Cranberry Orange Streusel Bars

There’s a secret ingredient in this recipe which makes it almost impossible to stop nibbling at it. It’s the hint of almond extract which marries incredibly well with the cranberry and orange zest in the recipe. I feel like I should place a warning label on the title of the post! But seriously folks, it’s really, really good. Even people who aren’t much for fruit desserts find themselves coming ’round again and again for just a “sliver”. So with the holiday of Purim approaching, this is a wonderful and easy dessert to prepare, either for the Purim meal or seudah, or for slicing and packaging for your Mishloach Manot, which is a Jewish tradition where people exchange food gifts with friends and family on the holiday of Purim. By the by, it freezes beautifully so you can cut into bars and freeze till needed.

So gather your ingredients and away we go!

A quick note. You may spy the little ziploc with orange stuff in it? That’s the zest. Whenever I have an orange, or a lemon for that matter, I scrub ’em, zest ’em and place in little bags and pop into the freezer. Then, assuming I don’t need the juice, I’ve got it to hand. It’s amazingly helpful, just sayin’.

K, now the prep is super simple. If you use a food processor, leave the marg/butter cold and cut into cubes. If in a mixer, make sure the marg/butter is softened.

First preheat your oven to 375 F/190 C.

So place the flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla sugar, orange rind/zest and salt into the processor or mixer.

Pulse together briefly in processor, flick on and off briefly in mixer. Now add the almond extract and the cubed margarine/butter and pulse together in the food processor till crumbs form.

Take a 9 x 13 inch pan (23 cm x 33 cm) and spray oil it. Take a bit less than half your crumbs and pat into prepared pan, pushing into the corners.

Now crush the cranberry sauce well with a fork and this part is up to you. Either use one can and put a thin layer on the crumbs or add about half an additional can and have a more generous filling. I’ve got customers for both and most like just a hint of the jammy cranberry filling but I can go either way. Below is the more generous amount.

Now take the rest of the crumbly dough and crumble over the filling, covering it well. (Remember, you’ve set aside more than half of the dough for the topping so you should have plenty. Remember the dough rises so no worries.)

Place in hot oven and bake 35-40 minutes or till top is golden brown and firm to a light touch. Let cool before cutting into squares.

Cranberry Orange Streusel Bars

2 1/2 cups (312.5 grams) flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup (200 grams) sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 pack of vanilla sugar

1 tablespoon grated rind of an orange

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup (225 grams) margarine or butter

For filling:

1 – 1 1/2 cans of whole berry cranberry sauce, 16 ounces each or 454 grams each, depending how jammy you like it

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 F/190 C.

Place flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, grated orange rind, and salt into a food processor or a mixer. Pulse briefly. Add the cubed margarine/butter and the almond extract and pulse all together till crumbs form. Pat a less than half the mixture into a 9 x 13 inch or 23 x 33 cm pan, crush the cranberry sauce with a fork and place over the crumbs, spreading evenly and crumble the rest of the topping and place over the cranberry sauce. Place in preheated 375° F/190 C in oven and bake for 35 -40 minutes or till streusel is golden brown and a bit hard to a light touch.