Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars with white chocolate topped with sweet cream cheese icing, tart dried cranberries, and a white chocolate orange drizzle.
Make coffee shop classics at home, like NY Crumb Cake, Vanilla Pound Cake, and these favorite muffins ever, Best Ever Banana Crumb Muffins.
STARBUCKS CRANBERRY BLISS BARS
Starbucks White Chocolate Cranberry Bliss Bars are a treat made of a super moist and chewy white chocolate blondie base and topped with a delicious sweet icing. Studded with cranberries and white chocolate chips then drizzled with melted white chocolate that has just a hint of orange juice, make these bars all year long and it will feel like Christmas never ends.
Starbucks somehow has this magic touch, once the magic red cups are released it feels like the holidays are upon us. That’s how it feels when the Cranberry Bliss Bars are released for the season. They aren’t a classic Iced Chocolate Brownie in white chocolate form, but instead they’re super chewy, like a fresh baked cookie right out of the oven, and the generous frosting on top helps them stay that way if you’re good about keeping them stored in an airtight container.
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The Cranberry Bliss Bars are easy enough with a classic blondie base and a deliciously smooth orange white chocolate icing. The main notes for this recipe are that you want to be very careful not to over bake these bars. When they come out of the oven they may even look slightly under, but like a cookie that is just barely set in the middle these bars are authentic when really soft and chewy.
A good baking pan for this would be a square coated pan which will give you the distinct sharp edges of the original bars. You also want to really take the time to whip the frosting for a few minutes, the cream cheese really takes a bit of time to get to a good consistency.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Cut them into triangles instead of squares, that’s the classic Bliss bar shape.
The unique flavors of these bars, aside from white chocolate and cranberries, are ginger and orange, don’t skip them.
Do not over-bake, it will dry out the bliss bars, these are very moist bars.
Orange juice will add great flavor but you can use chopped candied orange peel, fresh orange zest, ¼ teaspoon orange extract or even powdered orange peel in its place.
No, ground ginger or candied ginger both work great in this recipe but fresh ginger would be too strong of a flavor.
More Brownies and Bars:
- Salted Caramel Brownies
- Fresh Strawberry Crumb Bars
- Cookie Dough Brownies
- Oreo Chunk Brookies
- Creamy Lemon Crumb Bars
- Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jelly Bars
HOW TO STORE STARBUCKS CRANBERRY BLISS BARS
- Serve: Cranberry Bliss Bars can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
- Store: Cranberry Bliss Bars should be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container because of the cream cheese in the frosting. If you cut them into squares, they’ll be moist for about 2 days. Wrap each square in plastic wrap to help them stay moist for a bit longer. If you haven’t cut them and they’re still in the pan you can keep them in the refrigerator frosted and covered for up to a week.
- Freeze: Bliss Bars are perfect for making ahead and freezing. Defrost them overnight in the refrigerator before serving, the frosting may have some condensation on it so if needed dab at it gently with a paper towel before serving.
Ingredients
Cranberry Bliss Bars
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , melted
- 1 cup brown sugar , packed
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
Frosting and Toppings
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 4 ounces cream cheese , softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup white chocolate melting disks , melted and divided
- 1/4 cup cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9×13 inch baking pan with baking spray.
- In a large bowl whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla extract.
- Sift together the flour, salt and ginger.
- Add in the flour mixture, ½ cup of cranberries and ¾ cup white chocolate chips and whisk until just combined
- Spread the mixture evenly in your baking dish and bake for 20-25 minutes.
- Melt the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl for 1 minute in 30 second increments until smooth.
- In your stand mixer, add the cream cheese, vanilla extract, ¾ of the white chocolate you just melted, 3 cups of powdered sugar, orange juice, orange zest and beat on medium high for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is really light and fluffy.
- Spread the frosting on the bars, sprinkle on the ¼ cup of cranberries and drizzle on the ¼ cup melted white chocolate.
Video
Notes
- Change Serving Size: Click on the yield amount to slide and change the number of servings and the recipe will automatically update!
- Conversion: To convert measurements to grams, click on the Metric option next to Ingredients in the recipe card.
- Kitchen Timer: Click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.
Nutrition
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I, personally, have never had an issue with this recipe. I love every bit of it and so has everyone I’ve shared it with
Cheers!
Thanks Cristin! And thank you for the 5 star rating!
Please correct the instructions on this recipe! I see that numerous people before me reported the same disappointing results I experienced, but could have been avoided if you had made corrections. I made these for a Christmas party and everyone was excited to have one but couldn’t finish the heavy, sickenly sweet cookies! First. 8×8 is the WRONG size pan! My dough thickness was about double compared to Starbucks and still gooey at the end of the bake time. I had to put them back in the oven several times until they were really done. Subsequently, icing was also twice as deep as if should have been and was sickenly sweet! PLEASE take this pin down if you don’t have time to correct it and stop wasting people’s money!
Hi Laura, emailing you about the issues you encountered.
I’ve had to leave it in for another 25 mins past cooking time in an 8X8 pan. It’s still a goo!
I’m so sorry this has not ever happened to us. I would recommend checking your oven temperature first with a thermometer. One time we had someone accidentally use powdered sugar in place of flour which also had a similar result. Would love to help troubleshoot more, but if it is still goo after that long it is more than likely a temperature issue or an ingredient issue.
I made this and it was everyone’s favorite and I baked a lot lol. Question tho, instead of a pan can this be doubled and spread out on a lined cookie sheet to cover more surface area? Thanks! Awesome recipe ?
I’ve not tried it but I don’t see why not. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how they turned out. Thanks!
You ought to take part in a contest for one of the best websites on the web. I most certainly will highly recommend this web site!
Thank you for the kinds words.
I’m confused why it says 3/4 cup of melted white chocolate melting discs in the cranberry bliss bar ingredient list but it appears the MELTED discs are only used in the frosting not the bars themselves? Then the frosting directions say to use 3/4 of the chocolate discs that were melted so does this mean to use 3/4 cup or 3/4 of 3/4 a cup?
I’m so sorry your comment got stuck in my spam folder. Thank you for letting me know. I went through and adjusted the recipe card. Not too sure how that got in the wrong place.
This recipe is a little inconclusive (when to add certain things like the zest, the amount of melted white chocolate in the frosting is 3/4 cup not 1/4 cup, do you frost while they’re still warm, because I did, etc… luckily I figured it out, but inexperienced bakers might be confused.), and the frosting portion makes WAY too much, but the flavor is great!
Tried this recipe because I don’t want to wait till Christmas season to enjoy cranberry bliss bars. Unfortunately, they were so sweet even my sweet tooth husband couldn’t eat them. These bars need to be made somehow with WAY less sugar. I ended up tossing them out and wasting all those expensive ingredients.
I’m so sorry they were too sweet for you. If you try them again and use less sugar, I’d love to know how it turns out!
Ok very helpful.
I wish I had read the comments before making. The cookie was underdone even after the maximum cooking time specified, and there was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much frosting generated by the ingredients list. Looking at other recipes later, it seems that that frosting recipe is for 9×13? batch. Oh well, i froze 1/2 of it for something else down the line (would be good on scones).
Looks wonderful! Any chance we can use real instead of dried cranberries in the bar?
I’ve not tested it before but I don’t see why not. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how they turn out. Thanks!
Very good
This recipe did not turn out well at all for me. The bar portion is underdone and the icing is too thick and sickeningly sweet. I cooked it as instructed for 20 mins at 350, but when it appeared undone, went a couple more minutes. The dough remains almost mushy, like gooey candy rather than a cookie bar texture. There is way too much frosting and the 1 T orange juice is not enough to notice any orange flavoring. Maybe it would be better if cooked in a 9 x 13 pan at 375 for 20-25 mins. Other online recipes have a larger pan size. Choose a different recipe!
Choose another recipe or pan size? It seems that you inadvertently used the wrong pan size (which wasn’t specified in the instructions). The recipe sounds great and if the correct pan was used, would taste great.
These are delicious! I needed to make a lot so I tripled the recipe and baked them for 50 minutes in a large baking tray lined with foil so I could easily pull the foil out and transfer them to a cutting board. They are much easier to frost and cut this way. I also added about a tsp of orange zest to the frosting for more orange flavor. Thank you for such a great recipe!
Sounds delicious, Fallon!
I made the blondie part of this recipe, followed it to a T but something was off…it taste a bit bland as if something was missing 🙁 perhaps I did something wrong?
This recipe works best when it’s made in it’s entirety. If I’m not understanding this right, feel free to email me at [email protected] and we can trouble shoot together.
Would you leave them in longer if you double the batch?
No, as long as you’re using 2 separate pans to bake, you’ll want to keep the baking time the same.
Since you haven’t updated the recipe yet; how much ginger is needed (of which type)?
I would use about a teaspoon of candied ginger.
hey! these look really good but there is an ingredient missing. I looked at the ingredients on the original starbucks cranberry bliss bars and these need some candied (crystallized) ginger or you can use ground ginger instead. I have been looking for a good recipe and I think this one is it, with the one change of adding ginger to the batter! Thanks!
Sorry this comment took so long to get to, it ended up in my spam filter somehow! But wow, good catch!! I need to experiment with both again and oh shoot maybe make a run to starbucks. If you made them did you find one works better than the other?
I love Starbucks treat, you always have the best copycat recipes! What a lovely way to enjoy white chocolate and mixed with cranberries, I love the flavor combination!
Thanks Sara!
OMG, I love these at Starbucks. These look incredible. I am going to make these, I know Hubs will be happy.
Sabrina, I hate to post to this thread but I don’t know how to contact you. I signed up to get the ecookbook but the link you sent is not working. The error message I get is :
Not found, error 404
The page you are looking for no longer exists.
Can you help please?
Yes! We moved servers to a larger space (exciting yet nerve wracking) and somehow the host didn’t properly move the file! I had my tech support (read husband, haha) send out an email to everyone who signed up from the day we moved until now with a new link. If you still have any issues please don’t hesitate to email me directly at [email protected] and I will email a copy to you. 🙂 So sorry for the delay!
I love to try copycat recipes. These look so good i am excited to try making them. My family will love it.
These look so delicious and easy to make. I will have to try making these this weekend.
The best dessert at Starbucks now in homemade form? I’M ON!
I know right? I always get these bars or the Crumb Cake which I am a total sucker for.
Wow! My hubby loves white chocolate and Starbucks so I might have to try these! Thanks for the great copycat idea ?
I’ve only had these bars once at Starbucks but I loved them and most definitely want to try making them at home!
I hope you love them Sara, I pretty much drool over everything you make on your blog!
Okay… so I just have to make these this weekend. Who am I fooling? I think I’ll make them now! Thanks!! Great recipe.
It’s never too soon to bake! Let me know how they turn out!
Sabrina, I hate to post to this thread but I don’t know how to contact you. I signed up to get the ecookbook but the link you sent is not working. The error message I get is :
Not found, error 404
The page you are looking for no longer exists.
Can you help please?
OKAY! Now I can save myself some money and make these babies at home! In fact, these look even lovelier than the ones at Starbucks, and I’m sure they taste better, too (homemade, after all)! Beautiful!
Aww thanks Patricia! They definitely would save some $$!
These DO look like pure bliss! I’d like a dozen, please! 🙂
Thanks Kimberly!
I’ve yet to try the cranberry bliss bars are Starbucks, but yours are so pretty that I might just have to make them myself.
Oh they’re amazing! I used to get them almost every time I went!
I think putting Bliss in the recipe title was totally deserved. Those look absolutely delicious.
You’re awesome 🙂
I will definitely have to give these a try. White chocolate cranberry seems to be popular this winter.
I think because the red is so holiday and the white is like snow, I always felt festive eating it with my gingerbread lattes!
Ok, honestly, I’ve seen these bars in Starbucks, and have to be honest – this looks WAY better! Yours look SUPER moist and fresh! THANK YOU!
Aww how sweet of you to say! Thank you!
Oh my goodness, I am drooling over here. This is one of my favorite ‘treats’ from starbucks but I have never thought of trying to make them myself. YUMMY! Thanks for sharing
Oh my goodness you are in for a treat. I freeze them now so I don’t go through the pan too quickly! haha.
How long could you freeze them for? I’m making then in bulk like 6doz of them and would like to make them now and freeze.
Sorry this comment took so long to get to, it ended up in my spam filter somehow! Sorry I just found a huge number of comments over the last three months that was snared in the spam filter and I am trying to follow up with each one now even though in your case I am way too late to help. I’ve kept them for a couple of months in the past (we eat them pretty quickly usually).
These look so delish! I love the white chocolate on these bars so much! Starbucks is my FAV!
Me too! This is one of the times I actually reach for white chocolate instead of chocolate!
What I love best is that I have all of these ingredients at home. Copycat recipes can be so expensive, but this one is totally doable.
Yup! That’s what prompted me to make them the first time I did. It was so simple and made something so awesome!