Why it works: Cinnamon and cranberry match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 116 recipes mention both. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare the crust
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease a 10x15 jellyroll pan (9x13 okay).
In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
Cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
Stir in oats, reserving 1½ cups of the mixture.
Firmly press remainder in bottom of prepared pan.
Bake 15 minutes.
Cool 10 minutes before filling.
Fill and bake
In a medium bowl, stir together cranberry sauce, marmalade, and vanilla.
Slowly add remaining ⅓ cup flour, blending thoroughly.
Spread evenly over baked and cooled crust.
Add nuts to reserved oat mixture, sprinkle over top of cranberry filling.
Bake 30 minutes or until lightly browned.
Cool and store
Cool in pan on rack.
Cut into 64 bars.
Store in airtight container one week, freeze for longer storage.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Cinnamon + cranberrytop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together116 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
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Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,027 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together8,368 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + oatstop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,394 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Cut in cold, it creates a crumbly, tender crust texture as it stays in pieces.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the pressed crust and thickens the cranberry filling.
- Rolled oats
- Add chewiness and a hearty texture to the crust and topping.
- Cranberry sauce
- Forms the tart, moist fruit filling that sets as the bars cool.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and caramel notes that help the crust brown.
The step that matters
Firmly press remainder in bottom of prepared pan.. Pressing the crust firmly packs the crumbs together so it holds its shape and does not crumble when the filling is spread on top and the bars are cut.
Flavor stand-ins for the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, oats, cranberry):
- Gingerabout as good a flavor fit
- Cardamomabout as good a flavor fit
- Clovethe original
- Allspiceabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, oats, cranberry. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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