Julia Child said to never apologize for what you put on the table for your guests. Always smile and never give away that you made a mistake. Chances are, they will never know anyway…

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I’m breaking her rule right now by admitting that as I attempted to duplicate Brooke’s Cranberry Bars, I wanted to make them fancy in ramekins. I unfortunately either didn’t wait long enough for the bars to set or I did something incorrectly. Regardless, this mistake created an amazing crumble.

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*Pushing the Crumble in front of you, smiling a big ol’ toothy smile*

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Cranberry Cheese Crumble

Converted from Brooke’s Merry Berry Cheese Bars

Gluten, egg, and dairy-free

Makes 10 small 3″ ramekin-filled Crumbles *or* approx 12 large bars

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 c. gluten-free flour mix
  • 1 1/2 c. oatmeal
  • 3/4 c + 1 Tb firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 c. vegan butter, softened
  • 1 (8oz) package vegan cream cheese, softened
  • 1/2 c. non-dairy milk
  • 4 Tbs powdered sugar
  • 1/4 c lemon juice
  • 8 oz store bought cranberry sauce (I used Trader Joe’s brand and used 3/4 of the jar. Brooke has a great homemade recipe if you cannot find jarred cranberry sauce here)
  • 2 Tbs corn starch

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. With mixer, beat flour, oats, 3/4 c. sugar and butter until crumbly.  Set aside 1 1/2 c. mixture; press remaining mixture on bottom of greased 13X9 inch baking pan.
  3. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

ASSEMBLING:

  1. With mixer, beat cheese until fluffy.  Gradually beat in non-dairy milk and powdered sugar until smooth.  Stir in lemon juice.
  2. Spread over baked crust.
  3. Combine cranberry sauce, cornstarch, and remaining 1 Tb sugar.  Spoon over cheese layer.  Top with reserved mixture.
  4. Bake 45 minutes or until golden.
  5. Cool and cut into bars.  Refrigerate leftovers.