Oh, baby. Do I have a fabulous confection to share with you today! These bars are chewy and loaded with white chocolate and dried cranberries. The frosting has a fabulous white chocolate and orange flavor that is out of this world. Seriously, these bars are dangerous business. Make at your own risk, truly! They would be awesome to take to any holiday party this season.
I found this recipe for Cranberry Orange Bliss Bars in my good friend Laura’s new cookbook…
Christmas Desserts! This little book is full of beautiful, holiday themed desserts. Laura’s recipes are always easy to make, and delicious. You can buy this book at Amazon for $4.99! Isn’t that a great deal? It would make a fun stocking stuffer. I have two books available to giveaway to two luck readers. To enter the giveaway just leave me a comment below telling me your favorite Christmas Dessert. It can be homemade, or something you love to buy during the season. The giveaway will be open from today until Thursday November 13th at midnight. Winner will be announced on Friday November 14th, bright and early with the sunshine.
You can visit Laura’s food blog, Real Mom Kitchen by clicking here.
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Into your stand mixer or large mixing bowl place 3/4 C butter and 1 1/4 C brown sugar.
3. Mix them until well combined.
4. Add 3 eggs, 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix until the mixture is nice and smooth.
5. Into a small bowl place 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1 1/2 cups flour. Toss them together to combine.
6. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture and mix until well combined. Should take a couple of minutes.
7. Chop 1/2 cup of dried cranberries and add them to the bowl. Add 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips as well and mix to combine.
8. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray and place the dough inside.
Spread it out evenly with a knife.
9. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
10. Allow the bars to cool completely.
11. To make the frosting, zest a beautiful orange. You will need 1/2 tsp of zest.
12. Into a medium sized mixing bowl place 4 ounces cream cheese, 2 Tb butter, 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp orange zest and 2 Tb juice from the orange. Mix it well, until it’s smooth and glossy.
13. Spread the frosting over the top of the cooled bars. Sprinkle the top with 2 Tb chopped dried cranberries.
14. Pour 1/4 C white chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and heat it in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each one. You want to make sure the chocolate doesn’t get too hot. It will start to clump up on you if it’s heated to fast.
15. Drizzle the white chocolate over the top of the bars.
Lovely!
16. Let them chill out in the fridge until the chocolate is set and the frosting has firmed up a bit.
Slice and enjoy!
Ingredients
- BARS:
- 3/4 C butter, softened
- 1 1/4 C brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 C flour
- 1/2 C dried cranberries, chopped
- 1/2 C white chocolate chips
- FROSTING:
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 Tb butter, softened
- 2 C powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp orange zest
- 2 Tb orange juice
- TOPPINGS:
- 2 Tb dried cranberries, chopped
- 1/4 C white chocolate, melted
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Into your stand mixer or large mixing bowl place 3/4 C butter and 1 1/4 C brown sugar.
3. Mix them until well combined.
4. Add 3 eggs, 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix until the mixture is nice and smooth.
5. Into a small bowl place 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1 1/2 cups flour. Toss them together to combine.
6. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture and mix until well combined. Should take a couple of minutes.
7. Chop 1/2 cup of dried cranberries and add them to the bowl. Add 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips as well and mix to combine.
8. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and place the dough inside. Spread it out evenly with a knife.
9. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
10. Allow the bars to cool completely.
11. To make the frosting, zest a beautiful orange. You will need 1/2 tsp of zest.
12. Into a medium sized mixing bowl place 4 ounces cream cheese, 2 Tb butter, 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp orange zest and 2 Tb juice from the orange. Mix it well, until it's smooth and glossy.
13. Spread the frosting over the top of the cooled bars. Sprinkle the top with 2 Tb chopped dried cranberries.
14. Pour 1/4 C white chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and heat it in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each one. You want to make sure the chocolate doesn't get too hot. It will start to clump up on you if it's heated to fast.
15. Drizzle the white chocolate over the top of the bars. Lovely!
16. Let them chill out in the fridge until the chocolate is set and the frosting has firmed up a bit. Slice and enjoy!
Recipe from Christmas Desserts by Laura Powell
141 comments
Peppermint ice cream
Apple Pecan Upside Down Pie! You read it right — pie! It’s ooey and gooey and delicious!
Yum, these look great. I love Laura’s blog. These look like the scrumptious bars that Starbucks sells during the holiday season. Maybe a copycat recipe? I will have to try these, thanks.
My mom’s cherry cheese pie -absolutely love it, and request it every time we get together! Yum, yum, yum!!!
I love carmels! Can’t get enough of them.
Ris a La Mande-a Danish dessert that is served on Christmas Eve (Danes open their presents on Christmas Eve). This is essentially a rich rice pudding but without the eggs. One whole almond is in the dish and whoever finds the whole almond receives a special present. There are several versions of the recipe online.
I love, love, love, the homemade Carmel Candy that Costco carries during the holidays, they are to die for.
Maple pecan pumpkin pie with a gingersnap cookie crust! Mmmmm!!
Homemade caramels and fudge! Mmm,mmm good!
Thumbprint cookies are my favorite Christmas dessert. It is the only time I make them.
I have to say cherry chocolates are my Christmas favorite!
These look so yummy, I can’t wait to make them. As for a favorite Christmas dessert….homemade fudge. Thanks for the recipe!
It’s so hard to choose a favorite! We love creating hot chocolate flavors with fun add-ins!
My white chocolate cheesecake I make every Christmas!! Thanks for this recipe, I can’t wait to try it.
My favorite dessert has been passed down for many, many years. It is grapenut pie.
I truly dislike pie, I don’t like the consistency of pie crust, but come Thanksgiving and Christmas, my mom makes a grapenut pie just for me and oh goodness, there is nothing better.
It is a cream based pie so the grapenuts are not that super crunchy out of the box consistency. 3 weeks and counting!
Around my home, it’s not Christmas until I make Spicy Crinkles cookies. Loaded with so many spices of the Christmas season — ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, allspice, and cloves — all combined with the deep flavors of brown sugar and molasses, the dough is then scooped and rolled into balls, dredged in sanding sugar, and baked until the tops shatter, leaving a crinkled top and a soft, chewy center. Mmmmm.
My favorite is definitely your fudge recipe although my kids favorite is choc. chip cookie dough truffles.
My mom always made old fashioned sugar cookies among many other treats! Those were by far my favorite Christmas cookie!
We always give coconut bread for a treat! But I personally love anything with peppermint or eggnog.
My Mother made a floating island dessert that was to die for.. I make it but is anything ever as good as your Mothers?? Thanks for the give away.. SANDI.
my favorite dessert during the holidays is Grasshopper Pie!
Divinity!
My favorite Christmas recipe? There are tons of Christmas cookies, Christmas breads – but it’s become a tradition that I ‘purchase’ a multi-flavored cheesecake medley from Gordon Foods (in addition to all the other sweets I bake!)
LOVE YOUR RECIPES! THANKS, again!
I love baking pimpkin pie and decorating Christmas cookies, but always need to buy myself some chocolate covered cherries!
Your cranberry orange bars look amazing…but I am partial to chocolate truffle cookies at Christmas!
Fruitcake. Seriously! I know it gets a bad rap, but I love it. I have my Grandmother’s recipe and I make it every Christmas. It just would not be the holidays without it.
My favorite for the past few years has been anything with peppermint in it, particularly white chocolate peppermint mousse. However, these cranberry bliss bars look fabulous! Can’t wait to try them!
Susan in PA
Frosted sugar cookies!
Gingersnaps!
I love those peanut butter kiss cookies!
Starbuck’s Cranberry Bliss Bars!!!! I am so glad that there is an at-home recipe for these….I’ll save a ton of dough this year (pun intended)!
Homemade white fruitcake
I LOVE peppermint anything and I love the bars similar to these that Starbucks put out during the Holidays. Two separate locations told me last year however, they would no longer carry them as they were changing bakers! I am hoping that isn’t true but I haven’t seen them yet this year, so this recipe is coming at just the right time!!!!
I love chocolate kiss and peanut butter cookies!
I love to make bread pudding with a brandy sauce around Christmas.
There are so many yummy desserts during the holidays! My favorites are my Grandma’s chocolate pie, my husband’s Grandma’s crispy sugar cookies, and my Mom’s homemade chocolate sauce poured over peppermint ice cream.
I look forward to a Frozen Lime Buttermint Dessert we serve during the holiday season.
Christmas cookies- especially homemade gingerbread men!
Homemade fudge!! Yummy
I love peppermint bark!
Without a doubt it is homemade carmels!
These look really yummy…but I think my favorite Christmas dessert is peanut brittle.
Molasses cookies!
soft gingersnap cookies dipped in white chocolate!
Homemade fudge or anything with Chocolate and/or peppermint.
these bars sound yummy and fairly easy to make. You had me at cranberry and orange, one of my favorite combinations!
Hello all,
I really like all the festive cookies that around. It is hard to choose just one. If I had to pick though I would go with the homemade almond roca. Happy Holidays everyone!
My favorite is Pumpkin Caramel Cinnamon Cake!
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We love to make fudge at our house.
I love to get Pandoro it is an Italian cake.