Homemade Cranberry Bliss Bars from Starbuck’s

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… everywhere you gooooo!

…Sorry, I have that song stuck in my head now that Christmas music is on full steam ahead.

Despite the gross rain that comes with living in Oregon during December, I totally love this time of year. The lights up everywhere, getting all bundled up in fun scarves, and of course all of the holiday treats.

One of my favorites I look forward to seeing every winter is the Cranberry Bliss Bar from Starbucks. It’s a wonderful little cake filled with dried cranberries and white chocolate chips, topped with a cream cheese frosting and lemon icing. I totally love it.

But sadly it’s not available all year-round, so I figured why not try to make it myself?!

This recipe was adapted from one posted on Grin and Bake It’s blog and they taste almost exactly like the “real thing.” I was a little lazy and just cut them into rectangular pieces, but if you want them to look more like the Starbuck’s version, slice them into long triangles and people won’t even know the difference!

 Starbucks’ Cranberry Bliss Bars

Hands-on time: 30 minutes; Total time: 45 minutes

Makes 16 bars

Cake Ingredients:

• ¾ C (1 ½ sticks) butter, softened
• 1 ¼ C packed light brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 T crystallized ginger, minced
• ¾ C sweetened dried cranberries, chopped
• 4 oz white chocolate chunks or chips
• ½ t salt
• 1 ½ C all-purpose flour
• ½ t baking powder
• 1 ½ t vanilla extract

Frosting Ingredients:

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 3 C powdered sugar
• ¼ C sweetened dried cranberries, chopped
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 4 t lemon juice

Icing Ingredients:

• ½ C powdered sugar
• 1 T lemon juice

To Make the Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×13” baking pan.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar until smooth.
3. Add the eggs, ginger, vanilla, and salt and beat until mixed.
4. Gradually add in the flour and baking powder and mix until smooth.
5. Add the chopped dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks into the batter and mix just until combined.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cake is lightly browned on top.
7. Cool cake on a wire rack.

To Make the Frosting:

1. While the cake is baking, using an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice and vanilla until smooth.
2. Once the cake has cooled, spread the frosting over the top of the cake.
3. Sprinkle the chopped dried cranberries over the frosting on the cake.

To Make the Icing:

1. Whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and shortening. Drizzle this icing over the cranberries in a sweeping motion with a squirt bottle or fill a small plastic storage bag with the icing and cut off the tip of one corner.

Place prepped cake in the fridge for about 30-60 minutes, so the cream cheese isn’t melting. Slice into 16 triangular pieces and enjoy!

Can be stored covered in the fridge for 3-4 days.