Cranberry Orange Biscoff Bars

Cranberry Orange Biscoff Bars. Festive dessert bars using a speculoos cookie crumb base, topped with smooth and bright cranberry orange curd and finished with Cointreau whipped cream.

Cranberry Orange Biscoff Bars served with Cointreau Whipped Cream.

Happy holidays folks! Olivia here. Can you believe there’s only a few days left until Christmas? The last few months have flown by. I’m happy to be back in Newfoundland for the season, and bringing you this new festive recipe. 

As all Newfoundlanders know, Christmas cookies are a big part of our holiday culture. There are so many to love, as outlined in our collection of Classic Newfoundland Christmas Cookies. However, I do think there’s a certain joy in finding a new recipe that hits it out of the park.

Click this photo to explore some Classic Newfoundland Christmas Cookies.

Creating a new festive favourite.

Enter these Cranberry Orange Biscoff Bars. I’m a big cranberry fan and always try to incorporate this versatile, tart berry into my winter baking.

I developed this recipe inspired by The New York Times Cranberry Curd Tart, which was quite popular last year. I wanted to make a cookie version that could be easy and casual, but still special. 

Serve the bars individually with a generous dollop of Cointreau whipped cream.

For the base, my mind automatically went to Biscoff cookies, also known as “speculoos”. If you haven’t had them, lightly spiced with a perfectly crispy, melt in your mouth texture. Generally, they are a fantastic alternative to graham cracker crumbs when baking. 

It’s easy to make Biscoff crumbs in a food processor or blender.

Biscoff cookie base, ready for the oven.

A few tips and tricks. 

This recipe is quite simple in terms of ingredients. All you need is a little patience to put them together properly! You will need a blender or food processor to ensure a smooth cranberry curd, as well as a fine-mesh sieve to remove the cranberry seeds and skins. 

Base ingredients for the cranberry orange curd, ready to be cooked.

Take the mixture off the heat when the cranberries start popping open.

I used frozen cranberries to make these bars and they turned out perfectly. However, feel free to use fresh, which are more widely available this time of year. Fresh cranberries will require less initial cooking time by a few minutes, so just keep an eye. 

Adding butter after blending and straining the cranberries.

It’s important to temper the eggs with the warm cranberry mixture.

A fantastic last-minute dessert.

Although these are technically cookie bars, in reality they make a gorgeous dessert course all on their own. I cut them individually and top with a generous dollop of Cointreau-whipped cream just before serving. Seeing the individual elements satisfies me, and you’ll want to show off the gorgeous ruby-red colour of the curd. 

The finished curd is a beautiful ruby red colour.

Ready to assemble and bake the bars.

If you really want to make it fancy, add a swirl of orange peel or a little piece of candied orange to the plate. Or, just eat them straight out of the pan. Choose your own adventure! I hope you enjoy these cranberry treats. Merry Christmas to you and yours from the Rock Recipes family!

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Cranberry Orange Biscoff Bars with Cointreau Whipped Cream. A new festive favourite!

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Cranberry Orange Biscoff Bars

Yield: About 20 bars

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Festive dessert bars using a speculoos cookie crumb base, topped with smooth and bright cranberry orange curd and finished with Cointreau whipped cream.

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Ingredients

For the Biscoff Base

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• 1 package Biscoff Biscuits (250g)
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 tsp salt

For the Cranberry Orange Curd

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• 3 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 cup sugar
• Peel of 2 oranges
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs + 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Cointreau Whipped Cream

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• 250 ml whipping cream
• 1 tbsp icing sugar (powdered sugar)
• 1 tbsp Cointreau, or other orange flavoured liqueur

Instructions

For the Biscoff Base:

1. Pulse the Biscoff biscuits in a food processor until you have fine crumbs.
2. Add the 3 tbsp sugar and melted butter and stir to combine, ensuring all crumbs are evenly moist.
3. Bake in a parchment-lined 9x9 inch baking dish at 350 F for 10 minutes. Let the base cool completely before adding the curd.

For the Cranberry Orange Curd:

1. Combine cranberries, sugar, orange peel and juice in a saucepan. Simmer over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes (15 minutes if using frozen berries) until the cranberries have softened and started popping.
2. Let the mixture cool slightly before blending until smooth in a food processor or blender. Wipe out your saucepan to use again.
3. Pour and press this blended mixture through a fine mesh sleeve and transfer back to the saucepan. Over the lowest heat, add the butter to mixture.
4. Whisk the eggs and yolks in a medium bowl. While continuously whisking, slowly add 1 cup of the warm cranberry mixture to the eggs to temper.
5. Add the tempered eggs into the saucepan and combine. Increase heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes until the curd has thickened.
6. Let the curd cool to room temperature before pouring it on top of the cookie base. Bake at 350 F for about 10 minutes, until the curd has fully set.
7. Cool completely in the fridge before serving. To serve, remove the entire slab of cookie bars from the baking dish by lifting the parchment. Use a serrated knife and wipe it between each cut for clean-looking bars. Top each piece with a generous dollop of whipped cream and an orange peel swiri or zest.

For the Cointreau Whipped Cream:

1. Combine the cream, icing sugar and liqueur and beat with a stand mixer or electric hand mixer until your desired consistency is reached.

Notes

• When peeling oranges, avoid the white pith and do your best to use only the orange bit.
• I used 1/2 cup fresh orange juice from the grocery store for more intense flavour, but you can certainly use the juice from the peeled oranges.

Nutrition Information

Yield

2

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 204Total Fat 13gSaturated Fat 8gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 70mgSodium 113mgCarbohydrates 20gFiber 1gSugar 17gProtein 2g

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.

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