they will last 5-7 days.
If you don’t want to eat them cold, straight from the refrigerator, you can reheat them in the microwave on a plate for 30 seconds.
More cranberry recipes
If you love these Oatmeal Cranberry Bars, then you’re also going to love these 5 easy cranberry recipes!
- Cranberry Apple Sangria – made with fresh cranberries & cranberry juice, this sangria recipe is not to be missed during the fall & winter months!
- Goat Cheese Ball with Cranberries & Rosemary – the perfect holiday party snack, these cheese ball made with dried cherries is easy to make in 10 minutes!
- Maple Cranberry Walnut Monkey Bread – hello brunch! Maple syrup, dried cranberries and walnuts add extra fall flavor to already delicious monkey bread!
- Cranberry Pomegranate Waffles – the most gorgeous waffles you’ll ever make!
- Cranberry Brie Ham Sliders – cranberry sauce and melted brie cheese will make these sliders the hit of any holiday party!
Oatmeal Cranberry Bars
Ingredients
Cranberry Oatmeal Bars
- ¾ cup flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 cups rolled oats
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¾ cup butter, cold & cubed
- 3 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
Brown Sugar Crumble
- 2 tablespoons flour
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, baking powder and sea salt for the oatmeal bars together in a large bowl.
- Add the butter and mix with your hands to form a crumbly mixture.
- Press the mixture into a 9 inch by 13 inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
- Spread the cranberries evenly over the top.
- Combine the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon for the crumble in a small bowl.
- Add the remaining butter, mix into a course crumble and sprinkle over the cranberries.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes.
- Allow to cool AT LEAST 30 minutes before slicing into bars.
Video
Notes
- Storage: these bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days, or in the refrigerator for 5-7 days.
- Gluten free: these bars are just as delicious made gluten free. Simply substitute gluten free flour for the all purpose flour and make sure to use gluten free oats.
Nutrition Facts
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30 Comments on “Oatmeal Cranberry Bars”
These are delicious!
The photo shows the 9×13 covered with cranberries. I doubled the amount to 4 cups of cranberries to achieve that. The crust is verrrrry crumbly…I will add a bit more butter or less dry. The topping is very scant so I made 1 1/2 the amount. It turned out very good with these modifications.
This recipe was very good! I suggest cooking it 7 minutes less as mine was burnt on the bottom. We chopped it up and used it like granola.
We love making these for the whole family! They are great for everyone since they are gluten free!
I’m trying t o make healthy bars for my grandkids. These are so tasty I bag them and put them in a container in freezer. They are excellent Cold!
I love these bars, and so does every one I make them for at Christmas. my husband told a family member that I would make them for the celebration of life, in April. I unfortunately did not have any cranberries in the freezer. I went to the store to try and find some in the freezer isle, with no luck. Everyone was disappointed that I didn’t have the CRANBERRY bars.
just wondering how well these freeze. I’d like to make ahead of time for Thanksgiving. thanks Lila
Hi Lila, unfortunately I’ve never tried freezing them, but I would recommend freezing them before they’re baked, then defrosting them overnight in the refrigerator and baking them fresh for Thanksgiving. Hope this helps!
These are so good! I’ve made and frozen them with no problem!!
Amazing flavor! I love fresh cranberries in practically everything! I chop fresh cranberries that I freeze in bags all year long. I also doubled the streusel topping. I plan to freeze the squares for upcoming company breakfast.
Loved these! I switched out the brown sugar for this Truvia (stevia) brown sugar because I have to limit sugar intake but they turned out amazing. So I can eat more than one right? Lol
So happy to hear that Melissa, go ahead and treat yourself to at least 2 😉
These are delicious. Reading other people’s remarks, I doubled the topping. The bottom came out very crunchy and the top soft and delicious. I will definitely make these again.
Yay! So glad you enjoyed them Joanne!
The crust is the best bar crust I have ever had! The bars were fantastic! I am going to make strawberry rhubarb bars right now with the crust recipe and it will be my go to crust from now on. Thank you so much.
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it Valorie! We use the same crust to make blueberry bars all the time, but I think we’re going to have to try your idea for strawberry rhubarb next, sounds delicious!
These turned out fantastic! Is the nutritional value you posted for the entire recipe? Or a portion? Trying to figure out how many bars im allowed each day lol!
Haha! I totally get it, it’s so hard not to eat half the pan! The nutritional information is per serving and the entire recipe makes 12 servings. So glad you enjoyed the recipe Harmony!
Thanks for this recipe! It’s perfect 🙂 have you ever added coconut to it?
Thanks Roxy! I haven’t, but that sounds like a great addition!
I could see the crumble was sparse so doubled it right off. Might even 3x except for extra calories. I also added a handful of raisens & almonds for crunch to the bottom mixture. Excellent recipe, thank you!
Thanks for this recipe, I made it tonight and it was delicious! I may double the crumble topping next time because I love that part.
Forgot to include the rating!
Wonderful Bridget, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
These were satisfying and surprisingly full of flavor! The entire pan didn’t last 24 hours. Next time I might throw in some extra fruit and see how that goes & play with some substitutes- though the recipe as it is written is excellent!
Yay!! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe Lizzie!
Can these bars be made with instant oatmeal?
Hi Bobbi, I usually do not recommend instant oatmeal for baking because it’s cut too fine. I recommend using rolled oats in this recipe.
Can these bars be made using cherries instead?
Hi Elaine, I haven’t personally tried them with cherries, but I see no reason why not! I’ve also made these bars with both blueberries and raspberries.