Cranberry Shortbread Bars with Almond Streusel

Since today is Thanksgiving, I wanted to make a special dessert for my foreign students. Sadly, I have already made both pumpkin pie and sweet potato pie (as well as a pumpkin cake), so I had pretty much exhausted the traditional Thanksgiving dessert. (I had considered a pecan pie, but I really wanted to try something other than a pie.) After an extensive search of Pinterest for Thanksgiving recipes, I finally came across these cranberry bars - and since cranberries are all the rage in Korea right now, I was actually able to find a bag of frozen cranberries!

For the recipe, I didn't have an 8" square pan, so I had to divide the recipe between my 8" round pan and a small loaf pan I bought months ago. The recipe itself wasn't that difficult - though it does require many steps and messes a lot of dishes. I had never really made a shortbread before, but found it to be fairly easy (though a very dry dough.) I found that I actually had the best luck using my fingers to mix the dough (since the heat helped melt the butter.) Then, I just refrigerated the mixed dough for a few minutes to lower the temperature again. While the shortbread was baking, I made the streusel and filling - both without problem.

When the bars were finished baking, I discovered I have a very dense, but very delicious dessert! (I can't believe how much these bars weight!) The original recipe (with the square pan) instructed that you use leave long edges to the parchment paper line so that you can remove the bars by lifting up. I was unable to do this with my round pan, but did to it with the loaf pan; I have to say, I preferred it without the extra parchment (though still use it on the bottom.) With my loaf pan, the middle layer of cranberry formed a glue against the parchment paper - I actually had to cut the paper way! For my round pan, I was able to merely scrape the sides with a knife and then carefully turn the bars out with the help of a kitchen towel - the bars are like a solid brick, so it wasn't a problem.

Cranberry Shortbread Bars with Almond Streusel
(yields one 8" square pan of bars

For the Shortbread:
1½ c. flour
½ c. sugar
¼ t. salt
10 T. cold butter, cut into pieces

For the Streusel
½ c. flour
⅓ c. light brown sugar
⅓ c. sugar
¼ t. salt
¼ T. butter, cut into pieces
½ c. sliced almonds

For the Filling
8 oz. fresh or frozen cranberries
¾ c. sugar
½ c. water
1 t grated orange zest

Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C). Sift together flour, sugar, and salt for the shortbread. Mix in butter until large clumps of dough form. Place the dough into a parchment lined 8" square pan and press into place with a glass or measuring cup. Prick the dough with a fork, and bake until just starting to brown at the edges (about 25 minutes.) For the streusel, sift together flour, sugars, and salt. Add the butter, using your fingers to mix together. When completely mixed so that not flour remains, add the almonds. Break into kidney bean sized pieces and refrigerate. For the filling, mix the cranberries, sugar, and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil (stirring occasionally). Reduce heat to medium low and allow to simmer until the mixture becomes thick and syrupy (about 8 minutes). Remove the pan from the heat and stir in zest. When the shortbread if finished, reduce the oven temperature to 325°F (162°C). Pour the cranberry filling over the shortbread and spread evenly. Top with an even layer of streusel and gently press the streusel into the filling. Bake for an additional 25-30 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and streusel is golden brown. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool on a wire rack for an additional 30 minutes.