Cranberry Bliss Bars

This is a recipe that I’ve been wanting to try for over a year now and just now I got around to it :) My good friend Olya was kind enough to bring a couple of bars for me to try when she made them. After that I knew that I just have to get the recipe and do it myself. Starbucks sells these and I still remember how good they were the first time I tried them. What these beauties are, is ginger sable crust with cranberry and white chocolate, covered with cream cheese frosting, sprinkled with more cranberries and white chocolate. I did not put any white chocolate in the crust as I did not have the small chips, but I think they would make this bar even more spectacular :) If for some reason you’re tempted to omit the white chocolate, don’t! It really adds the needed balance to the whole array of flavors, bringing them together in a beautiful Christmas harmony :D

My friend Olya, as I said before,  shared this recipe with me, although she did say that she in turn found it somewhere online herself. Thank you Olya!

Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bar

• 1 1/2 sticks butter (softened, not melted)
• 1/2 t. sp. salt
• 1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 t. sp. baking powder
• 2 tbl. sp. minced crystallized ginger or 1 teaspoon finely shredded fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 t. sp. vanilla
• 3/4 –1 1/2 cups cranberries + 1/2 cups to sprinkle on top
• 4 oz. white chocolate chips + 2 oz. for decoration

Preparation:

Turn the oven to 350F. Line a jelly roll pan with foil.

Put butter, salt & sugar in a bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream the ingredients together.

Add the eggs one at at time mixing well before each addition.

Add the flour, minced crystallized or finely shredded fresh ginger, vanilla and mix to combine.

Add the cranberries and white chocolate and mix.

Spray the prepared pan with nonstick spray.

Spread the batter in the pan with a spoon or wet the hand in water and do it by hand.

Bake at 350F for 25-30 min.

Let cool.

Frosting

• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 4 t.sp. lemon juice (about 1 lemon)

Cream all the ingredients together until smooth.

Spread on top of the cool crust.

Sprinkle with cranberries

Melt the chocolate in  microwave, stopping every 30 seconds to mix (making sure that the chocolate doesn’t break).

Using parchment paper, make a cone. Fill with chocolate. Snip the end and decorate in stripes. 

Cut in in big squares, then cut the squares diagonally in half.

Serve with coffee or tea of choice.

Bon Appétit!