Hooray, winter is here and it’s time for Cranberry Bliss bars! Chunky white chocolate, tender dried cranberries, moist cake-like cookie, frosting, icing, what more do you need?

My husband and I are devouring these, you don’t have to go to Starbucks and pay $2 a bar or $14 a box, these aren’t exactly the same, but after lots of experimentation, they’re pretty close.

I used to work at Starbucks and tasted more than my share of their bars. These aren’t as sweet because I wouldn’t be able to eat as many if they were! I think I use a lot less sugar than they do. Because of that, my frosting is not as stiff as theirs, so if you want it more like Starbucks, add another couple cups of powdered sugar to the frosting (and prepare for a diabetic coma).

Cranberry Bliss Bars
Ingredients

Base
1 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup of packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs
1 teaspoon ginger powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3 TBS candied ginger (minced)
1 cup white chocolate chips

Frosting
1 /2 cup cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp orange juice (orange zest is great too although I didn’t use it this time)

Toppings
dried cranberries
1/4 cup melted white chocolate chips
Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter a 9×13 baking pan.

Make your base by mixing the butter and brown sugar together. Once well mixed add vanilla, eggs, ginger powder, and salt. Mix in flour a little bit at a time. Finally mix in the cranberries, candied ginger, and white chocolate chips.

Pour into baking dish using a spatula to smooth it out evenly. Bake about 30 minutes or until golden. Stick it in the fridge to cool while you make your frosting.

Combine frosting ingredients well and spread over top of cooled cake. Sprinkle with however many cranberries your heart desires, and drizzle with melted chocolate.

Store in the fridge and serve cold. Hooray for winter!