❤️😍🙌 These Copycat Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars are for anyone who loves the Starbucks version. These can be made year-round at home for pennies on the dollar and taste every bit as fabulous and then some! I like to call them Better-Than-Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars!
Copycat Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars
Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars are a seasonal favorite that disappear almost as quickly as they arrive. Luckily, they’re easy to recreate at home. Inspired by my white chocolate blondies and coconut white chocolate chip blondies, these copycat bars are essentially start with a chewy blondie base and are loaded with white chocolate and cranberries, then topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting infused with melted white chocolate.
Denser, richer, and packed with more cranberries and white chocolate in every bite, the homemade version is even better than the original. Plus, you can adjust the texture to your liking by adding baking powder for a fluffier base or leaving it out for a denser, fudgier one.
The real star here is the frosting. Cream cheese and white chocolate are whipped together until smooth, then spread on generously (thicker than Starbucks does!) and finished with a sprinkle of cranberries and a drizzle of melted white chocolate. The result is a decadent, bakery-worthy treat that’s dangerously easy to make in just about 30 minutes. These bars have all the nostalgia of the Starbucks classic but with the cozy, homemade taste that mass-produced treats can’t match. If you’re craving a holiday-inspired dessert, these copycat Cranberry Bliss Bars are a must-try!
I made this for the first time last (2022) Christmas…DIVINE!! I will be making this year too and gifting some also. If you like cranberries do not hesitate to make these little jewels! Another winner from Ms. Averie! ❤️
Christa
What’s in Cranberry Bliss Bars?
To make this cranberry bliss bar recipe, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Eggs – Let the egg come to room temperature for easy mixing
- Light brown sugar
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour – To keep these bars gluten-free use a 1:1 all-purpose gluten-free flour
- Salt
- White chocolate chips
- Dried cranberries – Use Craisins or whatever brand you like best
- Orange zest
- Cream cheese – You may use whipped or light cream cheese, you know, to save calories, so you can eat more
- Confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar)
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Cranberry Bliss Bars
It’s a very simple batter that comes together in less than 5 minutes by hand:
- Combine the bars: Melt butter, and combine it with the wet ingredients and dry ingredients. Then, fold dried cranberries and white chocolate chips into the dough. Pour the blondie batter into a prepared pan, and bake in a preheated oven. The batter bakes up quicker than you may think, about 18 to 20 minutes. They will be a light beige, not golden brown. Even a few extra minutes of baking time will create a much drier bar, ruining the bliss!
- Make the cream cheese frosting: While the bars cool, melt white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring frequently. You can also use a double boiler. Add part of the melted white chocolate to a pile of confectioner’s sugar, vanilla, and cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat with a stand mixer or hand mixer on medium speed until the mixture is fluffy. I didn’t bother sifting the confectioners’ sugar used in the frosting because I knew that any tiny lumps would be concealed. Sift if you prefer or are serving these to royalty who may chastise you over a minuscule lump of confectioners’ sugar.
- Top the bars: Spread the frosting in an even layer over the cooled bars. It will look a little like almond bark! Sprinkle dried cranberries on top of the bars, followed by the remaining melted chocolate.
- Rest: Set the bars aside to rest, allowing the chocolate to set. Speed this up by placing the bars in the fridge! If you don’t let the bars set, they’ll crumble, and the layers are likely to separate.
- Slice: Lift the bars out of the pan. (Leave aluminum foil or parchment paper hanging over the edges as you line it to make this easy!) Slice the cooled blondies by making a cross, creating four small squares or quadrants. To each of the four quadrants, slice on the diagonal to create two triangles, for a yield of eight triangular-shaped bars. They’re generously-sized, very similar in size and shape to the Starbucks version, but the beauty here is that this recipe makes just eight bars, since it’s baked in an 8-by-8-inch pan.
Can I Double This Recipe?
I have not tried doubling the recipe, and in theory, doubling and using a 9-by-13-inch baking dish would probably work, but I haven’t tried. Eight of these puppies in one batch was plenty, eating 16 of them before the frosting gets a little too crunchy or dried out would have been overkill for our family of three.
Cranberry Bliss Bars
Equipment
- 1 Medium Microwave-Safe Bowl
- 1 Small Microwave-Safe Bowl
- 1 Stand Mixer Fitted with a Paddle Attachment
Ingredients
For the Bars
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
- ¾ cup white chocolate chips
- ½ cup dried cranberries, loosely packed
- ½ teaspoon orange zest, optional and to taste (edited to add this on 12-9-12)
For the Frosting and Topping
- 1 cup white chocolate chips, melted and divided
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened (whipped or light may be used)
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar, I used about 2 3/4 cups
- ¼ cup dried cranberries, loosely packed (optionally, roughly dice them if the pieces are larger)
Instructions
For the Bars:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt the butter, about 90 seconds.
- To the melted butter (allow it to cool slightly so you don’t scramble the egg), add the egg, brown sugar, vanilla, and stir to combine.
- Add the flour, salt, and stir until just combined, taking care not to over-mix or the bars will be tough.
- Fold in 3/4 cup white chocolate chips, 1/2 cup cranberries, optional orange zest, and stir to combine.
- Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula or offset knife if necessary.
- Bake for 18 to 21 minutes, and center is set and golden or until edges begin to slightly pull away from sides of pan, or a toothpick comes out clean; do not overbake.
- Allow bars to cool before frosting them. While they cool, make the frosting.
For the Frosting and Topping:
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt the white chocolate on high power, about 1 minute, reheating in 10-second intervals, or until it can be stirred smooth. White chocolate is notorious for scorching so melt it very carefully, and slowly, heating in quick bursts, and keep a watchful eye; use a double boiler if that’s easier.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine cream cheese, about three-quarters of the melted white chocolate (about 3/4 cup, just eyeball it), 2 cups confectioners’ sugar (I don’t sift it because any tiny lumps will be covered up by sprinkled cranberries and white chocolate drizzle), vanilla, and beat until smooth and fluffy.
- Start by mixing on low speed so sugar doesn’t spray, and then beat on medium-high for about 3 minutes. Mixture will seem stiff at first but will loosen and fluff up after 2 to 3 minutes of beating on medium-high; stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Add additional confectioners’ sugar (I used about 2 3/4 cups, I like it on the thicker side) based on taste preference and desired frosting consistency.
- Frost the bars; if you have excess, it will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least 1 month.
- Evenly sprinkle 1/2 cup cranberries over the top of the frosted bars. Evenly drizzle bars with remaining melted white chocolate, reheating for a few seconds in the microwave if it has set up.
- Allow bars to set up for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Cranberry Dessert Recipes:
Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Bliss Cake — This fast, easy, no-mixer cake is light, soft, fluffy, and moist. It’s springy and bouncy, with just enough density to give it some heft and dimension.
Cranberry and White Chocolate Chip Cookies – Cranberry Bliss Bar flavors, in cookie form. Tender, soft, pillowy centers!
Cranberry Bliss Seven Layer Bars — A buttery graham cracker crust, topped with white chocolate chips, chocolate chips, walnuts, dried cranberries, coconut, and sweetened condensed milk!
Crustless Cranberry Pie —A FAST, super EASY, no-mixer dessert that’s perfect for holiday entertaining!! Somewhere in between pie, cake, and blondies is what you get with this FESTIVE recipe! Take advantage of those fresh cranberries!!
Cranberry Oatmeal Crumble Bars — The bars are soft, slightly chewy, and the hearty oats with big crumbles are a perfect contrast to the juicy cranberry filling.
Cranberry Orange Bread— The fresh cranberries in this cranberry orange bread contrast nicely with the sweet orange glaze, making it the perfect blend of sweet and tart!
Cranberry Chocolate Chip Blondies — The soft, buttery, caramely, brown sugary, blondie base is the perfect complement to the chewy, tart cranberries.
I have not tasted my cranberry bliss bars yet, but found them to require a much longer baking time of about 25 minutes!
Everyone’s oven temperatures can vary – I calibrate/check mine every 6 mos or so, but bake yours til they’re done :) Plus here in San Diego, it’s so dry that everything bakes/dries out very fast. Just don’t overbake them – you want them *just* set up or they won’t taste like a real Bliss Bar!
These look delicious! I will be making these for my Thanksgiving spread. If I am making a 9×13 pan, do I need to adjust the cooking time at all?
You know I’ve never made them in a 9×13 pan so I don’t know. Is it at all possible for you to make two pans of 8×8? If not, I’d say maybe increase baking time by 1-3 mins, but it will really depend on your oven, the batter, thickness of it in the pan, etc. LMK how it goes!
P.S. I would not double the frosting portion because as it is, it makes plenty. If you do increase it, I would maybe do 1.5 times the batch but not a double batch!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I can’t wait to try baking them this year.
Thanks Jan and if you do try them, LMK how it goes!
I made the cranberry bliss bars. They were TERRIBLE. Took them to a party for 35 people… nobody liked them and I was embarassed! By the way, there wasn’t a little bit of extra frosting, there was more than twice what would be necessary. And yes, I did follow the recipe correctly.
I am sorry that you didn’t have success with them. I just had a woman write to me a couple hours before your comment came in (above yours) saying they were the best thing she’s ever made. My recipe is adapted from a very popular Taste of Home recipe, that I linked in the post, so I am not sure what to say other than sorry you didn’t like them
https://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/White-Chocolate-Cranberry-Blondies
Are you sure one of your ingredients wasn’t sour or bad? Maybe you used old/nasty flour or something?
I find it absolutely impossible to follow this recipe with fresh ingredients and have 35 people dislike them? That is, of course, unless you took them to the “We hate white chocolate and cranberries!” convention :p.
As far as the extra frosting, maybe you didn’t use a proper 8×8 pan?
It just doesn’t make sense. This is the absolute best Christmas recipe I’ve made for a very long time. It has filled my gap in life! I’ve been trying to find something that looks/sounds seasonal for Christmas, yet still easy and delicious to bake . This – is – it!
Victoria – thank you for your comment! I have had many people write to me privately and tell me how much they love these and how easy they were to make and I find them one of the best-tasting desserts I’ve made in ages based on how awesome they are vs. time investment/difficulty of recipe. And I am not sure why a person would bring a batch size of 8 bars to a party with 35 people there….you just never know….
But glad you loved them and thanks for writing in!
I made these and all I can say is that these are quite possibly the best things I have ever baked thanks to your recipe! For those who are considering baking them, I have one thing to say—don’t do it unless you are extremely disciplined!!! They definitely got the best of me!
I am so happy to hear that they are quite possibly the best thing you’ve ever baked! Wow, such high praise and thank you and I’m glad you had such success!
And there is a REASON I made them in an 8×8 pan, rather than a 9×13, because we didn’t need any more than 8. 16 would have been…well…dangerous :) Thanks for the feedback and taking the time to write – I appreciate it!
These look amazing :) I love this time of year…all the yummy baked goods! New follower :)
I think the difference you’d taste is because there is ginger in the Starbucks original version. Gives it a lil zing spice taste.
And feel free to toss it in! I bet it would be great I just didn’t want to start adding all kinds of things and then wonder, hmmm, should that have gone in – or not, and clutter it up. Whereas now I have a great base recipe and can always add to it if I’m feeling like some zing :)
Yes, very true. And some people don’t like ginger…
I added 1/4 cup diced crystallized ginger pieces as per another recipe of this that I found on pinterest and they taste identical to the Starbucks version.
Do I like Cranberry Bliss Bars? No, I don’t. I love Cranberry Bliss Bars. They are one of the best parts of the holiday season.
I’m just seeing this post today, Monday, but I went to Starbucks last Saturday hoping they would be available. Alas, not yet at mine anyway.
I found a couple copycat recipes for the bars last December but never got around to making them. I will have to try your recipe.
These bars are the only thing I really like cranberry in besides a cranberry salsa I make with leftover cranberry relish at Thanksgiving.
those came out really good!
I made these 4 years ago?
And I was not that good at slicing them (bad knives then).
So, I’m impressed with yours.
I used to love these, now since I’ve cut way back on sugar I don’t like them as much.
Still pretty though…
Have good night doll!
If you blogged about them, send me a link! Would love to see them! Ive learned to really take my time with slicing. That can make or break the pics!
Looks totally yummy and I want to make them!