Elana's Pantry

New York Times Bestselling author Elana Amsterdam founded Elana’s Pantry, the go-to website for easy, healthy, grain-free, Paleo recipes, in 2006

paleo cranberry bars

Cranberry Bars

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Tart and tangy paleo Cranberry Bars are a fan favorite! If you’re craving cranberries this gluten-free dessert recipe will hit the spot with its mouth puckering goodness. Fans love that this is an egg-free dessert. If you use agave instead of honey, it’s a great vegan dessert too!

Can you believe this entire bar is made with only 7 ingredients?! With a protein packed pecan crust and anti-oxidant rich cranberry topping, this easy dessert recipe is good for Christmas parties, Thanksgiving, kid lunches, or a healthy snack.

Print Recipe
Cranberry Bars
Serves:16bars
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Place pecans and dates in a food processor and pulse until ground
  2. Pulse in oil and salt until mixture begins to form a ball
  3. Press crust into a greased 8 x 8 inch baking dish
  4. Bake at 350°F for 8-12 minutes until lightly browned
  5. To make cranberry topping, place 4 cups cranberries, honey, and orange zest in a saucepan
  6. Bring mixture to a boil
  7. Cover and reduce to a simmer 10-15 minutes, until cranberries start to dissolve
  8. Add remaining 2 cups cranberries and cook covered for 5 minutes
  9. Remove mixture from heat and cool 10 minutes
  10. Pour mixture over crust
  11. Allow bars to set in refrigerator for 90 minutes
  12. Serve

I first made these Cranberry Bars as a tart. That was before Robyn and her kids came over for an afternoon of baking with us. She suggested making this paleo dessert as a bar, to make it a healthy snack when she is on-the-go.

I hope you love this versatile gluten-free dessert as much we do. This amazing paleo Cranberry Bars recipe has fall written all over it.

We are buried in snow today and school was canceled. It’s been snowing for 20 hours straight and we have accumulated feet, not inches. I’ve been cozying up with my gluten-free cookbook, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook, baking cookies while the boys build snow caves and sled down our street. Feels like Christmas already!

Comments

  1. Delicious and lovely, Elana! Even better the next day with coffee🙂 I love the nutty crust with the tart cranberry topping. Thank you and have a wonderful day full of blessings.

    Reply

  2. This is my favorite thanksgiving dessert. I have made it for thanksgiving dessert several years in a row. I really love these.

    Reply

    • Michelle, thanks for letting me know this is your favorite Thanksgiving dessert! I’m so happy to be part of your celebration via this recipe :-)

      Reply

  3. These bars are a family favorite on Thaksgiving! I need to make them in advance this year. Wondering how long they will stay good in the frig or if they can be frozen?

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    • Karen, thanks so much for letting me know these bars are a family favorite! I haven’t tried freezing them so not sure if that would work. I think it would be ok to make them Mon/Tues and serve on Thanksgiving day. I hope you’ll let me know what you decide to do and how it turns out :-)

      Reply

  4. Hi! Thanks for this great recipe! I just love using dates! I am wondering if you have the calorie count perhaps? Thanks!

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  6. I had to reply mostly because I have never met anyone with the same name spelling as mine!! I also can’t wait to try these! They look so yummy .

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  7. Made these today and added a peeled and grated apple, ginger, and cinnamon. Thank you for the recipe! So yum.

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  8. Nice! Wrt the protein, I added hemp hearts after the crust came out if the oven, before the cranberry went on.
    Also I didn’t add the extra 2 cups of cranberry, but threw in 1 cup of coconut flakes.

    Reply

  10. Fab recipe! I just don’t have access to fresh cranberries, I too would like to know how to use dried, or perhaps a substitute :-)

    Reply

  12. Just made these tonight for tomorrow’s dessert table. I didn’t buy enough cranberries, so I reduced it to 4 cups and they turned out great!!! Oh and I also reduced the amount of honey to 3/4 cup. Happy “paleo” Thanksgiving.

    Reply

  15. hi, am in the UK and it’s not so easy to get fresh cranberries here and the dried are expensive.

    so i have maybe one cup of dried. how would you all change the recipe to use these instead of fresh…?? ideas welcome! x

    Reply

  16. My family loved this recipe. I made a half-batch as a test since my family tends to be picky and I “have to” eat what they won’t. They thought it was divine, so I made a full batch for Thanksgiving and used the leftover filling as cranberry sauce. My husband was ecstatic! Thanks so much!

    Reply

  18. Is there an alternative for dates in this recipe? I keep seeing dates used in recipes, probably as a sweetener (?), however I don’t like dates. So I’ve avoided several recipes which call for them. Just curious what you might suggest for an alternative. BTW, I am fairly new to your blog and have enjoyed several recipes here. Thanks so much for your hard work and sharing.

    Reply

  19. May I repost this on our Cranberry Facebook page?
    Looks wonderful and my daughter just happens to be on a Gluten Free diet also!

    Reply

    • Chelle,

      Yes, you may repost as long as credit is given (see licensing text in the footer of elanaspantry.com)

      Thanks!

      Reply

  20. Really great, I did find the crust a little too salty when i first made this, so i added in a touch (literally a tiny drizzle) of agave. I found this in the pie crust recipe too, maybe i need to make sure that i’m not putting in heaping 1/4 teaspoons or whatever.
    This recipe is super delicious though. Made it for Thanksgiving and it was a hit. I love the combination of the more and less cooked cranberries, always the best way to go, so that you get those little “pops” exploding cranberries in your mouth!

    Reply

  22. These were a huge hit at my house. I easily could have halved the cranberries to make it less expensive (I used organic) and it still would have been delightful. I kept them at room temperature– they were best the next day after setting all night. I also used 3/4 c. honey instead of agave b/c I didn’t have any agave on hand– turned out great. Thanks for this recipe, definitely a keeper! I think I’ll try it with other fruits too!

    Reply

  23. Going to make this tonight for my family! Better they snack on this than the mini candy bars. Thinking I may drizzle it in some chocolate too.

    Reply

  26. If those taste anywhere near as good as they look, well I might eat the whole pan myself!

    I never know how to use up a bag of fresh cranberries. Thanks for inspiration!

    Reply

  27. This looks amazing–I have a few pounds of fresh cranberries and will definitely be making this for the Halloween parties I’m attending this weekend.

    Thank you so much for your wonderful recipes!

    Reply

  28. Not only have I discovered a lovely snack recipe but a wonderful crust-substitution for all my old cheesecake recipes. Nut crusts instead of cookie-based crusts… I love it!

    Reply

  32. I’m a gluten-free, fish and seafood free blogger that loves cooking and being a young professional.
    Elana, your blog is inspiring and I always enjoy seeing what delicious foods you make!

    Reply

  33. I love how simple this recipe is! And it looks so delicious too. Perfect for the holidays.

    Reply

  34. These look wonderful. This will be my first holiday season baking and cooking low glycemic and gluten free – so I really appreciate how easy you’re making it for me! Thanks for all your ideas and yummy recipes.

    Reply

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