By preparing this white chocolate and cranberry delicacy at home, you can save money while still getting the same seasonal taste as Starbucks’ cranberry bliss bars! Then, make my Cranberry Bliss Puppy Chow or Cranberry Bliss Fudge.

I have a problem: I want Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars 75% of the time, but they’re only available for around 17% of the time.

And since I refuse to engage in anything Christmas-related until after Thanksgiving, it knocks me back a few weeks.

So my hunger and my prospects of really getting it line up around 10% of the time. Indeed, it is just one aspect of my dilemma.

Starbucks treats get expensive

The pricing is another aspect of my issue. A single triangle costs about $3! Too wealthy for my blood.

In essence, I get it once during the first week of December and then never get it again since I can’t justify the expense to myself. My pocketbook is grateful, but my growling stomach and drooling lips are not.

And then I had an epiphany: what if I simply created my own? How difficult could it be? That wasn’t too difficult, although there was some trial and error!

Ingredients for cranberry bliss bars

What exactly is in the cranberry bliss bar? A lot, to be sure! However I believe the ginger, orange peel, and orange essence are the important ingredients in the trademark cranberry joy bar taste.

Blondie Bar Layer:

• unseasoned butter
• Brown sugar, light
• Eggs
• 4 teaspoon, although actually just a scant 1 teaspoon is required. 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Orange extract is an absolute essential! It comes in bottles similar to vanilla extract.
• Flour for all purposes
• So put a container in your spice closet for winter dishes. Another must-have ingredient is ground ginger. Ground ginger is quite adaptable, particularly in the autumn.
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Cinnamon dust
• Cranberries (affiliate link): Not fresh, but dried! This makes it much easy to have a supply on hand.
• White chocolate pieces

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting Layer:

• softer cream cheese (or Neufchatel cheese)
• granulated sugar (confectioners sugar)
• You may absolutely use freshly grated orange zest if you want, but I keep a container of dried grated orange peel in our spice cabinet.
• White chocolate chips or white chocolate chunks
• Cranberries, dried (aff link)

How to make copycat cranberry bliss bars

Don’t be put off by the amount of steps! You’ve got this, my buddy. Remember that the ultimate result will be great, delicious handmade sweets.

Blondie Bar Layer

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 139-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

   If desired, line the pan with parchment paper and spray it with nonstick spray.

2. Melted butter and brown sugar should be combined in a large mixing basin with a stand or hand mixer until the consistency of wet sand. Mix in the eggs, vanilla, and orange essence. With an electric mixer, thoroughly combine all ingredients.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, ginger, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture gradually.
5. Place the white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe dish and microwave for 15-20 seconds, just long enough to soften but not melt them. Blend in the cranberries and white chocolate chips.
6. Distribute the batter evenly in the prepared baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let to cool entirely in the pan on a wire rack.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting Layer

As the bars cool down

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and grated orange peel using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer (aff link).
2. 2 of the melted white chocolate and well mix.

   If you believe it needs to be sweeter or more orange-y at this stage, add little amounts and keep tasting until it’s to your liking.

   Add 1

3. Using a spatula, frost the bars and top with cranberries. Fill a piping bag halfway with the remaining white chocolate (or a heavy-duty plastic baggie and cut off a little bit of the corner).

   You may need to warm the white chocolate slightly to make it more fluid. Drizzle with the remaining melted white chocolate. Allow to set and cool in the refrigerator.

4. After cold, cut into 6 big squares, then diagonally into triangles. If you prefer smaller (read: more manageable) pieces, cut each triangle in half again, or cut it into 9 huge squares and then cut those squares in half to get 18 triangles.

Do cranberry bliss bars need to be refrigerated?

They certainly do! Refrigerate them for up to a week, sealed in an airtight container.

Can you freeze cranberry bliss bars?

You may (and I typically do, for the sake of Future Bluebirdcafela.com!) freeze them in an airtight jar for up to 2 months.

How many calories in a Starbucks cranberry bliss bar?

The Starbucks version has 290 calories, however mine have 422 calories since they are bigger. I prefer to disregard the calorie amount and just enjoy it!

These Starbucks cranberry joy bars, in my view, are as near to perfection as anything can be. I think my exact words after taking a mouthful were, “I’m f***ing amazing.” And I’m quite sure I heard angels singing.

Your challenge, if you accept it: DO NOT SHOVE THE BATTER IN YOUR MOUTH. I know it will be tough, but please try not to do it. Okay? Well, come on. Don’t make that expression.

Well, ok one scoop.

Note: While this piece was initially published in December 2013, it has subsequently been revised for clarity and to add fresh new photographs.