It's funny how well Starbucks has got us trained...
Frappuccinos = Summer
Pumpkin Spice Lattes = Thanksgiving
Cranberry Bliss Bars = Christmas!!!
Well, this recipe brings some of that holiday cheer into your very own home from your very own oven. Adapted from Recipezaar (#341328).
For those of you who haven't tried them in store, they are similar to a ginger-spiced blondie packed with craisins and white chocolate and covered in a dreamy slightly tangy cream cheese frosting. The bright red dried cranberries provides an eye catching contrast to the stark white frosting - excellent presentation and addition to your holiday spread.
Starbucks' Cranberry Bliss Bars
9x13 pan
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, lightly packed
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
6 ounces white chocolate, small chunks
1/3 cup candied ginger, finely chopped
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tsp orange juice
1 tbsp orange zest
1/2 cup dried cranberries, finely chopped
1/4 cup white chocolate, melted for drizzling
Bars: Preheat oven to 350°F and line a 9"x13" pan with parchment paper. (You could use a 10"x15" jelly roll pan for thinner bars, just watch baking time).
Cream butter and brown sugar in electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, but do not over mix. Add dry ingredients in small amounts, scraping down the mixer bowl occasionally. Fold in cranberries, chocolate, and candied ginger.
Spread batter over parchment on pan and bake for 30 minutes or until bars are lightly pulling away from sides of pan and are slightly firm to the touch. Cool.
Frosting: In another electric mixer, blend softened cream cheese with powdered sugar, butter, vanilla, orange juice and orange zest. Refrigerate until ready to use.
When bars are cool, spread frosting evenly on top and sprinkle with chopped dried cranberries. Drizzle with melted white chocolate and return to refrigerator or freezer to set. To serve, cut into triangle shaped pieces. Store in the refrigerator.
7 comments:
Not sure if they have these at Starbucks here, but they look fabulous! Very festive!
When he was just out of high school my little brother worked at a starbucks...his main mission was to snag me these bars. I can't wait to try making them myself.
Man, I love these things! And there is no Starbucks anywhere near where I live, so I am totally SOL!
As for the question you left on my blog...
I have training & experience in baking & cooking, so that has helped me get my foot in the door in a lot of places. But what I highly recommend is finding a place where you can volunteer to get something started for yourself. There are lots of non-profits out there who love to have people come in & bake for them. Seniors facilities, group homes, hospitals...The place I work at now is actually a seniors facility run by the Canadian Mental Health Association, and the baking I do goes up to the hospital to be sold at the coffee shop there, which is run by the CMHA, too. Or, you can always approach a small bakery you like and ask them if they would like a volunteer for a few hours a week, just to get your foot in the door.
You are so right! Starbucks does have us trained! To me not only do the Cranberry Bliss Bars mean Christmas, but so do the Gingerbread Lattes. They are my absolute favorite!
So glad you posted these!
Cranberry is the perfect ingredient for holiday baking--it's so pretty and festive! These are at Starbucks? They look so delicious and elegant.
I have tried this recipe, it was great, but I found it more cake like than the cookie at starbucks, do you think removing one egg would make it more cookie like?
Stephanie - THese ones were pretty brownie like - not really cakey - they were dense and chewy. I think maybe increasing the egg would make it even more dense if you wanted though :)
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