Use up leftovers
What to Do With Leftover Cranberry Sauce: One-Bowl Oat Bars
Layer leftover cranberry sauce between a buttery oat base and crumble topping for an easy one-bowl bake that uses a full cup.
- TIME
- 1 hr 50 min
- SERVES
- 9
An easy answer to what to do with leftover cranberry sauce is to use it as the bright, jammy center of oat bars. The same bowl makes both the pressed base and crumble topping, and the recipe uses a full cup of sauce without requiring another holiday meal. Whole-berry, smooth homemade, and jellied canned sauce all work.
Adapt the filling to the amount you have
Mash whole berries for an even layer, or loosen very firm jellied sauce with a teaspoon of orange juice. If there is only half a cup, mix it with a chopped apple, frozen berries, or a little jam. Orange or lemon zest balances a very sweet sauce, but it is optional.
The crumb is equally flexible. Neutral oil can replace melted butter. Chopped nuts, pumpkin seeds, or a pinch of cinnamon can join the oats. Keep the flour because it helps the base hold together when cut. For another one-bowl bake built around aging fruit, try the overripe-banana bread.
Check the sauce before baking
Treat homemade cranberry sauce like any cooked leftover. The USDA leftovers guidance recommends refrigerating leftovers within two hours and using them within three to four days. Discard sauce with mold, bubbling or fermentation that was not present when made, an unusual odor, or an unknown storage history. Do not scrape mold from the surface and use the rest.
Cool before cutting
The cranberry layer is molten when it leaves the 350°F / 175°C oven. Let the tin cool completely so the pectin and oat base can set; chilling it for 20 minutes produces especially neat squares. Store the bars sealed in the refrigerator, or freeze them between pieces of baking paper.
If the holiday left several odds and ends, use drying bread for French toast. A baking project that created spare whites can become a vegetable egg-white omelette, keeping the sweet and savory leftovers in separate, useful meals.
From fridge to table
How to make it
- 01
Heat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line an 8-inch / 20cm square tin with baking paper, leaving enough overhang to lift out the bars.
- 02
Mix the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt in one bowl. Stir in the melted butter and vanilla until the mixture forms damp crumbs.
- 03
Press two thirds of the oat mixture firmly and evenly into the tin. Stir the zest into the cranberry sauce, then spread it over the base, leaving a narrow border at the edge.
- 04
Crumble the remaining oat mixture over the sauce and press very lightly so some loose crumbs remain.
- 05
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the top is golden and the cranberry layer bubbles at the edges. Cool completely for about 1 hour before lifting out and cutting into 9 bars.
