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, I feel your heart in this one,I was pretty sure where you were gonna go with this one and grabbed a tissue, boy did I need it .I feel the same way. So many memories, the sounds, the smells and the love of my family. Thanksgiving is a bittersweet time, remembering loved ones gone on. Thanks for the reminder to celebrate now ,turn off that phone and that game and live in the moment. As they say “Cherish Yesterday, Celebrate Today and Dream Tomorrow”. Wishing you a joyful and blessed Thanksgiving. I will be making this recipe, just sugar-free.
I’m so glad we connected on this one. Wonder how many tissues we used up together? It’s so hard when we look back, not having them here, to remember that we are here and now. I struggle a little with that every year. Thank you so much for taking time to talk back with me 🙂
Gratefully,
Christy
Oh how I needed these words. When I was growing up holidays were always miserable so I don’t really care for them much. My hubby on the other hand is the essence of the holidays. We have been together 16 years now & I have just become accustomed to going with the flow while he takes the lead. This year though our 3 girls & I are spending our 5th set of holidays without him as he is away on an 8 month deployment. This 1 though has been just so much rougher. I have been just moping about and feeling a bit sorry for myself. This quiet reminder though is the push I needed. TY will never be enough to express how very much this family is grateful to you!
Suzy, my heart is with you and I understand where you’re coming from. There are always points in our life, childhood times when we look back, and we can’t seem to make the normal rockwell picture come out no matter how much we try. Moving forward and making it right for your children is the act of a loving and selfless mother, they are so blessed to have you. My heart is with you and yours as your husband is away. I know they’ll look back and remember a mother who loved them enough for two parents whenever it was needed 🙂
Gratefully,
Christy
I just put this in the oven. Working at election polls tomorrow, something new to bring. We eat all day long if not busy. Hope it is good cold.
Hope you enjoyed it Mary Ann!
Gratefully,
Christy
Can this be made ahead of time and frozen?
I see no reason why not, it should do great! You can also just refrigerate it if you like and reheat it in the oven before serving.
Gratefully,
Christy
Christy I love your blog and your recipes are delicious!!! I can’t wait to make this recipe for cranberry crunch for Thanksgiving for my family. May God bless you and your family. Hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!
OH Margaret, thank you so very much for such heartfelt wishes! May He bless you and yours as well!
Gratefully,
Christy
Thank you for this post. I needed to hear it. We are far away and not traveling to our family for Thanksgiving this year. I’ve been feeling a little bit sorry for myself, but it’s still thanksgiving for my own children, and my attitude will make all the difference for them. We can still enjoy each other’s company, even if the whole extended family isn’t here.
Oh Jenny, you are so right. I know how you feel too, although in a different way 🙂 My parents have always gone out of town on Thanksgiving, since I was a teenager, so we have ours early and I end up feeling a bit orphaned on Thanksgiving day. 🙂 I started several years back doing Thanksgiving just for the four of us and sometimes it just feels a little …well you know 🙂 So a few years back we started looking around for others in our same situation. We’ll have five guests this thanksgiving day and I know my kids will have a wonderful time. We’re the memory makers now!
Gratefully,
Christy
I’ve been enjoying your site so much since finding it a couple months ago, and then today when I read your story it just made me cry. I lost my husband of 30 years a few months ago, Thanksgiving was our anniversary and this will be my first “alone”. I’ve been dreading it so much, I had planned to try to just stay home and hibernate, but after reading this, I feel like I can go on and make dinner for the rest of the family and take and give comfort the way he would want me to. You’re always so sensible, it must be in the water there, my best friend Vicky Lee is from Huntsville and is the most grounded, level headed lady ever.
I’m so glad I got to “know” you here, I hope your holidays are a joy, I’ll be thinking of you when I serve some of your recipes this year.
Caroline, Thank you so much for taking time to share your heart with me today. I just want you to know that there will be one more person praying for you, keeping you on their heart on Thanksgiving Day. I know your dear husband will be proud of your strength and the power of the love in your heart to go on.
Gratefully,
Christy