Make Starbucks Copycat Cranberry Bliss Bars at home, and feel the JOY of knowing you don't have buy a single one this holiday season. They're getting so expensive, are they not?! Whether you're adding them to your holiday cookie boxes, baking a batch for the office, or just enjoying them with the family, everyone will be so impressed how much better they are than the original!
Even friends who are anti-Starbucks reluctantly rave about this exclusive seasonal treat, so I tried it for the first time last year. They were right - it just makes you to feel like the winter season has finally arrived. Soft blondie base packed with chewy dried cranberries and white chocolate chips, tangy cream cheese frosting layered on top, with cozy warm hints of ginger, vanilla, and bright orange zest.
Need more holiday ideas? Check out my easy-to-make Cranberry Tiramisu - no baking required! There's also my Festive Holiday Dinner Rolls or Pull-Apart Cheesy Bread Christmas Tree - a showstopper for any get-together. Want more copycat recipes? Make my Sizzler Copycat Cheese Toast or Starbucks Copycat Chocolate Cake Pops!
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Why You'll Love This Copycat Recipe
Not only are they better tasting than Starbucks, they're easy to make! They're perfect to make a day in advance, and you can bake batches of them for your next holiday get-together for a fraction of the cost. Oh, and my favorite part - now you can enjoy them all year long.
Notes About A Few Key Ingredients
- Dried cranberries: Find them usually in the dried fruit section next to the raisins in the baking aisle.
- Vanilla: Optional to use clear vanilla here, since this will be what we use for the cream cheese to keep frosting white.
- Orange zest: Adds perfect citrus zing on top. Rinse and soak oranges in water and vinegar prior to zesting.
- Orange extract: Highly recommend not skipping this! It definitely enhances the flavor and brings that extra brightness along with the cranberries. If you cannot locate any, you can add a small amount of orange zest.
- Ground ginger: Adds a subtle warm spicy flavor.
- Cream cheese: Bring to room temperature to soften.
How To Make Starbucks Copycat Cranberry Bliss Bars
Beat melted butter and brown butter for 3 mins. Add egg and both extracts.
Mix until smooth and set aside.
Stir together all dry ingredients in a small bowl.
Combine bowls. Blend in dry ingredients until just combined. Do not over-mix.
Fold in dried cranberries and white chocolate chips.
Pat down dough in even layer in greased/lined square pan.
Allow to cool completely before frosting
Whip cream cheese, powdered sugar, and extracts until smooth. Use clear vanilla if you'd like to maintain classic white frosting.
Be sure blondie is cooled completely before adding evenly layer of frosting.
Add chopped dried cranberries and orange zest. Drizzle melted white chocolate. Chill in fridge before slicing.
Slice diagonally to make 8 regular or 16 mini triangles.
Suzy's Tips For Success
- Avoid over-mixing your batter: If you ever find your baked goods come out a bit tough or dense, it may be because you over-mixed your batter. We're talking pancake batter, brownie batter, even cookie doughs. Whenever you introduce flour into a batter, gently mix and STOP when you see no more visible flour. Resist the urge to keep mixing.
- Don't skip on the orange extract: I know, I don't use orange extract regularly in my baking so it may be inconvenient to buy. Trust me when I say it truly brings out the flavors similar to Starbucks' bars. If not, you can add a little orange zest into the batter.
- Line your pan for easy removal: Be sure to grease your pan, and ensure your parchment paper is cut long so both sides overhang. This way, you can easily grasp the overhanging sides to gently lift your blondie from the pan after it's cooled.
- Chill before you slice: You can slice into your frosted bar right away, but I find it much better to allow the cream cheese time to set. If you cut into it immediately, your frosting will smear and cling to our knife. Let it chill 1-2 hours in the fridge, your frosted bar will slice neatly.
How To Store Starbucks Copycat Cranberry Bliss Bars
Store bars in airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. To freeze, wrap them in cling wrap and aluminum foil inside a container for up to 3 months. Thaw the bars overnight in the fridge.
FAQ
Yes! Swap the all-purpose flour in the recipe with any 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend.
It's 100% optional. Feel free to use your classic dark colored vanilla extract. However, your cream cheese frosting will not stay white if you add dark vanilla. If you use clear vanilla, you will add the flavor without adding a slight tint to your frosting.
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Equipment
- 8x8 inch square pan (20x20cm)
- parchment paper
- handheld mixer
- Rubber Spatula
- zester or microplane
Ingredients
Batter
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon orange extract
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 5 oz cream cheese softened
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon orange extract
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- dried cranberries chopped
- zest of small orange
- white chocolate or bark melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and line pan with parchment paper. Make sure the paper hangs over on both sides for easy gripping.
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat melted butter and brown sugar on med-high speed for 3 mins with a hand mixer. Add both extracts and egg. Continue to mix until smooth. Set aside.½ cup unsalted butter, ¾ cup brown sugar, ½ teaspoon orange extract, ½ teaspoon vanilla , 1 large egg
- In a small bowl, combine and mix flour, baking powder, salt, and ginger. Transfer it to the wet ingredients. Switching to a spatula, fold batter ONLY until dry flour is no longer visible. Do not over-mix. Fold in dried cranberries and white chocolate chips.1 cup all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger, ⅓ cup dried cranberries, ½ cup white chocolate chips
- Transfer batter to pan, and pat down in an even layer. Bake 18-20 mins until edges are slightly golden and center is almost set. Do not over-bake. Allow to cool completely in pan.
- To make the frosting, combine softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, orange and clear vanilla in a small bowl. Beat until smooth. Using an offset spatula, spread cream cheese evenly on top the cooled blondie. Roughly chop dried cranberries, zest the orange, and scatter both evenly. Melt white chocolate in microwave. Drizzle streaks in a zigzag motion using a fork, use a piping bag.5 oz cream cheese, ¾ cup powdered sugar, ¼ teaspoon orange extract, ¼ teaspoon vanilla , dried cranberries, zest of small orange, white chocolate or bark
- For best results, chill in fridge for 1-2 hours (or overnight) before slicing. Cut diagonally to slice 8 regular or 16 mini triangles.
Nutrition
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Diane M. Mitchell says
My taste testers rated this a 12 out 10! It is so good. I doubled the recipe and cooked it in a 13x9 rectangle pan with straight sides. So very yummy. Thank you for a great recipe. Not one of my testers complained about the frosting not getting firm. It is tasty. I'm not sure if it didn't firm because I used costco kirkland cream cheese instead of my goto Philadelphia cream cheese. I'm going to use PCC for my next batch. As a cottage baker, I'm not sure I can make any profit on these. I'll keep trying because people are in love!! Again, Thank You!
Suzy says
Amazing! I'm so happy to hear everyone enjoyed it. You can try PCC, but I want to say my frosting doesn't necessary firm up that much. It sets just enough to cut no matter how long it's chilled. I think the ration prevents it from becoming grainy? So it may not be the cream cheese - feel free to adjust the frosting if you like. Thank you again for trying my recipe. Happy holidays!
Diane M. Mitchell says
OOPS. I made a comment about not being able to sell as a cottage baker, but I looked at my cakecost app and I had made a mistake on an ingredient. Well worth it. Sorry about that.
Jasmine says
Great recipe!! Made two batches, for the first time, and they came out great! My family is a big fan of the original and were very happy with it. I made the mistake of being cheap and trying to use the white chocolate chips to melt. It didn’t work and lessons were learned 😅 so yeah buy the bark or the melting chocolate 😂 Thank you Suzy!
Suzy says
I'm so glad your family loved it, Jasmine! The best part is now we can enjoy these treats all year long! And don't worry, I've used white chocolate before too. Thank you again!