How many cranberry sauce recipes have you seen this week? How about doing something really mouthwatering with these tart delectable berries? Cranberries deserve a place at your dessert table (or breakfast, or snack) – and I’m not talking about muffins. These cranberry crumb bars with pecans and rosemary area a delicious way to celebrate Fall.
Of course you can’t have Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce, but for those leftovers, these crumb bars are a great “go-to” recipe – just substitute 2 cups of sauce for the filling.
This is also one of those master recipes that can be adjusted to the seasons. Make a blueberry filling in the summer and cherries in the spring (or use a favorite naturally sweetened jam). Simplify the recipe by omitting the rosemary and zest – they are there as flavor enhancers not as an essential component. Pecans can be substituted for other nuts – or left out. You can make these crumb bars year round and never repeat a recipe twice.
Cranberry Crumb Bars with Pecans and Rosemary (Gluten-Free)
The rosemary adds a subtle flavor but you may omit if you prefer.
3 cups almond flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour*
1/4 cup arrowroot flour*
1/2 cup maple sugar or other granulated natural sweetener
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 sticks (8 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 egg lightly beaten
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 cup pecans, lightly toasted and chopped
2 cups cranberry sauce (recipe below)
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan and set aside.
2. In a food processor or mixer, combine the dry ingredients (almond flour to baking powder). Add the butter, egg, and rosemary and pulse or mix until dough just comes together.
3. Set aside 1 heaping cup of the dough mixture. Press remaining dough evenly into the greased pan.
4. Spread cranberry sauce evenly over the dough.
5. Mix the 1 cup dough with chopped nuts and sprinkle it in small clumps over the cranberry mixture.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until topping is golden.
*You may also use 1/2 cup of either the arrowroot or tapioca. These starches lighten up the dough for a bit of flakiness, but can be left out if desired or on an SCD diet.
Cranberry Sauce
12 ounces cranberries
1 cup dates, coarsely chopped
Juice and zest of 1/2 an orange
Pinch of sea salt (optional)
1. Combine cranberries, dates, juice, and zest in a medium saucepan.
2. Simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until cranberries pop open and sauce becomes thick.
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OMG!! These look soooo good! Will need to make these, but with sunflower seed flour because I can’t have almonds! YUM!
Thanks Gaby – I’ve never hear of sunflower seed flour – do you just make it yourself?
oh and without butter, since I can’t have that either…
What do you usually substitute with? I use coconut oil when I need to bake non-dairy (and maybe a bit of hazelnut oil for flavor) , though I haven’t tried yet with this recipe – but will update when I do.
Rosemary always gets my attention. I love the combination of flavors for this cranberry bar and I also love that it is real food and gluten free ,
This recipe has just been shared on Google+ by Chowstalker and wow, wow, wow!!! Seriously such an amazing idea and flavour combination!!!!!!! I am now dying to make thease and may have to make them sooner rather than later. Am going to enjoy going through your website a bit more as I think you may have some amazing things on here!!!!!! w00t!
Thanks Kate! They are a real hit at home – one of our favorites.
Hi Lisa Rose, I finally made the cranberry crumb bars (as part of our Christmas festivities) and they were AMAZING!! The family loved them but I feel it needed a touch more rosemary as I couldn’t taste it that much š Will be making them again!!!! Slurp!! š
Thanks for the feedback!
Wondering if leaving out the arrowroot & tapiocha flour would need to have something to balance their absence .. like doing more flour? Also, I don’t have almond flour but have quiona, brown rice, amaranth … I’m assuming I can use any of those interchangeably? This sounds so delicious & am looking forward to making them!! Thanks!
I use the arrowroot/tapioca to lighten the flour a bit to make it more flaky. I wouldn’t replace the exact amount.
You may want to search for a shortbread cookie type of recipe using brown rice flour and the other flours you have instead of the nut flour one here. Much of this comes down to texture. Once you make your dough with your chosen flour you may need to adjust with more liquid or dry ingredient to get the right kind of dough forming.
Please write back and let us know how you make your version!
Thanks! I’ll give it a try and will let you know how it turned out!
Hi Lisa! These sound amazing! I am really looking forward to making them. Can I use coconut flour instead of almond flour…or a combination, lessening the almond flour? I really have trouble with almonds, as I am hypothyroid and it is a goitrogen food. Thank you so much for any suggestions!
Thanks Tiffany!
Coconut flour doesn’t substitute 1:1 with almond flour so you would have to play around with the recipe to make it work. But the dough is similar to a shortbread cookie dough – if you already have a shortbread recipe you like just use that and add the herbs and continue with the rest of the recipe.
These came out great. I used water in the cranberry mixture bc i didnt have an orange on hand and added a splash of maple syrup for sweetness. I used coconut oil to keep it paleo and blended the pecans with the dough. Came out great! thanks