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If you have been working on cleaning your holiday meal leftovers out of the fridge, you may need a recipe just like this one. Our recipe for Leftover Cranberry Sauce Bars transforms your cranberry sauce into a delicious bar with layers of crust, cranberry sauce, and with a crunchy topping.

Holiday dinners often leave piles of leftovers in the refrigerator. And, that is generally a good thing for many people. Dining on leftover turkey, dressing, and the other fixings can give you a break from the kitchen after the big holiday dinner.
Unfortunately, after three or four days, most people are getting a bit tired of eating the leftovers. This recipe for Leftover Cranberry Sauce Bars takes those old tired leftovers and re-purposes them into a delicious, tangy-sweet bar treat. There is no need to throw out Grandma’s special bowl of cranberry sauce just because you are tired of eating it with ham or turkey.

Leftover Cranberry Sauce Bars Recipe
Equipment
- 9-Inch Square Baking Pan
- Large bowl
- Pastry blender
- Measuring Cup
- Spoon
- Knife
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1½ cups Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
- 1 cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1½ teaspoon Cinnamon
- 2 sticks Cold Butter
- 1½ cups Leftover Cranberry Sauce
- ¼ cup Chopped Nuts such as pecans or walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9-inch square baking pan.
- In a large bowl, stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt with a fork.
- Cut the butter into cubes and add it to the bowl. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter cubes into the dry ingredients. The mixture is mixed enough when the butter is in tiny bits, evenly distributed throughout the mixture. It will look a bit like cornmeal when you have mixed it correctly.
- Measure out 1½ cups of the dry mixture. Dump it out in the bottom of your prepared pan and use your fingers or the bottom of the measuring cup to press it firmly into the pan and about an inch up the sides.
- Use a spoon to drop the cranberry sauce on top of the bottom crust in large tablespoon-sized globs. Spread this around gently with the back of your spoon until it is in an even layer. Be gentle because you do not want to destroy your bottom crust.
- Sprinkle the rest of the dry mixture over the top of the cranberry sauce in an even layer. Top it with the chopped nuts, evenly distributing them over the dry mixture.
- Bake the bars in the preheated oven for about an hour. The top crust should be golden brown, and the nuts should be fragrant and toasted.
- Let the bars cool completely for about 2 hours before attempting to cut them.
- Cut the bars into 12 squares and serve them.
Notes
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If you still have more cranberry sauce leftover, check out these 28 leftover cranberry sauce recipes.
Related: Recipes with Cranberries | Dessert Bar Recipes