White Chocolate Cranberry Bars

Today I made these. They remind me of the Cranberry Bliss Bars from Starbucks but I have not compared the two side by side. I have a ladies brunch this week and thought they would be a fun recipe to try! These blondies with their cream cheese frosting and dried cranberry pieces are just too good to not try! 

First, melt some butter in the microwave and stir in some brown sugar. Then in a separate bowl mix up the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Grab some eggs and vanilla and use a handheld mixer to blend those into the brown sugar and butter mixture. After that add the flour mixture a little at a time and blend. The mixture will be super thick. Next fold in the cranberry and white chocolate pieces. 

Once that's all stirred up, spray nonstick spray in a 13x9 baking dish and cook at 350 degrees for about 18-20 minutes. It is finished when a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

Mine looked like this: 

Now for the frosting! 

Use the handheld mixer again to blend up the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and half of the melted white chocolate. Spread on the cooled bars. Top with extra cranberries and drizzle the remaining melted chocolate to garnish.

They are very pretty bars and oh so yummy! 

Cut into bars; store in refrigerator. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Bars:

3/4 cup butter, cubed

1-1/2 cups light brown sugar

2 eggs

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

2-1/4 cups all purpose flour

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon 

1/2 cup dried cranberries

6 ounces of white baking chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used 6 ounces of white chocolate chips)

Frosting:

1 8oz. pkg cream cheese 

1 cup of powdered sugar

6 ounces white baking chocolate, melted

1/2 cup dried cranberries