Cranberry Walnut Crumb Bars

Name: Cranberry Walnut Crumb Bars
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 16
Ingredients: 12 ounces (340 g) fresh cranberries (fresh or frozen); 1 cup (236.58 g) water; 1/2 cup (80 g) Sukrin Melis, *** ((or your favorite powdered sweetener)); 1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice (or 3 Real Lemon packets); 1 pinch salt; 1 pinch ground nutmeg; 2 cups (180 g) Honeyville almond flour; 1 cup (90 g) unsweetened shredded coconut, (ground in a coffee grinder); 1/3 cup (20 g) Isopure Vanilla Whey Protein Powder *** ((or your favorite brand)); 1/3 cup (50 g) Sukrin Melis, *** ((or your favorite powdered sweetener)); 1/2 teaspoon salt; 8 tablespoons (113 g) salted butter, melted ((or 6 1/2 Tbs. coconut oil / ghee plus 1 1/2 Tbs. water - increase salt to 3/4-1 teaspoon as per your taste)***,); 3/4 cup of the shortbread crust mixture (about 1 quarter of the mixture); 1/2 cup (40 g) walnuts, (chopped); 3 tablespoons (35 g) Sukrin Gold***; 3 tablespoons (40 g) Lily's Sugar-Free Chocolate Chips***

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Tart cranberries, almond-coconut shortbread crust, toasted walnuts and dark chocolate chips. These low carb, gluten-free and sugar-free Cranberry Walnut Crumb Bars are all you will be able to think about this season.

Inspiration for a recipe can come from many places… a picture from a magazine or Pinterest, or a Google search on a specific ingredient, it can come from ingredients I have on hand, my desire to a recreate an old favorite or a new twist on a classic, or sometimes it can emerge from an intense craving for a specific taste.

I have hundreds and hundreds of ideas for recipes sitting in the queue in my Kaban flow chart or jotted down on little scraps of paper on my kitchen island and around my work space. Recipe ideas that just come to me as I work on a post or while I wait for the kids after school. Recipes that will most likely never be tried or tested. (Sigh) I wish I had more energy and time…

The idea for these Cranberry Walnut Crumb Bars just popped into my brain the other day as I was looking, unsuccessfully, for fresh cranberries at the grocery store. There was no seeking for inspiration, it just jumped right into my brain… probably because I had a mad craving for cranberries. I have been waiting for cranberries for months now because I absolutely adore them. Luckily, the frozen cranberries I had in the freezer worked just fine for this recipe, as will fresh.

The first batch of cranberry crumb bars I prepared were good, but I thought they looked and tasted a little plain. They were missing something.

I decided to jazz them up with a few more ingredients and am so happy I did because THESE cranberry bars are totally amazing. I would even say that they are inspired! Walnuts and dark chocolate complement cranberries very nicely and I am sure you will agree that they make for a winning combination. (BTW, I’ve made these 5 times now and am able to just throw them together – so easy!)

Let’s talk about the recipe… This is where I am going to harp about having some great basic recipes in your repertoire. Putting two basic recipes together and adding some fun extras resulted in this super fabulous dessert bar. But you know I can’t leave it at that. I like to include ways that one can change things up to create something new and exciting.

Variations:

use the chocolate shortbread base from the Low Carb Chocolate Lasagna recipe
add grated chocolate, chocolate chips or spices to the base
add any of these flavors to the cranberry sauce: vanilla extract, almond extract, orange liqueur, raspberry liqueur, Cassis, brandy, or spiced rum
top with flaked almonds, flaked coconut, pecans, macadamia nuts, pine nuts, or white chocolate chips

I added chopped walnuts to the recipe because they taste great with cranberries and add visual texture as well as a nice crunch. The Sukrin Gold adds a nice warm brown sugar taste which adds flavor to the walnuts, and the dark chocolate elevated the flavor of the whole bar as well as adding another visual and textural punch. I used a 9×9 inch brownie pan so my bars are thinner than those that would be baked in an 8×8. I think I prefer the bars a little thinner, but that is just my personal preference.

If you are looking to purchase a 9×9 inch square brownie pan, you may consider this pan or this one. They seem to be sturdily constructed and are similar to the pan I purchased 15 years ago from a restaurant supply store. It will last me a lifetime.