Recipe of Starbucks’ Cranberry Bliss Bar

It’s one of my favorite times of year–cranberry bliss bars are in at Starbucks!

There are several copycat recipes available, but my own is a hybrid of these two good ones:

Mrbreakfast.com, a nice recipe site for breakfast ideas, and

topsecretrecipes.com, a great place to find clone recipes of your favorite restaurant food.

Here’s my own adjusted recipe:

Round up the usual suspects.

I left out the baking powder, but they turned out fine.

CRANBERRY BLISS BARS:
2 sticks of butter, softened to room temperature
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup dried cranberries, minced
3/4 cups white chocolate chips
2 tablespoons candied (or crystallized) ginger, minced

Grease an 9 by 13 inch pan. I use glass. Using metal might speed your cooking time.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and brown sugar. It’s very bad for you and has it coming.

Mix in eggs and vanilla. Make it nice and so fluffy.

Combine dry mixture and wet mixture.

Mix in white chocolate chips, candied ginger and cranberries.

Batter will be thick. Using a spatula, spread it evenly in prepared pan. Pop in hot oven for 25 minutes.

Photo cropped so you don’t have to see my dirty oven.

Finished cake should be golden and springy in the center. Be careful not to over-bake.

When done, remove and cool completely before frosting.

FROSTING:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

I used bottled lemon juice. I can hear my foodie friends being sick at the thought of it.

Combine ingredients until smooth. Spread over cooled cake.

OPTIONAL GARNISHES:

1/4 cup dried cranberries, minced
1/4 cup white chocolate chips, melted
Scatter cranberries over frosted cake. Drizzle melted white chocolate over cake randomly.

Put frosted cake in refrigerator for twenty minutes to set icing.

Cut cake in half longways, then into three sections shortways. This makes six square sections. Cut each section  like an X, making four triangular pieces for twenty-four sections total. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Or cut one diagonal instead of X for twelve larger pieces.

Enjoy!

NOTES:

• I bake with table salt, not kosher salt
• You can substitute a chopped white chocolate candy bar for the white chocolate chips. Use good-quality white chocolate if you can get it.
• Dried cranberries and candied ginger are available at most grocery stores
• Bring the butter and cream cheese to room temperature. Never cook with cold cream cheese. It won’t blend well otherwise, especially if you are incorporating it into a batter.
• I used whole wheat flour, but white works just as well
• The recipe calls for all-purpose flour. If you must use self-rising, omit the salt and the baking powder.
• Always use the best-quality ingredients you can. I use Penzey’s spices whenever I can. In this recipe, I used their powdered ginger, candied ginger and I used their vanilla beans to make my homemade vanilla extract.
• Again, don’t over-bake or the white chocolate will burn.

Serve these for breakfast, give them as a gift to neighbors, pack them in a lunch, or take them to a holiday gathering or your next potluck and watch them get snapped up.

I’ve made these for years at home and I must say homemade is certainly better than what you can buy at Starbucks because it is fresh and tailored to your own tastes.

Still, there is something so special about going to a coffee shop and having a cup of your favorite gourmet coffee with a pastry you didn’t have to cook or clean up after.  Bliss indeed!

My giveaway of a Starbucks gift card and an Amazon gift card ends tomorrow. Enter here for your chance to win.

If you try the recipe, let me know how it turns out. Also, please use the buttons below this post to share it on Facebook and Twitter if you think your friends would like it.

Much bliss,

All opinions are my own and the gift cards are from me. I’ve received no remuneration for this contest.