Cranberry Bliss Bars 🍰

These Starbucks copycat Cranberry Bliss Bars are a seasonal fave that I have to make every Christmas! 🎄

They’re an immediate crowd pleaser and taste SO similar to the real thing 😍

Let me know what you think if you give them a try 🫶

You will need:

• 9x13 pan

• Cooking spray or parchment paper

• Wire cooling rack

• 1½ sticks salted butter at room temp

• 1½ cups brown sugar

• 2 eggs

• ¾ tsp vanilla extract

• 2¼ cups flour

• 1½ tsp baking powder

• ⅛ tsp cinnamon

• ¼ tsp salt

• 1 cup dried cranberries

• 12 ounces white chocolate

• 8 ounces cream cheese at room temp

• 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350℉ and grease a 9x13 inch pan — or you could line it with parchment paper instead

Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon to a bowl and whisk them together. Set that bowl aside

Chop up 6 ounces of the white chocolate and set that aside (the other 6 ounces will get melted later for the toppings)

In a separate bowl, use a mixer to cream the room temperature butter and sugar together until it gets fluffy and lighter in color (about 1-2 minutes)

Once the butter & sugar mixture is light and fluffy, add in the eggs and vanilla and beat all of that together until it’s fully combined

Next, add about half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix that on LOW speed until it’s just barely combined. Then add the remaining flour mixture and repeat the same process until it’s almost fully combined. It’s important not to over mix this, so it’s ok if there’s still a few bits of flour visible at this stage!

Then, gently stir in 1/2 cup of the cranberries and the 6oz. of chopped chocolate until everything is combined

Evenly spread the entire mixture into your prepared pan and bake it for about 18-22 minutes. It’s done baking when a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean!

Once out of the oven, let the bars cool to room temperature before frosting them (about 30 minutes to an hour)

While the bars are cooling, make your frosting/toppings:

Chop up the remaining 1/2 cup of cranberries into small pieces and set them aside

Use a mixer to beat the room temp cream cheese and powdered sugar together (I’d recommend adding the powdered sugar gradually or going very slow at first so that you don’t create a giant sugar cloud 😅)

Set that aside for a minute while you melt the remaining 6 ounces of white chocolate. Once that’s melted, gradually add HALF of it into the cream cheese mixture while the mixer is running and keep mixing until everything has come together

Add your frosting on top of the room temp bars, then add your chopped cranberries on top of the frosting and drizzle the remaining melted white chocolate on top of all that!

Once you’re happy with all of your toppings, cut the bars up and you’re ready to serve & ENJOY! 🍰🤎

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