This cranberry sauce recipe is sweet, tart and bursting with fresh orange flavor! Made with whole cranberries, orange juice, brown sugar and warm spices, it comes together in just 15 minutes of prep and cooking. It’s an easy, homemade Thanksgiving side dish that you can make ahead of time, so there’s one less thing to worry about on the big day!

I grew up thinking I didn’t like cranberry sauce. My dad loved the canned stuff, and every Thanksgiving my mom would open a can just for him. The rest of us? No thank you!

Then one day, I had a leftover turkey sandwich at a little sandwich shop, and everything changed. That sweet and tart cranberry sauce with the turkey?! I finally understood what I’d been missing!

Now, homemade cranberry sauce is a must-have at our Thanksgiving table. And trust me, once you try it with fresh orange juice and a little brown sugar, you might never go back to the canned stuff!

Get into the holiday spirit with these delicious cranberry crumb bars. It is my favorite way to use up leftover cranberry sauce. Follow our step-by-step instructions and video to create a festive and tasty dessert that is perfect for any holiday gathering.

I got fed up last year with leftover cranberry sauce so for months after Thanksgiving I was testing it in all sorts of recipes to find ways to use it. This is how our cranberry sauce muffins came to be! And it’s the same story for this cranberry crumble bars recipe. I’ve been experimenting with this one and this is finally the winning recipe. They are to die for!

They are the most wonderful combination of creamy cranberry sauce and a chewy sugar cookie, tart shortbread crust!

Ingredients for Cranberry Sauce Bars

We will actually make one crust recipe and we will use it for both the base of the bars and the crumble on top! Then we will make a filling to go in the middle. I’ll include the ingredients for an optional glaze too. Here is everything you will need for each component:

Crust and Topping

• Wet Ingredients: Butter (softened), Cream Cheese (softened), Brown Sugar, White Sugar, Egg, Vanilla and Almond Extract
• Dry Ingredients: All Purpose Flour, Cornstarch, Baking Powder, Baking Soda and Salt

Filling

• Sour Cream: full fat cream cheese
• Eggs: binds the filling together
• Cornstarch: helps thicken the filling
• Vanilla and Ground Cinnamon: add flavor
• Cranberry Sauce: homemade is preferred, but store-bought would work fine too, just don’t use the canned cranberry jelly
• Whole Fresh Cranberries: adds more flavor and texture

Glaze

• Powdered Sugar: acts as the base of the glaze and adds all the sweetness
• Milk: adds richness and creates the glaze
• Vanilla: adds flavor

The measurements for each ingredient can be found down below in the recipe card. This is meant to just be an overview of the ingredients you will need.

How to Make Cranberry Crumb Bars

Let me walk you through each step of this recipe! It might seem like a lot of steps, but it’s super easy.

Crust

1. Prep: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 9×13 inch baking dish with a piece of parchment. Spray everything with cooking

The Ultimate Leftover Turkey Sandwich (aka The Gobbler!!)

Make the most out of your Thanksgiving leftovers with this mouthwatering sandwich recipe. Filled with all your favorite holiday flavors, this leftover turkey sandwich is the perfect way to use up those extra turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce leftovers.

Inspiration for the Gobbler

Cade and I had noticed a little bread and sandwich shop in kind of an awkward little corner of a shopping area when our first daughter was just a little toddler. We’d passed it so many times and had become quite curious about it. I’d never been a fan of cranberry sauce nor stuffing but I’ll tell you what, this shop literally changed me.

A very nice man was there one evening when we stopped in and to this day it breaks my heart to remember him and his little dream he was trying to build. We bought some cinnamon bread for French toast and asked which sandwich to buy. He raved about his thanksgiving sandwich so we dove in.

My gosh, it was the most satisfying thing I’d ever sunk my teeth into. The flavors, the texture. All of it! I hate that his shop never took off. The bread and sandwiches were legit amazing. I think the location just killed the possibilities, but for me, it was the best of the best.

What Do I Need to Make a Leftover Turkey Sandwich?

It’s not every day that a sandwich or dish gets its own name. We have “The Soup” which is our most popular soup recipe here on the blog, and our Busy Day Casserole which has been a top performer for years. This leftover turkey sandwich needed it’s own name. It’s that good! The Gobbler was born! Pull out your Thanksgiving leftovers and here is everything you will need:

• White Bread
• Leftover Stuffing
• Turkey Gravy
• Cranberry Sauce
• Leftover Turkey
• Shredded Lettuce
• Mayo or Honey Mustard

What Type of Bread to Use

Usually I’m all about the multi-grain bread with loads of seeds and crunchies in it, but for this recipe, it’s all about the plain ol’ white bread. You want a good quality white bread that will hold up to all the delicious layers that will go into this sandwich. Sourdough bread would also be a delicious option!

How to Make the Gobbler

I love this sandwich recipe because I can use up leftovers in a creative and delicious way and i

Orange Cranberry Bliss Bars

Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins with Streusel Topping

Grab that leftover cranberry sauce and make these sweet and tart cranberry sauce muffins. They make a great breakfast or brunch!

Last year I got fed up with all the leftover cranberry sauce so for months after, I tried sticking it in and on everything trying to find the best ways to use it. You can only eat leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches for so many days before you’re totally burned out. In fact, our leftover Thanksgiving turkey sliders is a fabulous way to use leftover cranberry sauce, but I still wanted to find something different. These heavenly cranberry sauce muffins with streusel crumb topping were born.

Recommended Equipment

• Muffin Tin
• Stand Mixer

Before You Begin…

Make sure you have your cranberry sauce ready to go. Hopefully you have leftovers from Thanksgiving so this step is already done. You can make it homemade or use store bought cranberry sauce. I’ve linked to our homemade cranberry sauce recipe in the recipe card.

What Do I Need to Make Cranberry Sauce Muffins?

I’m going to divide the list of ingredients up between the streusel topping and the muffin batter. Jump on the streusel topping first…

For the Streusel

• All-Purpose Flour: gives the streusel topping structure
• Light Brown Sugar: adds sweetness and rich flavor
• Kosher Salt: enhances all the flavors
• Cinnamon: adds warmth and that classic fall flavor
• Ground Cardamom: I love the flavor of a little cardamom with cranberry sauce!
• Butter: binds the streusel together, the key to a good streusel

For the Batter

• Sugar: adds sweetness and balances out the tart cranberry sauce
• Vegetable Oil: adds needed fat and moisture to the muffins
• Eggs: give the muffins structure and rise
• <