Cranberry Crunch
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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.
Christy – Thanks for sharing the Thanksgiving story. We also played in the leaves after a BIG turkey dinner. As we grew older we had the tradition of the whole family raking the leaves for Mom after we lost our Dad. A good way to work off some of that dinner. A newer tradtion we have is after dinner all the girls take a long walk on the golf course that I live on to see who has turned on their Christmas lights and trees. Each year we see more and more Christmas decor up early and turned on. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday to honor family tradition.
Oh Sandy, what a wonderful tradition!!! you’re definitely in the “memory maker” category!!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING
Gratefully,
Christy
One more tradition is in the making and it involves you…..my brother/sister-in-law will be heading out I-70 west to Denver (from St. Louis area) for the holidays …….when they arrive the whole family forms an assembly line making your chicken and dumplings….their family loves it and say it rivals Cracker Barrels. From Bama to St. Louis to Denver with Love !!
WOW, what a fun tradition!!! And I am thrilled to be a part of it. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family!!!
YUM YUM YUM! I have got to make this for Thanksgiving!
Girl, your story brought tears to my eyes! I love ya Christy, even tho we have never met I feel as tho you are family! Hope this Thanksgiving blesses you so much, and your family!
I feel the same way about you, Vickie. We need to fix that whole “never met” situation one of these days!
Gratefully,
Christy
Love, love, love anything with cranberries, so you can bet I’m goona make this for Thanksgiving dinner! Can’t wait to try it; if it came from you, I know it will be good!
~blushes~ Thank you Kathy!!! you are so sweet!!!
Gratefully,
Christy
~blushes some more~
Now I have perma-grin!
You just made me really excited about Thanksgiving with that story…I sometimes get bogged down in the thoughts of who won’t be at the table this year because they have passed on. But you are so right we are in the process of making those same special memories for our children…I know that my memories are precious and I treasure them…I want my daughter to have the same wonderful memories that I was given by those that loved me. Thanks for a fresh uplifting perspective.
Thank YOU for understanding my heart and taking time to be so sweet to me!
Gratefully,
Christy
Sweet sweet Christy, happy holidays to you darlin’!! I heard you already decorated for Christmas – I’m about ready myself! The holidays are always hard for me. Mama & daddy died far too young (cancer) & my brother & sister live away. Lots of folks have passed on & are missing now & with remarriages my only son & grandkids are so scattered about between too many relatives. Modern life!
Oh isn’t that the drawback of this modern world? I miss the old days when Families all lived in the same “holler” :). I’m so sorry about your parents, Mary, but you have always been the epitome of a Southern Mama holding the family together. Hard to believe you’re a grandmama now, too!
I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving, but I know your family will because of you.
Love to you
CJ
I understand your post completely. My mother passed away Oct. 21, and I’m making her special coconut cake Thanksgiving Day in memory of her. I can’t tell you how thankful I am to have her recipe. It will always be a precious reminder of how much she loved us.
Amen, and everyone will feel your love for her and them through your heartfelt cooking, too.
Bless you, my heart is with you Connie.
Gratefully,
Christy
Christy,
Thank you for sharing your memories and your recipe. This post made me smile and made me cry. I am hoping Thanksgiving 2011 will be our best yet!!
Sane to you Heather!!! thank YOU!
Gratefully,
Christy