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Cranberry Bliss Bars are a delicious white chocolate blondie topped with white chocolate cream cheese frosting and dried cranberries on top! This recipe originally published in December 2013.

A plate with a cranberry bliss bar topped with dried cranberries, dried cranberries on the plate, a fork, and the pan of bars behind the plate.

During the holidays I enjoy spending time with my family. We often have dinner together and then will play a game. Our current favorite is Buzz Words, which we like to play boys versus girls. It’s not really the game itself, it’s just being able to sit down and spend time with each other.

After we are finished playing games it’s usually time for dessert. As desserts are my specialty, I am the one who makes the desserts. I like to make seasonal desserts that are holiday appropriate. One that I have found that is perfect for winter holidays is the Cranberry Bliss Bar.

The original Cranberry Bliss Bars come from Starbucks. I used to buy them there until I began making my own version. I’ll be honest; we went to Starbucks and grabbed one a year or two ago and it wasn’t nearly as good as my homemade version!

Ingredients:

butter
brown sugar
eggs
vanilla
flour
baking powder
salt
cinnamon
white chocolate chips
cream cheese
powdered sugar
dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan with baking spray.
Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat until it begins to brown. Once it begins to turn brown remove it from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Do not let the butter burn or you will have to start over. As soon as it starts to get a golden color remove it from the heat.
In a large bowl combine the browned butter and brown sugar.
Add in the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.
In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and white chocolate chips.
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir well. Carefully spread the batter into the greased pan and bake for 20-22 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

The base of these cookies is a buttery, white chocolate blondie. When you pull the blondie out of the oven it will almost look like it isn’t all the way baked and that’s how you know it’s perfect. You want it to be super soft and just cooked.

The blondie is rich, buttery, and full of white chocolate flavor. Because it’s made with brown sugar it has a caramel finish to it as well. They are super soft with just a little bit of chew.

I don’t have brown sugar, can I just use white sugar?

You can use white sugar instead of the brown sugar but it won’t have the caramel flavor in the blondie. If you have molasses at home you can add 1 teaspoon of molasses to one cup of white sugar and mix well to make your own brown sugar at home.

I don’t really like dried cranberries. Is there another fruit I could use?

Well the name of the cookie is Cranberry Bliss Bars so obviously cranberries are the best choice. If you want to try something else dried cherries or raisins would be a good substitution in these bars.

Why do you put white chocolate in the frosting? Do you need it?

The white chocolate does a few things in this recipe. First it helps thicken up the frosting so it sets well. If you don’t put in the white chocolate the frosting is super soft and fluffy. The white chocolate also adds some flavor to the frosting. While you don’t have to add it to the frosting, it really works in the recipe. If you remove it from the recipe you’ll have to add additional powdered sugar to the recipe.

Can these cookies be frozen?

Yes you can. Bake and frost as directed then place in the refrigerator over night. In the morning cover the pan with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil and freeze for up to three months. You can also cut these into bars, stack them in a container, then cover that container with plastic wrap and aluminum foil to freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before serving.

These are probably my favorite cookie that I make and my husband agrees. Something about the sweetness of the white chocolate with the tartness of the cranberries is just amazing. I took these into work a few weeks ago and my coworkers agreed that these are one of their favorites as well.

Another reason I love these is because they are a bar cookie so I can make the batter, put it in a pan, and bake it. Unlike cookies where I have to keep checking on them and rotating the cookie sheets around.

More Cookie Recipes:

If you’ve tried my Cranberry Bliss Bars or any other recipe on Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks please take a minute to rate the recipe and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. I love hearing from you! You can FOLLOW ME on: