Cranberry Bliss Bars

Cranberry bliss bars are recipe #4 of our “24 Days of Christmas” Holiday series where I share 24 recipes over 24 days as a virtual advent countdown to Christmas. Christmas is my favourite holiday, especially when it comes to baking, and I think there are endless creations that we can come up with to reflect the holidays. All 24 holiday recipes will be shared across instagram, tiktok and here on the blog where you can print off the full recipe for your baking pleasure!

If you have ever had a cranberry bliss bar from Starbucks then you know just how truly addictive and delicious these little bundles of joy are. I think that if I could only have one dessert for the rest of my life it would be this dessert, because it is so simple yet there are sooo many deliciously in sync flavours happening in each bite.

The Recipe

For this recipe you will begin by making the dough for the bars. This dough is combination of your simple baking staples, like butter, brown sugar, eggs, flour and baking powder. Where this recipe gets fun is with the orange extract and the ground ginger, this is where the flavour really comes from! You can find orange extract in most baking aisles at the grocery store.

For this recipe we melt the butter in the microwave before adding it to the batter to help create a soft, chewy consistency in these bars.

Once you have mixed the dough you will transfer it to a 9 x 13 ” baking dish that has been lined with parchment paper. Bake this in the oven at 350 degrees F for 22-25 minutes, until it is crispy on the edges and set in the middle.

While the bars are baking, it is time to make frosting! The frosting is especially delicious and is just a simply combination of cream cheese, icing sugar and milk.

Once you have let the bars cool completely and you have added the frosting, it is time to dress these up with a white chocolate orange drizzle and chopped cranberries. When melting the white chocolate for the drizzle you will add 1/8th a tsp of orange extract in to the melted chocolate – trust me on this one! You will add the chopped cranberries and white chocolate drizzle over top of the bars and voila – you have a master piece!

You can either add the frosting before slicing the bars, or slice the bars and then pipe on the frosting, The latter is a bit more time consuming.

Print Pin

Cranberry Bliss Bars

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 12 large bars

Ingredients

For the bars

• 1 cup melted butter
• 1.5 cups brown sugar
• 2 large eggs room temp
• 1.5 tsp orange extract
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 6 ounces chopped white chocolate
• 2/3 cups dried cranberries

For the frosting

• 1 cup cream cheese
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 2 tbsp whole milk

For the toppings

• 1/2 tsp orange extract
• 1/3 cup white chocolate chips melted and drizzled or just sprinkled on top
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries chopped

Instructions

• Preheated your oven to 350 degrees and line a 9×13” baking dish with parchment paper. Grab all of your needed ingredients.
• Combine your melted butter and brown sugar in an electric mixer on medium speed until mixed well.
• Add your eggs, ginger, salt and orange extract to your wet mixture and continue to mix well on medium speed.
• Combine your baking powder and flour in a separate dish and then gradually add to your wet mixture. Don’t over mix!!!
• Fold in your white chocolate chips and dried cranberries until we’ll mixed.
• Transfer the batter to your lined baking dish using a spatula to spread around and flatten. Bake for 22-25 minutes until the edges are golden and crispy and the middle is set.
• Combine all ingredients for your frosting in your electric mixer and set aside.
• Melt your white chocolate for the chocolate drizzle and add the orange extract in.
• You can either frost the cooled bars in the baking dish and add the toppings before slicing it. Alternatively, you can slice the bars and then pipe the frosting on and add the toppings to each bar individually. Either works, and they both taste the same.
• This recipe makes 12 large bars or 18 regular bars.

This is recipe #4 of our 24 Days of Christmas festive recipe series. Find the whole collection of written recipes here.

Head over to my instagram, linked below, to check out the full videos on how to make each recipe.

Happy baking, and happy holidays, from my kitchen to yours!