Cranberry Bliss Bars

So what else can we say about this recipe? So many bloggers have made this and shared their ideas, but I had to give it a try. As most people know, this is one of Starbucks' Holiday desserts that people wait all year for! There is good reason for that. Aside from being a sure sign that Christmas is coming, this recipe is just "good stuff." Be warned! It is super sweet ....so you might only want one! In that case, maybe Starbucks is  your best bet, but if you want enough to share, make your own!  It is super easy and unlike Starbucks you will not be paying $4 per bar.

Cranberry Bliss Bars

These would be great packaged up and given as gifts for Christmas!

 

Blondie Layer:

3/4 Cup salted butter, cubed

1 1/2 Cups packed light brown sugar

2  Large eggs

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/4 Cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tea spoons baking powder

1/4 tea spoon salt

1/8 tea spoon ground cinnamon

1/2 Cup dried cranberries

6  oz. white baking chocolate, coarsely chopped

 

Frosting:

1 package cream cheese, softened (8 ounces)

1 Cup powdered sugar, sifted

6  oz. white baking chocolate, melted

1/2 Cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

Pre­heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13-inch bak­ing dish with non­stick spray or line with parch­ment paper.

Pre­pare the blondie layer: In a medi­um bowl, melt but­ter for one minute in the microwave or until melt­ed; stir in brown sugar. Pour the but­ter and sugar into a large bowl and let cool to room tem­per­a­ture. Use an elec­tric mixer to beat in the eggs and vanil­la. In a sep­a­rate bowl, whisk togeth­er the flour, bak­ing pow­der, salt and cin­na­mon; grad­u­al­ly add the dry mix­ture to the but­ter mix­ture. Stir in the cran­ber­ries and chopped choco­late (bat­ter will be thick).

 

Spread the blondie bat­ter into the pre­pared pan. Bake for 18-21 min­utes or until a tooth­pick insert­ed near the cen­ter comes out clean (do not over­bake). Cool com­plete­ly on a wire rack.

 

Pre­pare the frost­ing: In a large bowl, use an elec­tric mixer to beat the cream cheese and pow­dered sugar until com­bined. Grad­u­al­ly add half of the melt­ed white choco­late; beat until blend­ed. Frost brown­ies. Sprin­kle with chopped cran­ber­ries. Driz­zle with remain­ing melt­ed white choco­late. Let the frost­ing set (speed this up by throw­ing them into the fridge) then cut into bars- square or triangle-shaped. Store in the refrig­er­a­tor until ready to serve.

 

Recipe from Whole Foods