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Coconut Cranberry Bars

Coconut Cranberry Bars have a buttery shortbread crust topped with a sweet coconut cranberry filling. Perfect sweet treat to make for the holiday season.

coconut and cranberry bars with shortbread crust image with text overlay

Coconut is not something I enjoy, so I rarely buy anything with it in or use it in baking or cooking.  That all changed with this recipe. My mother-in-law told me about these Coconut Cranberry Bars she was going to make for a club meeting she was going to be attending the next day.  I asked her for the recipe and she sent it and once I read it over, I realized that I do remember her making these bars and I snubbed them because of the coconut!  What a mistake that was!

I made them mainly for my husband, who does like coconut and for adding to my cookie gift containers for the holidays.  Of course, I had to try one to make sure they tasted good even if I didn’t care for the coconut.  

Pretty sure these cookie bars are magic because I quite enjoyed them, coconut and all. The crust is a sweet shortbread and the filling has dried cranberries and shredded coconut in it.  Simple and Delicious.

cut coconut cranberry bars on wooden tray

Be sure to check out the other Cranberry recipes from #OurFamilyTable of food bloggers at the end of this post.

Perfect for gift giving

Pack these delicious coconut cranberry bars in a festive holiday tin to share with friends, coworkers, and of course neighbors. They also mail well, too.

Ingredients

  • flour
  • white granulated sugar
  • unsalted butter
  • shredded coconut
    dried cranberries
  • light brown sugar
  • eggs
  • vanilla extract
  • salt

How to Make Coconut Cranberry Bars

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2

In a large bowl, combine the flour and the white sugar. Cut in the cold butter until mixture is crumbly.

flour and butter mixture

Press the flour and sugar mixture on the bottom of an ungreased 13 x 9 inch baking pan.

shortbread dough in baking pan

Step 3

Bake crust for 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven. Set aside.

shortbread crust baked in pan

Step 4

In the same large bowl, combine the cranberries, coconut, light brown sugar, flour, eggs, vanilla, and salt. Mix well.

cranberry coconut mixture

Spread the cranberry mixture over hot, partially baked crust. Place back into oven and bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden brown.

coconut cranberry bars ready to bake

Cool completely before cutting into bars.

baked cranberry bars cooling

How to Store the Cranberry Bars

Cranberry Coconut Bars will keep in an airtight container, at room temperature, for 4 days. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months.

Tips, Tricks, and FAQs

  • Add 1/2 cup chopped pecans, walnuts, or chocolate chips to the cranberry mixture.
  • Substitute raisins for the dried cranberries.
  • Use unsweetened or sweetened coconut. I found the unsweetened was a good balance with the sugar in the recipe.
  • Be sure your butter is COLD or the crust will not bake and set up correctly.
  • Store baked bars in an airtight container, at room temperature for about 4 days. Can also freeze the baked bars for up to 3 months.
coconut and cranberry bars with shortbread crust

Try these other sweet treats with coconut: German Chocolate Cookies and Coconut Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins.

Coconut Cranberry Bars

5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Author: Lisa Kerhin

Ingredients

For the Crust

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 3/4 cup *cold* unsalted butter

For the Topping

  • 2 cups flaked coconut
  • 1 cup dried cranberries
  • 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

  • Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  • In a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour and the white sugar. Cut in the *cold* butter until mixture is crumbly.
  • Press on the bottom of an ungreased 13 x 9 inch baking pan.
  • Bake for 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven. Set aside.
  • In the large bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the topping and mix well.
  • Spread over hot, partially baked crust.
  • Place back into oven and bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Cool completely before cutting into bars.
  • recipe from family

Nutritional Disclaimer

“Blogghetti” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

cranberry bars close up
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Cranberry Creations


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13 Comments

  1. Your dishes look so tasty. Cooking is one of my favorite activities. Every time I have a day off, I usually looking for new delicious recipes to cook for my family. This is the good one. Thanks.

    1. Thank you Denise! I love to cook as well and can’t seem to find enough time to do so. Quick recipes like this one helps though lol. Thanks for stopping by!

  2. 5 stars
    I love a good shortbread crust. The coconut and cranberry make for a totally festive topping to round that out beautifully. I would be thrilled to get something like that on a cookie tray.