Have you ever had a Cranberry Bliss Bar from Starbucks? I used to work for Starbucks, back in the day, and I always looked forward to Christmas time when they would bring out their best selling dessert. I used to see customers come in and buy up all the bars we had left so they could take them to their coworkers or friends. People even asked us to pre-order extras for their office parties! Folks, they are sinfully delicious. If you haven’t tried one, don’t. You’ll be dreaming of them until next Christmas. But with this copycat recipe, you can have them all year long!
White Chocolate Cranberry Bliss Bars
The first step to these white chocolate cranberry bliss bars is to make and bake the dough. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Using your hand mixer, in a large bowl cream 3/4 cup of softened butter and 1 cup of sugar. Gradually beat in 2 eggs and 3/4 cup of sour cream. Then add 1/2 teaspoon each of vanilla and almond extract.
In a separate bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Gradually beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until they are smooth. Fold in a cup of white chocolate chips and a cup of dried cranberries.
Spread the white chocolate cranberry bar mixture into a greased 9×13 glass pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out smooth. Let it cool completely before adding the cream cheese frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
You’ll need to use your hand mixer again to cream together 2 packages of cream cheese (8 oz. each), 1/4 cup of softened butter, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. When it is smooth, slowly add in 2 cups of powdered sugar little by little. Beat the mixture until it is smooth before adding more powdered sugar.
When the cream cheese frosting is free of chunks, spread it evenly over the white chocolate cranberry bliss bars.
Add another 1/2 cup of dried cranberries on top and gently press them into the cream cheese frosting.
Serve the white chocolate cranberry bliss bars right away or refrigerate them until you are ready to serve.
I like to cut them in triangle shapes after they have been refrigerated for a few hours. The dough cuts more smoothly with less crumbles.
These things are to-die-for. They are definitely the kind of dessert that you want to give away to friends because they are so decadent and addicting.
I kept two small slivers to myself and shipped the rest off to my friends at our homeschool co-op. I gave another pan to my husband’s coworkers and he said they were gone by 9am. I guess white chocolate cranberry bliss bars are great for breakfast too, lol! For more copycat Starbucks recipes, check out their infamous Vanilla Iced Coffee or their Iced Black Tea Lemonade. Happy cooking y’all!
Copycat Starbucks White Chocolate Cranberry Bliss Bars
Ingredients
- For the bars:
- 3/4 cup softened butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 sour cream
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- For the frosting:
- 2 8 oz packages cream cheese
- 1/4 cup softened butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar.
- Gradually add in eggs, sour cream, and extracts. Beat with hand mixer until smooth.
- In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, beating in between each addition.
- Fold in the white chocolate chips and the cranberries.
- Pour into a greased 13x9 glass pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.
- Cool completely before adding the frosting.
- For the frosting, in a small bowl beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth.
- Slowly add in the powdered sugar. Beat until smooth.
- Spread over cooled bars and sprinkle with cranberries.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes