And now for my favorite part of our Friendsgiving meal: dessert! This year I decided to make cranberry and vanilla bean pie bars topped with vanilla ice cream. These were the perfect combination of tart and sweetness coupled with plenty of pie crumb goodness. Great way to end a good meal with friends. 🙂
We were stoked to partner with the Cranberry Marketing Committee again for this post (and our cranberry wreaths) as Such a fun, tart flavor and the bright pop of red that they add to everything is just the best. Cranberries are naturally festive. 🙂 And they make great pie bars. Let’s discuss.
Cranberry and Vanilla Bean Pie Bars, makes one 9×11 inch pan which is roughly 14 bars depending how you slice it.
*You could easily cut this recipe in half and bake in an 8×8 square pan if you are serving less at your event.
18 oz. fresh cranberries
1 cup brown sugar
seeds from one vanilla bean
juice from 1 lemon
1 1/2 teaspoons corn starch
1 1/2 cups cold butter (3 sticks)
1 cup powdered sugar
3 cups flour, all purpose
3-4 tablespoons cream or cold water
To make the filling, combine the cranberries, brown sugar, vanilla bean seeds and lemon juice in a large pot with a lid. Cook on medium heat with the lid on for 5-6 minutes until the berries begin to soften and release their juices. Continue to cook for an additional 3-4 minutes so that some of the juice begins to evaporate.
Then, stir in the corn starch to thicken the filling. I like to dust the corn starch in through a fine mesh sieve when I add it to avoid getting any big clumps.
After another minute or two on the heat your filling should be done. You should be able to drag a spoon through it and it will leave a trail and then quickly seep back in. So it’s not quite as thick or gelatinous as jelly, more like a chunky sauce.
Then make the pie crust by mixing together the cold butter, powdered sugar and flour. You can use a pastry blender or your clean hands for this step. (I usually use my hands. Remember to take any rings off you don’t want covered in dough.) Blend until your mix resembles very small pebbles.
Then, add a few tablespoons of cream or cold water and stir until a loose dough ball forms. If the mix seems too dry to hold together, add a little more water or cream.
Divide the dough in half. In a rectangle baking pan lined with parchment paper plop half the dough in and press into place. It doesn’t have to look like a perfect rectangle, but do try to keep the thickness fairly uniform throughout. Bake this for 12 minutes at 350°F.
Then spoon the filling onto the crust and spread. Top with the remaining dough. Just crumble it all over the top. Bake for an additional 25-30 minutes until the top crust begins to brown.
You can make the filling and dough ahead and just bake when you’re ready, or you can go ahead and bake the bars a day before and rewarm them in the oven briefly before serving. I chose to do the latter so that my event went super smooth—I’m a make-everything-you-can-ahead kind of hostess. 🙂 Top warm bars with ice cream and watch them disappear. Enjoy! xo. Emma
Grab this guide to see our Top 25 Recipes of all time!
Free Popular Recipe Guide
Our top 25 recipes of all time!
Get the Recipe
Ingredients
- 18 oz. cranberries (fresh)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- seeds from one vanilla bean
- juice from 1 lemon
- 1 ½ teaspoons corn starch
- 1 ½ cups cold butter (3 sticks)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 cups flour (all purpose)
- 3-4 tablespoons cream or cold water
Instructions
- To make the filling, combine the cranberries, brown sugar, vanilla bean seeds and lemon juice in a large pot with a lid. Cook on medium heat with the lid on for 5-6 minutes until the berries begin to soften and release their juices. Continue to cook for an additional 3-4 minutes so that some of the juice begins to evaporate. Then, stir in the corn starch to thicken the filling. I like to dust the corn starch in through a fine mesh sieve when I add it to avoid getting any big clumps.
- After another minute or two on the heat your filling should be done. You should be able to drag a spoon through it and it will leave a trail and then quickly seep back in. So it's not quite as thick or gelatinous as jelly, more like a chunky sauce.
- Then make the pie crust by mixing together the cold butter, powdered sugar and flour. You can use a pastry blender or your clean hands for this step. (I usually use my hands. Remember to take any rings off you don't want covered in dough.) Blend until your mix resembles very small pebbles. Then add a few tablespoons of cream or cold water and stir until a loose dough ball forms. If the mix seems too dry to hold together, add a little more water or cream.
- Divide the dough in half. In a rectangle baking pan lined with parchment paper plop half the dough in and press into place. It doesn't have to look like a perfect rectangle, but do try to keep the thickness fairly uniform throughout. Bake this for 12 minutes at 350°F.
- Then spoon the filling onto the crust and spread. Top with the remaining dough. Just crumble it all over the top. Bake for an additional 25-30 minutes until the top crust begins to brown.
- You can make the filling and dough ahead and just bake when you're ready, or you can go ahead and bake the bars a day before and rewarm them in the oven briefly before serving.
Notes
Credits // Author: Emma Chapman. Photography: Collin Dupree and Emma Chapman.
This was sooooo yummy! Even the pickiest among us ate it on Thanksgiving. I’ve been happily eating the leftovers all weekend.
These are incredible!!!!
Just want to let you guys know that I’ve been making these every year since I saw this post. They go so quickly, that I usually have to hide some so that I can eat them too!
Nice photos and looks dleicious 🙂
Maria V.
It looks so delicious! =D
Yum! I did not get enough cranberry goodness for Thanksgiving this year, so I may have to make up with it by baking these over Christmas. 🙂
Caitlin – I made these without the vanilla bean and used a good vanilla extract. The conversion ratio I found was 1t of extract per 1″ of vanilla bean. I had one that was earmarked for another recipe and it was 7″ long, so I used the 7t of extract and I think it came out delicious! It was a huge hit and will become a regular treat for us.
These look so delicious!
I am definitely making these for Thanksgiving! How many cups is 18oz of cranberries? I don’t have a scale and I can only find 12oz bags of fresh cranberries. Also, I can’t find vanilla bean, can I substitute vanilla extract?
My sister saw this post as she walked by my computer and now she’s obsessed. I guess I’ll be making these for her soon lol. They look great, I’ll let you know how they go!
This looks DELICIOUS and I would love to try it! However in my country finding fresh cranberries might be next to impossible (it sucks I know) so I was wondering if using dry cranberries is an option?
these look insanely good!
TrudyJohanna x
Oh my word these look good! I want to eat them RIGHT NOW.
xo Heather
Your recipes are vey delicious, congrats for your blog!
http://www.inatrendytown.com
Look delish!
Love your cutlery as well. I have the same but only use it for photo shoots for my blog. 😉
These pie bars look amazing!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
This looks so perfectly delicious, thank you for the recipe! You always make such heavenly things
https://makeandmess.com/
I MUST TRY THESE! They look absolutely amazing!
this look so good NEW POST : One Fine Day at Etnica | YOUTUBE CHANNEL
looks great
a little casual for T day but I like the idea of mixing up the fruits as previously mentioned
interested in messing around with the recipe thank you