Cranberry Crunch
These cranberry crunch bars include sweet and tart cranberries with a buttery streusel-like crumble topping and base that make them the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving table this year.
Some recipes just get you talking about the old days, which is why we love them so much. Cranberry crunch is one of those recipes that gets my mother talking about her childhood. The school lunch ladies often made this around the holidays and she loved it so much that one of them gave her the recipe for it, which has led us to enjoy it for the past couple of generations. Nothing like an heirloom recipe to bring memories back to life, especially around the holidays.
You only need 5 ingredients to make this old-fashioned cranberry crunch recipe: cranberry sauce, flour, oats, butter, and brown sugar. All we’re going to do is combine our dry ingredients (flour, oats, and sugar) in a mixing bowl and then cut in the butter to make it deliciously crumbly. Then we press half of this into the bottom of our baking dish before adding all the cranberry sauce and then the remaining crumble topping.
Then you have to patiently wait for it to bake before grabbing a bowl and serving your cranberry crunch bar with a big dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. I’ve also been known to enjoy one for breakfast, too. If you’re a fan of the humble crumble, you will love cranberry crunch. The combination of tart yet sweet cranberries with the buttery streusel-like crumble topping will be the perfect addition to your holiday table this year.
Recipe Ingredients
- Whole berry cranberry sauce
- Old-fashioned oats
- Flour
- Dark or light brown sugar
- Butter
How To Make Cranberry Crunch
Place your flour, oats, and brown sugar in a large bowl.
Stir them up.
Add your butter and cut that in with a long-tined fork or pastry cutter.
It will look like this.
Now spray a pie plate or 8×8 baking dish with cooking spray.
You can see some of these pretty dishes by fellow food blogger, Ree Drummond here.
Press half of your crumble mixture into the bottom of the pie plate to form the crust for the cranberry crunch.
Top that with the entire can of cranberry sauce.
Then take that same spoon and spread it around a bit.
Sprinkle the remaining topping over the cranberry sauce.
Bake cranberry crunch at 350, uncovered, for 45 minutes to one hour, or until bubbly and golden brown.
Cranberry crunch is excellent served with whipped cream or ice cream but you can also serve it as a side dish. Enjoy!
Storage
- Store leftover cranberry crunch in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 7 days. You can serve it at room temperature, cold, or reheated either in the oven or the microwave. This is a great recipe to make ahead of time this Thanksgiving.
- You can also freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
Recipe Notes
- I use old-fashioned rolled oats but quick oats will work just as well if that is what you have on hand.
- As for brown sugar, I’m using dark because it is my very favorite, but if you have light or prefer light, knock yourself out!
- I don’t recommend using frozen or fresh cranberries for this particular cranberry crunch recipe, as the cranberry sauce has added sweetness, which is exactly what we want.
- If you like, you can add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts or chopped pecans to the crumble mix for added flavor and texture.
- Another option is to make cranberry apple crunch. Spread a cup or so of chopped apples over the cranberry sauce before adding the topping.
- Another way to add flavor is to add some spices to the topping. I’d recommend 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg.
Check out these other tasty cranberry treats:
Pumpkin Cranberry Bread With Caramel Glaze
Chewy Oatmeal Cranberry Cookie Recipe
Upside Down Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 16-ounce can whole berry cranberry sauce
- 1 cup light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine
Instructions
- Mix the oats, flour, and brown sugar together in a large bowl. Cut in the butter using a long-tined fork or pastry cutter.1 cup old-fashioned oats, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup light or dark brown sugar, 1/2 cup butter or margarine
- Press 1/2 of the crumble mixture into the bottom of a greased 8x8 baking dish.
- Spread cranberry sauce over the crust before topping it with the remaining crumbs.1 16-ounce can whole berry cranberry sauce
- Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until lightly brown. Excellent served with whipped cream or ice cream.
Nutrition
Don’t set yourself so firmly on remembering Thanksgiving’s past that you forget to put your heart into this one.
I have made this recipe for years & years- it can also be done with fresh apples & cranberries-
3 red apples, 1 bag cranberries & 1 cup sugar- mix & put in pan & add topping: 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup chopped pecans, 1 stick melted butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 3/4 tsp. salt-
mix & put on top bake at 350 for 1 hour – I changed the easy way: 2 cans whole berry cranberry sauce, 2 cans apples, 2 cans pears, 1 large pineapple chucks- drain the pears & pineapple – add same topping but
only bak 20-25 minutes
Can this be made sucessfully with less butter ??? I was thinking maybe only 1/4 of s stick instead of the whoe stick…or could it be made successfully with lower calorie /lower fat soft margarine ??? gotta watch the cholesterol issues in our family…thanks !!!
I would try substituting the low cal margarine in equal amounts first.
Christy, thank you so much for this post…I am sorely needing it right now. This has been a rough past year for my husband’s family and the fallout will most definitely cast a pall on our holidays. You see, we lost my husband’s 25 year old niece very suddenly at the end of January. She left behind a fiance and a 4 year old son, and we, her family, will be missing her deeply this holiday season. This past spring, her brother took a very important step in his life, and made the choice to enter a Christian-based rehabilitation facility, in an effort to conquer longstanding addiction issues. He is doing well, thank God, and as a result has been asked to stay on at the facility, for training to help counsel new “probationary” residents. While we are thankful for the progress he is making, and proud of his determination to pay it forward, we will not have him at our family’s Thanksgiving or Christmas celebrations this year, due to this commitment. Two other family members are going through bitter divorces in which children are involved. The anticipation of the holidays has me in knots and I confess I have been dreading the season. Until reading this post however, I had not considered the impact my feelings could have on my daughters. They too, will be feeling these losses as well and they will be looking to me for comfort. Your gentle reminder is much appreciated. On a positive note, I am very fortunate to be able to say that two of my nephews, who had been away for several months in basic training through the Air National Guard, are back and will be with us for the holidays. Thanks for the reminder to count my blessings!
Hi Sharon, I am so sorry to hear of the heartache in your family at the moment. But oh so many blessings as well! I do hope and pray that you will have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with memories full of joy and happiness!
I love your pictures and recipes but this time I LOVED the message in your story!
Thank you so much for reminding us that we need to focus on those still with us!
Wishing you and your family the best holiday season ever! Thank You again!
Christy thank you for the beautiful letter. When I was a little girl I can remember once we had all gathered around the table and blessing was said then each of us had to tell a beautiful memory we were thankful to have of someone that had went on to see Jesus. We always had every loved one at that table even though they were in Heaven looking down on us. I will definitely make this recipe as I normally do not like tart fruit or foods but can’t seem to eat dressing without cranberry sauce of some kind. Have a Blessed day Christy.
What a beautiful family tradition!
I love cranberries, and look forward to making this delicious recipe! Thank you!
I usually make my sister’s recipe for apple cranberry casserole (similar to this but with apples). But if you use up all your apples to make pies, like I did last year, this is ideal! I must try it.