Cranberry Bliss Bars

Cranberry Bliss Bars studded with white chocolate chips and dried cranberries and slathered with an orange cream cheese frosting. Share these scrumptious bars with your sweetie on Valentines Day. They are perfect accompaniment to a cup of coffee or tea.

Yesterday I shared with you that my husband and I were celebrating Valentines Day last  night. Since I raved about the dinner so much last year, Andrew made reservations again at the Meridian Restaurant and Bar. The food was fabulous! I had the filet with potato purèe, frizzled onions and a bordelaise sauce. Andrew ordered the NY strip with roasted potatoes, oyster mushrooms, and a smoked tomato sauce. For dessert we shared an amazing caramelized banana tart. Mmmm…perfect!

Cranberry Bliss Bars

No ratings yet

Review Recipe

Ingredients 

For Cake:

• 1 cup unsalted butter; softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• Zest of one orange
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 cup minced dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

For Frosting:

• 8 ounce cream cheese, softened
• 4 Tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Zest of one orange

For the Garnish:

• dried cranberries
• chopped pistachios
• white chocolate shavings

Follow Sweet Pea's Kitchen

Want to save this recipe? Enter your email below and we'll send the recipe straight to your inbox!

Email(Required)

Phone

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

NOTE: By saving this recipe, you agree to join our weekly recipes newsletter.

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Put a long piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan, letting the parchment extend up the two short sides of the pan and overhang slightly on both ends. (This will make it easy to remove the bars from the pan after they have baked.) Butter the parchment.
• In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt and pumpkin pie spice; set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy; about 3 minutes. Add eggs, orange zest and vanilla; beating until well combined. Add the flour mixture and mix until combined. Fold in the cranberries and white chocolate. Batter will be thick.
• Spread batter evenly into prepared pan and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and orange zest and mix at low speed until combined. Spread over cooled cake. Garnish with dried cranberries, pistachios and white chocolate shavings.

Author: Laura