A fun copycat Starbucks recipe these Cranberry Bliss Bars are soft, tasty, and full of flavor. Topped with an orange spiked frosting, cranberries, and white chocolate you can’t go wrong.
These Cranberry Bliss Bars have been one of my absolute favorite recipes for the longest time. When they would appear back at Starbucks I would get them every single time.
But that was many years ago and we have been making them at home for quite a while. I love to recreate some of my favorite restaurant or in this case coffee shop recipes.
Not only does it save me a trip, but it also saves me money when I can bake up a whole batch for the price of what it would cost for a bar or two.
Saving money, baking, and enjoying tasty treats – I mean how much better does it get than that! It really doesn’t, these bars are heaven.
With so many different flavors from the bars, orange, cranberry, cream cheese, and white chocolate everything pairs nicely together.
You really cannot go wrong with these Cranberry Bliss Bars! If you’ve never tried them, you need to whip them up now! And you then will understand the obsession.
Some of my other favorite bar recipes we have on our site include: Cherry Cheesecake Bars, Cinnamon Roll Blondies and Cookies and Cream Red Velvet Brownies.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- With multiple flavors, they all work so well together.
- You can cut these into the iconic triangles or for fewer servings you can cut into squares.
- You can cut this recipe in half to serve less people.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE BELOW):
All-purpose flour
Baking powder
Ground ginger
Fine sea salt
Unsalted butter
Light brown sugar
Granulated sugar
Eggs
Orange zest
Vanilla extract
Dried sweetened cranberries
White chocolate chips
Cream cheese
Powdered sugar
White chocolate chips
HOW TO MAKE CRANBERRY BLISS BARS:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 10x15x1 (this will also work with a 9×13 pan, cook times may vary) pan with parchment paper, set aside. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, ginger, and salt, set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until combined.
- Whisk in the eggs until fully incorporated.
- Add the orange zest and vanilla, whisk to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl.
- Stir it in until there are no dry patches left.
- Add the chopped cranberries and chocolate chips
- Fold them in until evenly combined..
- Spread this mixture into the prepared baking pan and smooth it out. Bake for 18-22 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the bars cool, make the frosting by adding the cream cheese to a medium-sized bowl and mix it with an electric hand mixer until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar a little at a time until mixed in. Add the orange zest and vanilla, mix it in. Then add half of the melted white chocolate and mix it in.
- Once the bars are cool, take them out of the pan and smooth the frosting over the top. Sprinkle the chopped cranberries on top. Drizzle the remaining melted white chocolate on top, in an overlapping zig-zag pattern.
- You can cut and serve the bars immediately or place them in the fridge so the frosting can set slightly if you want a firmer bar.
CAN I USE FRESH CRANBERRIES?
For this recipe I don’t suggest using fresh cranberries, the baking time would not make them soft enough in the bar themselves.
Dried sweetened cranberries work perfectly in these as they are already cooked and ready for use.
DO I HAVE TO USE ORANGE ZEST?
Yes, the orange flavor is essential in this recipe to make it taste like the original. It is easy to zest an orange and trust me you will want that flavor in these bars.
Two of the best flavor combinations are cranberry and orange so in these bars they work perfectly together.
HOW TO STORE:
Since these contain cream cheese, they need to be refrigerated. These can be placed in an airtight container or wrapped with plastic wrap in the pan where they will keep for up to 5 days.
These can also be frozen, place in a freezer container or bag and place in the freezer where they will keep for up to 3 months, defrost in refrigerator or countertop.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- These can be cut in half to serve fewer people.
- The orange is a necessary ingredient, please do not skip it!
- Make sure you use dried cranberries that are sweetened, fresh will not work.
- High-quality white chocolate is best as they melt better.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above.
If you are looking for a fun holiday treat that you won’t be able to resist, then you need to make my Cranberry Bliss Bars!
If you like this recipe you might also like:
If you’ve tried these CRANBERRY BLISS BARS let me know in the comments how it turned out! You can follow me over on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK to find some more of our mouthwatering recipes!
Cranberry Bliss Bars
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup roughly chopped dried sweetened cranberries
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
For the topping:
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 ¾ cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup white chocolate chips melted
- ¼ cup roughly chopped sweetened dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 10x15x1 (this will also work with a 9x13 pan, cook times may vary) pan with parchment paper, set aside. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, ginger, and salt, set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until combined.
- Whisk in the eggs until fully incorporated.
- Add the orange zest and vanilla, whisk to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl.
- Stir it in until there are no dry patches left.
- Add the chopped cranberries and chocolate chips
- Fold them in until evenly combined..
- Spread this mixture into the prepared baking pan and smooth it out. Bake for 18-22 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the bars cool, make the frosting by adding the cream cheese to a medium-sized bowl and mix it with an electric hand mixer until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar a little at a time until mixed in. Add the orange zest and vanilla, mix it in. Add half of the melted white chocolate and mix it in.
- Once the bars are cool, take them out of the pan and smooth the frosting over the top. Sprinkle the chopped cranberries on top. Drizzle the remaining melted white chocolate on top, in an overlapping zig-zag pattern.
- You can cut and serve the bars immediately or place them in the fridge so the frosting can set slightly if you want a firmer bar.
Notes
- These can be cut in half to serve less people.
- The orange is a necessary ingredient, please do not skip it!
- Make sure you use dried cranberries that are sweetened, fresh will not work.
- High quality white chocolate are best as they melt better.
- These can be frozen, see my tips above.
Nutrition
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