December Daily: Cranberry Bliss Bars

Have you tried Starbucks' Cranberry Bliss Bars??? They are heavenly! A couple of years ago, I found a recipe to make these bars - and so I did. And they're even better homemade!!! It's become my little tradition to take these to our church Christmas party.

Cranberry Bliss Bars
Recipe from Food.com

Cake
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla or 1 1/2 teaspoons orange extract
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup diced dried cranberries
6 ounces white chocolate, cut into chunks

Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
4 teaspoons lemon juice or 2 teaspoons orange extract
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup diced dried cranberries

Drizzled Icing
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoons vegetable shortening
orange zest, garnish (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and brown sugar until smooth (if you don't have any brown sugar, or your little bit of brown sugar is hard as a rock - don't ask me why I know this - you can substitute 1 cup of white sugar + 2 Tablespoons of molasses for every cup of brown sugar called for the in the recipe). Add eggs, vanilla, ginger, and salt; beat well. Gradually mix in flour until smooth. Stir in the 3/4 cup dried cranberries and the white chocolate chunks. Pour batter into a well-greased 9x13" pan and spread evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until cake is light brown on the edges. Cool cake completely.

 

For the frosting, beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice and vanilla until smooth. Spread frosting over cooled cake and sprinkle the top with the 1/4 cup of diced dried cranberries.

 

For the drizzled icing, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and shortening. Drizzle over the cranberries in a sweeping motion, or use a pastry bag with a fine tip.

 

Allow cake to sit for several hours, then slice the cake lengthwise through the middle. Now Slice the cake across the width three times to make eight larges rectangles. Slice each rectangle in half diagonally to make 16 triangle slices. I actually cut these rather large slices in half again. 

 

This cake is super sweet and rich. Be prepared for compliments and recipe requests!

 

Day 9 Scripture:

"And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:" ~~ Isaiah 11:1-3 ~~

 photo credit: greenchartreuse via photopin cc