If you’re craving something sweet and tart with a buttery, crumbly crust, these Gluten-Free Cranberry Shortbread Bars are the perfect treat. Each bite is filled with sweet, tart cranberries and buttery shortbread, with just the right touch of sweetness. Whether you’re using fresh cranberries or holiday leftovers, this easy recipe is a festive favorite you’ll want to make again and again.
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Cranberries are one of those treasured holiday ingredients we love. Their sweet-tart flavor works well in recipes ranging from sweet to savory. I couldn’t wait to share this new recipe with you.
I am on sweets overload here, and I had to freeze several to hide them from myself. I have been recipe testing, tasting, and eating a lot lately, and I needed to make some of the sweets disappear.
If you love cranberries as much as I do, wait until you try this gluten-free cranberry bread!! These cranberry shortbread cookies would taste amazing with vanilla ice cream served on top! If you love cranberry sauce, you will also want to try my Gluten-Free Cranberry Hand Pies.
Ingredient Notes:
- Gluten-Free Flour Blend – I tested this recipe using Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Blend and King Arthur Measure for Measure. Other blends may work, but you may need to adjust the moisture levels according to the blend used.
- Xanthan Gum – If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum or guar gum, please add 3/4 teaspoon.
- Butter – Use unsalted butter. For dairy-free, use vegan butter.
- Fresh Cranberries – Pick out any mushy berries. You can also use leftover cranberry sauce instead of making your own.
A Note From My Kitchen
These bars were born from a holiday baking frenzy. I had too many sweets piling up on the counter and knew I needed to stash some in the freezer before I ate them all! The bright, tangy cranberries paired so well with the rich shortbread base that I knew I had to share the recipe with you.
This recipe works well with both fresh cranberries and leftover cranberry sauce. I tested it using Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 and King Arthur Measure for Measure blends. If you’re using a different gluten-free flour blend, you may need to adjust moisture levels slightly. For a dairy-free version, vegan butter works well in both the crust and topping.
How to Make Gluten-Free Cranberry Bars:
Step 1: Add the whole cranberries and the remaining cranberry sauce ingredients to a pot and bring to a boil. Don’t be surprised if you hear some popping noise. Occasionally stir the mixture and smash some of the cranberries against the side of the pot to crush them.
Step 2: Add your dry ingredients to a bowl. Whisk to blend. Add the cold butter in chunks to the bowl. Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter until your crust is crumbly. (You can also use a food processor to do this.) Add the rest of the wet ingredients and mix into crust.
👀 Sandi Says: If you don’t have a pastry blender, freeze the butter and use a large cheese grater to shred the butter into the flour mixture.
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Step 3: Add 3/4 of the crust dough to a greased 8×8 baking dish. (Save the other 1/4 to be used for the crumble topping.) Press the dough down into the baking dish. Bake the crust at 350°F for 8 minutes.
Step 4: Pour the cranberry sauce mixture over the partially baked shortbread. Spread it out to cover the shortbread crust.
Step 5: Crumble the remaining shortbread mixture over the cranberries. Bake. Allow to cool completely before slicing.
Flavor Variations:
Feel free to customize this recipe. Fresh cranberries are hard to find year-round, so feel free to substitute your favorite fruit, such as blue, black, or strawberries!
- Fruit Swap – Try blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, or a jam layer instead of cranberries. I have a version of Gluten-Free Blueberry Bars with an oat crumble.
- Add chopped pecans to the bottom shortbread layer
- Add white chocolate chips!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Yes! This recipe is perfect for using up extra sauce from Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Look for the fruit layer to bubble up at the edges and the topping to be lightly golden.
Keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 4 months.
More Gluten-Free Cookie Recipes:
If you love baking cookies and cookie bars, I have a ton of great gluten-free cookie bar recipes. I can’t wait to hear which is your favorite!
Love This Recipe?
Did you make these cranberry shortbread bars? Leave a comment below and let me know how they turned out, especially which flour blend you used! Your feedback helps other readers, and it helps me continue to create better recipes for you.
Gluten-Free Cranberry Bars with Crumble Topping
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ¼ cups gluten free flour blend
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup cane sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons water for the crust (Add one then if you need more add accordingly)
Cranberry Layer
- 1 package fresh cranberries
- ½ cup cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup orange juice and zest of one orange
For Crumble
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º F.
- In a large bowl, whisk your gluten-free flour, xanthan gum (if needed), and sugar. Add cold butter in chunks and cut it into the flour using a pastry blender until the mixture forms coarse crumbs.
- Don't have a pastry blender? Freeze the butter and grate it into the flour using a box grater for an easy shortcut.
- Add the water to form a dough. Pour 3/4 of the crust into a greased 8×8 pan.
- Grease an 8×8-inch pan, or line it with parchment paper. Press ¾ of the shortbread dough evenly into the bottom. Bake the crust at 350°F for 5-8 minutes, just until the edges begin to set.
- In a small pot, combine cranberries, orange juice, zest, and sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer until the berries burst and the sauce thickens slightly. Stir often and gently press some berries against the pot to help them pop and break down.
- Let the cranberry mixture cool for 5 minutes.
- Spread the cranberry mixture over the warm shortbread crust, using a spoon or spatula to smooth it into an even layer.
- Take the remaining 1/4 crust mixture and add the brown sugar to it, Mix with a fork to crumble it.
- Sprinkle the crumble over the cranberry layer as a crumble topping. Return to the oven and bake for 22-25 minutes, or until the topping is lightly golden and the fruit is bubbling at the edges.
- Cool completely before slicing for clean squares. Chilling the bars helps them firm up and slice more easily.
Notes
- I have tested this recipe with King Arthur Measure for Measure GF, Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF blend, and Authentic Foods Multi Blend. That doesn’t mean others will not work, I just have not tested other flours.
- If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain Xanthan Gum or Guar Gum, please add 3/4 teaspoon.
- To make this recipe dairy-free, substitute the butter with vegan butter.
- These bars will keep up to 4 days in an airtight container, or up to 4 months in the freezer.
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SPECIAL NOTE
Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, my rule of thumb is to add more flour if your dough or batter is wet and add more liquid if the dough or batter is too dry!
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
I truly hope you enjoy this recipe. I have been testing and creating gluten-free recipes for over 15 years. Creating gluten-free recipes that do not taste gluten-free is my goal for every recipe. Sometimes I only have to test a new recipe a couple of times, and others it takes multiple times. I do this so you get reliable, delicious results every time!
What does this mean? Water is water crust?
1-2 tablespoons water crust (Add one then if you need more add accordingly)
Hi Bee, the water if for the crust. It looks like the note (starting at crust, wasn’t italicized.)
I gave this recipe two tries because the flavors were so good the first time, even though the crust was an absolute fail. So liquidy it would not set up at all. It’s bizarre, because other shortbread crusts call for double the amount of flour, so I suspect this is why so many reviewers commented that the crust didn’t work or needed to be cooked for double the amount of time. I HATE wasting ingredients, especially GF flour, so I won’t make this recipe again.
Hi Jennie, I did a search in all 14,000+ comments, and I do not see you wrote to me about your first try making these bars. I wish you did because I could have helped you troubleshoot so it would have turned out this time. Every gluten-free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If your shortbread was liquidy, that tells me you used a very starch heavy flour blend. You don’t mention the blend you used, or how wet your cranberry sauce was. When you have this happen, you need to add more flour. This recipe is tried and true, but it does depend on the flour blend. I make these bars every year, and I get a lot of comments from folks who love this recipe. I am always happy to help troubleshoot my recipes and I am happy to help.
Was this written by AI. The ingredient list doesn’t match the recipe. I’m half way through and at a loss. There is no mention in the ingredients of what liquid to add to the cranberries or how much. I guess I’m going to have to make the rest up?
Hi Susan, I agree it is important to be suspicious of AI, but I can 100% guarantee that none of my recipes are AI. It sounds like you didn’t hit the Jump to Recipe button OR scroll to the recipe card. To accuse me when the full ingredients and amounts are there is unkind. I have a note, italicized, under the How to Make section that the full recipe is down below. I believe you only saw the step by step photos that I include for readers who want to see how it is made step by step.
I think I understand why Susan had the question she did. I did scroll down to the recipe card and was also wondering what was missed. The photo makes it appear as though there should be some type of cream cheese type layer between bottom crust and cranberry filling. I will admit I was disappointed that there wasn’t that creamy layer I was anticipating, but plan to try the recipe anyway. Thanks so much for creating this cranberry bar.
I am a bit confused as I don’t see any creamy layer. I think it is just the light reflecting on the shortbread crust. You could try a cream cheese layer, but if you want this, this gluten-free raspberry bar recipe has more of creamy dollops of cream cheese that bake into the top. This way you avoid any soggy crust from the cream cheese spread over the crust dough.
I’ve made these before and everybody loved them, but this time I tried Vio Life plant based butter, which is coconut based, and it didn’t work at all. The dough actually turned into liquid. They were still good, but with a dense candy-like base. I also used Mykono’s and had the same result with the lemon short bread. I suspect any butter that is coconut based will have the same problem because it has such a low melt point.
Hi Janet, I haven’t tried this recipe with VioLife. I have used Smart Balance in this recipe with good results.