Cranberry Orange Bliss Bars

Recipe From: Laura

‘Tis the season for holiday baking! These beautiful bars may just be your new favorite Christmas treat.  How to even describe....they're these UH-MAZING sweet lil bites of heaven that are ever so addicting!  The base is a chewy, blondie bar decked out with dried cranberries & a blend of white chocolate,  topped with a decadent cream cheese frosting, then garnished with more  cranberries &  a drizzling of white chocolate.  Also  there is a lot of 'zesting' goin' on so you'll want to get a good zester.   :)

The recipe is a combination of two different recipes.  The first batch was on the drier side but was still really amazin’ thanks to the delicious frosting.   I kept the frosting recipe from the first batch then tried another recipe that seemed like the bars would be more moist--- more butter & egg,  less flour.  This made for the perfect bar….. and some very happy kids knowing they got to indulge twice in two days.  Lol J

 ¾  cup butter , softened (1 ½ sticks)

1  1/4 cups packed light brown sugar

4 small eggs

1  1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest

1  ¾  cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2  teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¾  cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

4 ounces white baking chocolate, chopped or 1/2 c white chocolate chips *see note below

FROSTING AND TOPPING:

1 package (8 ounces) light cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest plus  1 tsp orange zest for topping

4 ounces white baking chocolate, melted

1/2 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper (yes, up the sides too) OR lightly grease a 9X13-inch pan with cooking spray.

Combine softened butter with brown sugar until well-combined. Whisk in the eggs, vanilla extract and orange zest.

In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon until well-combined then fold in the cranberries and white chocolate.

Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist (not gooey) crumbs. Don’t overbake or they will be dry.  Let the bars cool completely in the pan.   It may look like the bars are not done at 18-20 min. but after they cool for 10 min. , they will start to set up.

For the frosting, using an electric mixer (handheld or stand mixer), beat the softened cream cheese and powdered sugar together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Mix in the vanilla and orange zest. Scoop in about half of the melted chocolate and mix until creamy and well-combined.

Spread the frosting onto the cooled bars. Sprinkle with chopped cranberries and drizzle the remaining white chocolate & orange zest over the top. Refrigerate until the chocolate is set – these taste best chilled. Cut into triangles or squares to serve.

NOTES:

 You can use 1/3 less fat cream cheese for the frosting – it makes the frosting slightly (very slightly) more runny than if using full fat cream cheese but the taste is the same,  with fewer calories. Also, recipe calls for melted white chocolate – white baking bars melt a lot better than white chocolate chips which are notoriously bad for melting but will work if you have to (they have a tendency to seize very easily if even slightly overheated).