These are Pure Bliss! A Must Make!
A homemade version of the popular Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bar. They are a moist blondie bar studded with white chocolate chips, ginger and tangy sweet dried cranberries. They are topped with cream cheese frosting that is kissed with just a touch of orange. Then they’re sprinkled with more dried cranberries and a drizzle of white chocolate. Cut into triangles, they’re the perfect treat to nibble with your coffee, tea or cocoa.
There are lots of Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bar copycat recipes out there! I checked out these recipes: 1, 2, 3, 4 when working on developing my own version. I also bought some Cranberry Bliss Bars at Starbucks to try to find out what makes them so popular and studied the official ingredient list.
My Cranberry Blondie Bars were a huge hit at my house! They freeze well, taste so much better because they’re homemade and will save you money too! (I think the Cranberry Bliss Bars at Starbucks were around $4.00 each!)
How to Cut the Triangle Wedge Shaped Bars:
Firstly, I highly recommend lining your metal 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan with 2 sheets of parchment or foil – allow the sheets to overhang the long sides of the pan. Grease under and over the sheets. When the bars are cool you can lift the foil/parchment “sling” out onto your cutting board for easy cutting.
When ready to cut the bars: First cut a long lengthwise cut down the center of the bar, then cut across into 6 equal portions. Cut diagonally across each of the 12 rectangles to make 24 triangular wedges.
Storing Cranberry Blondie Bars:
The bars keep best in the refrigerator, due to the cream cheese frosting. But taste best when you let them sit out a bit to come to room temperature. You can leave them out for a couple hours at a time. These bars also freeze really well. Just thaw them out in the refrigerator overnight.
Cranberry Blondie Bars
Equipment
- metal 13 x 9 x 2" baking pan
Ingredients
Blondie Bars
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt I use coarse kosher salt – use 1/2 teaspoon for table salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground dried ginger
- 2 sticks butter
- 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 3/4 cup white chocolate chips chopped
- 1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries (craisins) chopped
- 2 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger*
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 6 ounces cream cheese room temp.
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
Toppings
- 1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries (craisins)
- 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
Blondie Bars
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan. For easier bar removal – form a sling with foil/parchment – see notes.
- Whisk together dry ingredients in small bowl: flour, baking powder, salt and ground ginger.
- Use electric mixer to cream together butter and brown sugar for several minutes until fluffy and lighter in color.
- Add vanilla and eggs, one-at-a-time to creamed mixture.
- Mix in flour mixture until just combined.
- Stir in chopped white chocolate, dried cranberries and crystallized ginger.
- Spread in prepared pan. (It's helpful to spread the thick mixture with greased fingers or spatula.)
- Bake for 20-23 minutes or until edges are golden brown and center is just about set. Allow to cool in pan.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Mix cream cheese with electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar and vanilla and orange extracts.
- Spread the frosting onto the cooled bars. (If you used a sling to bake the bars – remove from pan before frosting.)
Toppings:
- Sprinkle with additional chopped dried cranberries. Melt white chocolate in microwave 30 seconds at a time. Stirring in between. Drizzle over bars.
- Refrigerate before cutting for at least an hour to allow frosting to firm up.
- Store in refrigerator, allow to come to room temperature to serve (about 20-30 minutes). See notes for freezing instructions.
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