Aromatic vanilla pairs well with bright cranberries and nutty oats in this easy Cranberry Oatmeal Bars recipe; it's the perfect way to use leftover cranberry sauce!
Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8 by 8-inch baking dish with 2 pieces of parchment paper so that the paper hangs over all 4 sides (so you can easily lift out the cookie bars).
Taste the cranberry sauce and if it’s on the tart side, add sugar to taste (it should have a pleasantly sweet/tart flavor without making you pucker).
Use a fork or pastry cutter to cut the cold butter into the flour until it resembles coarse meal (with some small bits of butter), and then use a fork to stir in the salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and sugar. Add the vanilla and molasses, and combine with a fork until incorporated. Stir in the eggs, and then the oats.
Press ⅔ of the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared dish (the dough will be sticky). Spread the cranberry sauce on top of the dough, and crumble the remaining ⅓ of the dough on top.
Bake until golden, about 45 minutes, and then cool completely.
Once cooled, whisk together all ingredients for the glaze and drizzle it on top of the bars.
Let the glaze set before cutting and serving.
Notes
Storage: Store these bars covered for up to 3 days at room temperature, or up to 1 week in the fridge.