These Cranberry, Orange and Oats Cookie Bars are filled with chunks of dried Cranberries, Orange Zest and Oats. They are easy to make and good to eat at any time of the year.
Cookie bar recipes are proving to be so popular with my readers, that I decided to update this original recipe of Cookies which was first published in January 2019 and turn it into cookie bars, to create more and more recipes with different flavours.
While Cranberries are more popular around Autumn and Festive Baking, this recipe can really be made and eaten at any time of the year because of the dried cranberries that you seem to be able to buy all year round.
Before you ask, I'm not sure how this recipe would work using fresh cranberries. See my Tips and FAQ's below.
Let's take a look at the rest of the cookie bar collection.
- Toffee Fudge and Oats Cookie Bars
- Apricot Almond and Oats Cookie Bars
- Cherry Oats and White Chocolate Cookie Bars
- Glace Ginger, Oats and White Chocolate Cookie Bars
How to make Cranberry, Orange and Oats Cookie Bars
Preheat the oven to 170c fan. Grease and line a 10.5 inch (27cm) x 7 inch (17.5cm) x 1 inch tray bake tin or similar with baking parchment or greaseproof paper.
Please note. If you use a tin with a different size, the baking times may differ.
Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until soft, and well mixed. If the butter is soft enough, this should only take a couple of mins.
Sift in the flour and baking powder. Add the vanilla extract, oats, orange zest and roughly chopped dried cranberries. Mix together until well combined and forms a firm dough. Do not overbeat.
Press the dough evenly into the prepared baking pan, using a spatular to smooth it down.
Bake in the oven for 30 mins or until nice and golden in colour. Testing the centre of the bake with a skewer until it comes out clean.
Take out of the oven and dust with caster sugar while still warm. Leave in the tin to cool for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing into bars.
You can partially slice them while still warm, then cool completely before fully slicing into bars.
Tips and FAQ's
- Don't slice too soon - Leave them to cool completely before you start to slice these cookie bars. If you slice too soon, they will start to crumble.
- Dried Cranberries - Roughly chop them before you add them to the mixture
- Fresh Cranberries - I'm not sure if this recipe works using Fresh Cranberries as dried cranberries are coated with sugar and are therefore sweeter than fresh cranberries. There's also the issue of cranberry juice from the fresh berries, which will affect the texture of the dough. Let me know how you get on if you use them.
- Lining the cake tin - Using baking parchment or greaseproof makes it easier to lift the cookie bars out of the tin once they have cooled.
- Make ahead of time - You can make this cookie dough ahead of time. Keep it well wrapped in the fridge for up to a couple of days. Or freeze as individual cookies on a tray before wrapping them in freezer bags. Take out a batch when you are ready to bake them.
If kept in an airtight container, they will keep for up to three days.
Yes, you can freeze cookie dough. See my note above about freezing them individually first.
Cranberry, Orange and Oats Cookie Bars
Equipment
- Baking Parchment
INGREDIENTS
- 225 grams butter softened
- 115 grams caster sugar
- 225 grams plain flour sieved
- ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 50 grams porridge oats not jumbo oats
- 100 grams of dried cranberries roughly chopped
- zest of a large orange
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar for dusting optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170c fan. Grease and line a 10.5 inch (27cm) x 7 inch (17.5cm) x 1 inch tray bake tin or similar with baking parchment or greaseproof paper. Please note. If you use a tin with a different size, the baking times may differ.
- Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until soft, and well mixed This will only take a couple of mins.
- Sift in the flour and baking powder. Add the vanilla extract, oats, Orange Zest and roughly chopped dried cranberries. Mix together until well combined and forms a firm dough. Do not over beat.
- Press the dough evenly into the prepared baking pan.
- Bake in the oven for 30 mins or until golden in colour. Testing the centre of the bake with a skewer until it comes out clean.
- Take out of the oven and dust with caster sugar while still warm.
- Leave in the tin to cool for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing into bars.
- You can partially slice them while still warm, then cool completely before slicing full into bars.
Notes
TIPS AND FAQ’S
- Don’t slice too soon – Leave them to cool completely before you start to slice these cookie bars. If you slice too soon, they will start to crumble.
- Dried Cranberries – Roughly chop them before you add them to the mixture
- Fresh Cranberries – I’m not sure if this recipe works using Fresh Cranberries. Let me know how you get on if you use them.
- Lining the cake tin – Using baking parchment or greaseproof makes it easier to lift the cookie bars out of the tin once they have cooled.
- Make ahead of time – You can make the cookie dough ahead of time. Keep it well wrapped in the fridge for up to a couple of days. Or freeze as individual cookies on a tray before wrapping them in freezer bags. Take out a batch when you are ready to bake them.
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