You’ll love these copycat Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars! Soft blondies, white chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and cream cheese frosting.
Get ready to make friends – these Cranberry Bliss Bars are a huge crowd favorite. If you’ve had a Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bar, then you know how great this flavor combo is – white chocolate and dried cranberries are a match made in heaven! These are a replica of the Starbucks bars, but I actually like them better! Plus, it’s way more affordable to whip these up at home.
Recipe overview
- Blondies: Soft and chewy brown sugar blondies filled with white chocolate chips and dried cranberries. This blondie batter comes together in minutes, no mixer needed.
- Cream cheese frosting: This sweet and tangy frosting gets spread over the top of the brownies, with an option to add orange zest to bump up the flavor.
- Topping: A sprinkle of tart and chewy dried cranberries and a drizzle of melted white chocolate are the perfect finishing touch for this recipe.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Ease: The blondie batter and frosting come together in about 5 minutes (plus 20 minutes hands off bake time). Easy peasy!
- Flavor: Brown sugar blondies, tangy cream cheese frosting, tart dried cranberries, and sweet white chocolate. This flavor combo is incredible!
- Festive: The red and white colors makes these bars perfect for the holiday season; they look fantastic on a holiday cookie plate!
Recipe tips
- My number one tip is NOT to over-bake the blondies. The top of the bars should be dry with the center just slightly underdone when you pull them from the oven. They will continue to cook a bit as they cool. We’re going for soft and tender bars – not dry and hard.
- Allow enough time for the blondies to cool completely before topping with frosting.
- When melting white chocolate for the topping make sure that you melt the white chocolate very slowly. It can go from melted to lumpy in a matter of seconds.
- Feel free to swap the dried cranberries for dried cherries.
Serving and storage
- Serving: Serve slightly chilled or at room temperature. The colder the bars are the firmer they will be. I like to keep them at room temp for an hour or two before serving.
- Storage: Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. I would assume that you could freeze these, but I haven’t tried it.
More holiday desserts
White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies
M&M Christmas Cookies
Ginger Molasses Cookies
Toffee Bars
Cranberry Cake
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Recipe
Cranberry Bliss Bars
You'll love these copycat Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars! Soft blondies, white chocolate chips, dried cranberries, and cream cheese frosting.
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Servings: 12
Calories: 380kcal
Ingredients
Bars:
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ⅓ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
Frosting:
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ⅓ cups powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- milk, to thin
- ⅛ teaspoon finely grated orange zest, optional
Topping:
- ¼ cup white chocolate chips, melted (see note)
- ¼ cup dried cranberries
Instructions
Bars:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x11 pan with foil and grease the foil.
- In a large bowl, whisk melted butter and brown sugar until well combined, at least one full minute. Add egg and vanilla extract, whisk until combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until the ingredients are combined. Stir in ½ cup of dried cranberries and ½ cup of white chocolate chips.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer (I moisten the palm of my hand with water and gently press it in).
- Bake for 18-22 minutes. The bars are done when they have puffed slightly, are very light brown, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. They will appear a little underdone but they will continue to cook as they cool. Be careful not to over bake them. Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
Frosting:
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and orange zest (if using) and beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add a splash of milk, if necessary, to thin the frosting. You can also thicken the frosting by adding a bit more powdered sugar, if necessary.
- Spread the bars with the frosting . Scatter the dried cranberries on top. Drizzle melted white chocolate over the cranberries.
Video
Notes
MELTING WHITE CHOCOLATE: You can melt the white chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler. If you use the microwave you have to melt it very slowly. I put it in for 10-15 seconds at a time and stir well between each interval. I have the best luck with good quality white chocolate. I typically use Guittard or Ghirardelli. You can also use white chocolate melting wafers for the topping.
PAN SIZE: Do not try to squeeze this batter into an 8x8 pan. The edges of the bars will dry out before the center cooks through.
STORAGE: Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
SERVING: Serve slightly chilled or at room temperature. The colder the bars are the firmer they will be. I like to keep them at room temp for an hour or two before serving.
Recipe adapted from Taste of Home
Nutrition
Calories: 380kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 54mg | Sodium: 102mg | Potassium: 124mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 43g | Vitamin A: 444IU | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!*Recipe updated December 2020*
Morgan
My mom had a cranberry white chocolate bar at a catered event a while back and really wanted to make something like it for our Thanksgivakuh. So we googled around and found your recipe and it was perfect! They turned out so so good, better than she even remembered the ones she had tried a while back! Thanks for the recipe!
Celebrating Sweets
I’m so happy to hear that! Those bars are definitely one of my favorites. 🙂
Laurie
I made these tonight for my Christmas Eve party. They turned out really, really good. I just hope there are some left by Tuesday night. Yum! 😉 Thank you for sharing. This one is a keeper!
Celebrating Sweets
I’m so happy to hear that you liked them. They are one of my favorites for sure. 🙂 Happy holidays!
Susan
Making them right now. Husband loves them!
Celebrating Sweets
Yay! Thanks for letting me know. Enjoy! 🙂
Michelle Tobash
Can these be frozen?
Celebrating Sweets
Hi Michelle! I have never frozen them before but you should be able to freeze the bars unfrosted. I would suggest frosting them the day you’re serving them.
Sharon
the butter amount for the bars is not clear . I assumed it was suppose to be 1 stick of butter or 1/2 cup
Celebrating Sweets
Hi, Sharon. Yes, it should be 1 stick or 1/2 cup. I apologize. I just changed my recipe formatting and a few recipes didn’t transfer over correctly. I apologize for the jumbled language, I have corrected it. Thank you SO much for bringing this to my attention. Thanks for reading! Happy holidays!
Marie-Claude
Hi ! is the frosting supposed to stay very soft ? It just doesnt seem right when i cut them the frosting is smudging :(. Also, the blondie was very dry for me. Maybe my oven is stronger thus requires less cooking time. Could the use of a wheat flour change the texture perhaps? It is a great recipe thank you !
Celebrating Sweets
Hi! Yes, wheat flour will definitely change the consistency. Wheat flour is more dense and dry than all-purpose flour. The bars need to be refrigerated to allow the frosting to set up. Since it is a cream cheese frosting the frosting will have a bit of softness that’s unavoidable. I definitely recommend refrigeration before cutting them. Enjoy! Happy holidays!
Barbara Anderson
Made it, delicious! Everyone loved it!
Celebrating Sweets
Fantastic! Thanks for stopping by! Happy holidays.
Annie Marie Padorie
These are the best!!! They’re so good I’ve made them about 6 times already and they disappear so fast with my big family sometimes I make two batches at once. I use a 9×13 instead and bake for 20 minutes.
Celebrating Sweets
Awesome! I’m so happy to hear that. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.
Abbigayle Warner
oh my goodness this looks so tasty!
Lauren
I get one of these every year around the holidays, they are SO good. I may need to try this.. pinned to my fall board! 🙂