I am so happy to share these with you!
Last week, you guys voted on Instagram that I share the Maple Pecan Bars first, but these beauties were a close second! So here I am, making sure you have more delicious things to bake in anticipation of upcoming holidays.
I know many of you are looking at lots of time at home in the next few months, as we are in British Columbia as well. Things tightened up in the last week here and I know that in my hometown of Seattle, things just got much more buttoned-down over the weekend. When looking forward to the next 2 months, we are all trying to be safe and minimize going out much outside of work in order to keep ourselves and others healthy. So as I settle into this season of hibernation, I have my baking list to keep me warm.
The other thing I am doing this week is attempting to decorate for Christmas. Yes, I know it’s early, but I know I am not alone in doing this. It’s a really weird year and all I really care about is making my kids happy and infusing a little bit of joy and magic into this season. If I can create that with twinkly lights and a plastic Christmas tree that has been in the storage locker for several years here, than you know I am going to do it! One kink- we put a lock on our apartment building storage locker, and then lost the combination. Classic. I have been watching youtube videos on picking locks (creepy) but ultimately I probably have to call a locksmith this week just to get to our dusty sad Christmas decorations.
But no matter what, we will be trimming that tree this week! And I want hot apple cider and these amazing Cranberry Pear Crumble Bars for the occasion. I got inspired to make these last week after seeing How Sweet Eats and Shutterbean make similar versions that me drooling! I was determined to make a vegan GF version and I could not be more excited about how these turned out! These are insanely delicious with the buttery shortbread crust and then this sweet and tart, warmly spiced cranberry pear sauce that will make a cranberry lover out of anyone!
I do think that these are going to be wonderful for the rest of fall and all through the winter. THey would be incredible served on Thanksgiving along side your pie, in place of cookies at an exchange, a lovely treat dropped off on a neighbors doorstep or on Christmas. Or like me, who ate them for breakfast last week….
- 12 ounces cranberries
- 1 cup peeled and chopped pears
- Juice of one blood orange or navel orange
- 1 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup water
- Crust:
- 3 cups gluten-free 1:1 flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free 1:1 baking flour in the light blue bag)
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup vegan butter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a quarter sheetpan with sides with a sheet of parchment paper to line it.
- For the Cranberry-Pear filling:
- In a medium pot over medium heat add the cranberries, pear, orange juice, spices and the water. Bring the mixture to a simmer and continue to cook over low heat for about 20-25 minutes until the mixture is bubbling and has broken down into a jam texture and thickened up quite a bit. Let the filling cool while you prepare the crust. As it cools, it will continue to thicken up.
- For the crust:
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the Gf flour, sugar, salt and nutmeg until well combined. Add the vanilla and the cold vegan butter chunks and then run the food processor until the dough comes together in a crumbly way.
- Dump ⅔ rds of the crust mixture, which will be very crumbly dough, into the prepared sheet pan. Use the bottom of a glass or measuring cup and pack the dough down flat until you have a smooth crust. Set the other ⅓ rd of the dough aside.
- Pour the cranberry-pear filling onto the crust and spread the filling evenly around. Next, sprinkle the remaining dough in crumbles over the top of the cranberry-pear filling.
- I placed the quarter sheetpan on a half sheetpan to make it easier to take in and out of the oven. Bake the bars for 40 minutes until the crumbs on top are lightly golden.
- I let the bars cool slightly and then you can slice them and serve warm. If you are making these ahead of time and want really clean edges, I suggest freezing the bars for a few hours or even overnight before you slice them. They can quickly thaw before you serve. These are best stored in the freezer if you make them ahead.
Woulk almond flour with a little coconut flour work for the crust insead of gf flour?
Hi Carolyn- I am not sure to be honest, but please let me know if you try it!