Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bar Recipe

The Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bar must be one of the most delicious bars around! Loaded with dried cranberries, white chocolate, and other yummy ingredients, it's one of the best bars that I've tried... until Todd Wilbur's clone. I hope that you'll agree!

Cake

1-1/2 sticks butter, room temperature

1-1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed tight

3 large eggs

2 T minced crystallized ginger

1-1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup dried cranberries, chopped

4 oz Ghirardelli white chocolate candy bar, chopped

Frosting

4 oz cream cheese, room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp freshly squeezed orange juice

2 tsp fresh orange zest

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup dried cranberries


Drizzled Icing

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 T milk

2 tsp vegetable shortening (Crisco is fine)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350-degrees.

Cake

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar together until smooth. Add the eggs, ginger, vanilla, and salt and continue mixing well. Gradually mix in the flour and baking powder and mix until smooth. Remove bowl from mixer.

Add the chopped dried cranberries and white chocolate into the batter and mix by hand. Pour batter into a buttered 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Use an offset spatula to spread the batter evenly over the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the cake is light brown on top. Allow the cake to cool in the pan.

Frosting

Using your electric mixer, combine the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon and orange juice, orange zest, and pure vanilla extract and beat until smooth. When the cake has thoroughly cooled, use the offset spatula to spread frosting over the entire cake, making sure to cover corners.

Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of chopped cranberries over the frosting on the cake.

Drizzled Icing

Whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and shortening. Using a squirt bottle or small plastic bag (with a teeny corner snipped off), drizzle icing over the entire cake in a sweeping motion.

Cover the cake with a sheet of nonstick foil or parchment paper and refrigerate for a few hours. Slice the cake lengthwise (the long way) through the middle. Slice the cake across the width three times which will make a total of eight rectangular slices. Then finally, slice each of those rectangles diagonally creating 16 triangular slices.

Makes 16 bars.

Always Enjoy!