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.
Cranberry Bars
Ingredients
- 1½ cups raw pecans
- 7 dates (remove pits)
- 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil or palm shortening
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- 6 cups fresh cranberries, picked over (discard bad ones)
- 1 cup agave nectar or honey
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
Instructions
- Place pecans and dates in a food processor and pulse until ground
- Pulse in oil and salt until mixture begins to form a ball
- Press crust into a greased 8 x 8 inch baking dish
- Bake at 350°F for 8-12 minutes until lightly browned
- To make cranberry topping, place 4 cups cranberries, honey, and orange zest in a saucepan
- Bring mixture to a boil
- Cover and reduce to a simmer 10-15 minutes, until cranberries start to dissolve
- Add remaining 2 cups cranberries and cook covered for 5 minutes
- Remove mixture from heat and cool 10 minutes
- Pour mixture over crust
- Allow bars to set in refrigerator for 90 minutes
- 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!
Abigail (Mamatouille) says
Made these today and added a peeled and grated apple, ginger, and cinnamon. Thank you for the recipe! So yum.
Elana says
Abigail, great to hear this was so yum!
Bradley says
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.
Elana says
Thanks Bradley! So glad you enjoyed these bars!
aggie sutton says
Yea! No eggs!
Elana says
Thanks Aggie! For more Egg-Free Recipes go here:
https://elanaspantry.com/diets/egg-free/
Enjoy!
Elana
Jen says
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 :-)
Elana says
Jen, I haven’t tried that so not sure, if you do please let us know how it goes :-)
Carrie says
Do you think these could be done with blueberries?
Elana says
Carrie, I haven’t tried that so not sure, if you do please let us know how it goes :-)
michelle says
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.
Elana says
Michelle, so glad to hear these turned out great!
Alissa Dirks says
Can’t wait to try these out.. they look delish and super simple to make!
Elana says
Thanks Alissa!
Chrissy says
Your day sounds sooo lovely! Like heaven! Enjoy your snow day!!! And these bars look AMAZING! Thank you!
Elana says
Thanks Chrissy!
chicky says
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
Elana says
Chicky, I haven’t tried that so not sure, if you do please let us know how it goes!
Debbie says
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!
Elana says
Debbie, so glad to hear your family loved these bars!