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Over the last few weeks I have had two different friends ask me if I had a recipe for Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars. (Thanks for the motivation Teri and Debby!)
As I am not a coffee drinker, nor a frequent visitor to Starbucks, I had never had a Cranberry Bliss Bar – until yesterday.
Because I aim to please and I remembered a recipe I cut out of the Portland newspaper a year or so ago for a Cranberry Ecstasy Bar I figured I better give the recipe a try.
Yesterday I made a batch of Cranberry Bliss/Ecstasy Bars. I also went to Starbucks and bought a Cranberry Bliss Bar. My dad was over so I had him help with the taste comparison test.
Here is the real thing from Starbucks:
And a side by side comparison – they look pretty much the same!
The verdict: mine were better.
I delivered a plate full of bars to my friend who is a Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bar fan (she has a whole box of them in her freezer) and she agreed! The cake on the homemade version is lighter and not as dense which everyone preferred.
When I did the taste comparison between the real one and the homemade one the only difference I could detect was that the store bought one had some orange zest in the cream cheese frosting but other than that I think there were pretty darn close – if not better! I’ve added the orange zest into the frosting recipe below.
The Cranberry Bliss Bar would make a great addition to a cookie plate too – they are pretty. So if you are looking for some Bliss in your life – give these a try. If you are a Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bar fan I’d love to know what you think!
Cake Base:
2 sticks/cubes butter, softened
1 1/4 C brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
1 tsp ground powder ginger
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 C flour
1/4 C minced dried cranberries
1/4 C quality white chocolate. I used a Lindt white chocolate bar, coarsely chopped
1/4 C minced candied ginger
Frosting:
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 C powdered sugar
2 Tbsp butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp grated orange rind
Drizzle:
2 Tbsp minced dried cranberries
1/3 C white chocolate, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 x 13 pan
Beat together butter and sugar and then add eggs and vanilla beating until light and fluffy. Add flour, powdered ginger and salt. Beat well. Fold in the cranberries, chocolate chunks and minced candied ginger. Spread batter in pan and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown.
After cake cools, mix all frosting ingredients together and spread over top of cake. Sprinkle with minced cranberries. Use a cake decorating bag of melted chocolate with a small round decorating tip to drizzle the chocolate over the cake. Cut into bars.
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I’ve never had the Starbucks version, but yours look delish! They are very festive looking and would look pretty on a dessert buffet table over the holidays. Saving this recipe
I do not go to Starbucks very often, so I’ve never had their Cranberry Bliss Bar, but this recipe looks and sounds fantastic! I will add it to my “must do” recipe list. These will be great for Christmas!
Oh, I love cranberries and these look so yummy. I have to bring a treat next week and these look perfect.
Can’t wait to try these–they look amazing!!
All right, Leigh Anne, stop the insanity. If you put another delicious recipe on here I will not have enough time to make them all. This looks so good. My mother in law who does not eat chocolate will love these. I will use my go-to vanilla chips that I substitute for the chocolate for her.
I’ve got these on my to-do Christmas candy/cookie list. They look so festive and delicious! Thanks.
Oh my! This looks sinfully good!
I love these thank you so much for the recipe!
Oh my these look yummy. I am also not a coffee drinker, but you’ve got to try their carmel apple cider!
I’ve never been to Starbucks, but these look fabulous!! I will definitely be giving them a try; I even have Craisins in my pantry.
These looked so good I went to store for the things I didn’t have. They did not disappoint. Very yummy! I need to find a home for the rest of the pan of these so I don’t eat them all.
Leah – I did the same thing! Delivered them to friends so I wouldn’t eat the whole pan!!
Another great recipe! I haven’t had the ones from Starbucks either, but I’ve read about them all over the place. Definitely going to be giving these a try!
WOW! I haven’t tried these bars before but will definitely try your recipe. These look awesome. Thanks. Oh, and I am not a coffee drinker either, but love my chai.
Yum – definitely want to try these, but where do you get minced candied ginger?
My little boy LOVES the cranberry bliss bars from Starbucks………as the poster above, Iam trying to find the minced candied ginger……..Thanks for sharing…..
Elizabeth
All I know is that you NEVER disappoint with the recipes you post. I made these today and I am so excited. They are fabulous and in my opinion BETTER than Starbucks. I will posting about these on both my blogs very soon. Thanks!!!!
What kind of pan would you cook this in? It almost looks like you would cook it on a cookie sheet.
Lisha, I cooked them in a 9 x 13 pan.
EnJOY!
oops. I reread the post and found what kind of pan! lol!
Would love to make this for the holiday. Just had my first taste of this delicious treat the other day. I have no idea where to purchase candied ginger, does the supermarket carry it? Your site is the first I hit with my morning cup of coffee, keep up the great work! Happy Holidays to you and yours.
Sherry, So glad you enjoy the blog!! You should be able to find candied ginger in the baking aisle of your grocery store. Mine came from Trader Joe’s but I have seen it at other stores. EnJOY!
I am a HUGE fan of the starbucks cranberry bliss bar and cant get enough in the xmas time!
I have been passionate about baking for about 2 years now (17 years old) and cannot wait to bake these for my friends and mom ( who is a particular fan)
Thanks so much for the recipe.. will let you know how they go over after my christmas party tomorrow!!
These looked so delicious so I made them for my family and took the rest of the pan over to my parents house. My kids and husband loved them and I really loved them! I added chopped walnuts, and they were excellent.
I have tried the recipe, although it is tasty , it is not as “cookie” like the Starbucks version. It was good though.
I am obsessed with Starbucks’ cranberry bliss bars! I made these tonight and I think the frosting was dead on, but I wasn’t as big of a fan of the cake like consistency of the base. I am more partial to the cookie like base at Starbucks. Overall delicious, but I will still pay for the ones at Starbucks.
Based on your comment that a friend has a box in the freezer…I assume these freeze ok? I’d like to bake this week for Christmas.
I have never personally frozen them (they don’t stay around long enough) but they should be fine! EnJOY!
Leigh Anne — The only thing I could find was crystallized ginger. It said on the side of the bottle for ingredients that it was sugar and ginger. I hope that was the right thing. I made them last night for a Christmas party at work today. They look and smell yummy. Can’t wait to try them!
Leigh Anne — all I can say is wow!! The bars were absolutely delicious and I think they are better than the Starbucks version. Everyone at work loved them! Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipe!
This is one of my favorite recipes this year, thank you so much for posting it!
My son-in-Law had a craving for the Starbucks bars. I wrote this recipe down for him (he loves to bake). He misread my writing and added the 4oz cream cheese to the batter. YUM. They were a little bit denser but my were they delicious. Thank you for offering this recipe to us. It’s a keeper (added cream cheese too)
I really love cranberry bliss bars. We don’t have them at our starbuck’s quite yet…that I know of! I am going to try this recipe for a Harvest dinner at church this Friday. I think people will love them! The holidays are coming up…I think you should revisit this post again for your readers because cranberry bliss bars are awesomely delicious!
Finally! A side by side comparison! There are so many different recipes for these, but yours is the one I will try. One question, do you think 1/2 tsp of baking powder would help these at all? Alot of Bliss recipes have it included.
I don’t think the baking powder would hurt. Enjoy!
My only comment – is I am critically allergic to ginger & had a friend who was a manager at Starbucks & their recipe does not have the ginger in it. I love them & “manage” to have several during the Christmas season.
How do you think it would effect the recipe if the ginger was left out?
Thanks & Blessings!
I think they would still definitely be delicious without the ginger, especially if Starbucks doesn’t really use it.
Hi Leigh Anne!
I’m going to try this recipe this weekend, but have a couple of questions if you don’t mind…how many portions do you get from a 9 x 13 pan, how thick are those pieces, and if you wanted to use a 15 x 17 cookie sheet, would you double the recipe, or press the crust out thinner?
Thank you!
Susan
Portions is really up to you and how big or small you want to cut the pieces – I usually get anywhere from 12 -24 piece from a 9×13 just depending on how big or small I cut them. The pieces are about 3/4 of an inch I think. If you use a bigger pan I would probably double recipe – afraid it might be too thin otherwise Or maybe 1 1/2 half the recipe.
OMg, YAY! Now I just have to switch out for gluten free flour and Im set!
I made these last weekend and they were TO DIE FOR! I couldn’t find candied ginger and I accidentally added about twice as much white chocolate than the recipe called for but it still turned out fab. Thanks for the recipe! I’m sure this will become a Christmas tradition.
So glad you liked them – the more white chocolate the better!!
The cake is in the oven as we speak and it smells fabulous!!!! The frosting is delishes and quick secret – I added extra cranberries
thanks for the amazing recipe!!!
Thanks for the tip on the cranberries – will add more next time!
Can you freeze these for two weeks? Will they still be good to eat?
I have never frozen them but I think they would freeze well.
I made a (different) copycat version of cranberry bliss bars about a week ago, but they did not turn out as good as the ones from Starbucks. Yours look so close to the original, and this recipe has a few modifications from the ones I tried making, so I think it’s time to give it another try!
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just made these last night for a work holiday potluck and they turned out GREAT! honestly i have never had the Starbucks version, but these were yummy. next time i think i would put more cranberries and chocolate chips in the batter
So glad you enjoyed them!
I made these for two Christmas parties this year and they were a huge hit! Thanks so much for the recipe. If you want to see how mine turned out, here they are! http://3hungrymonkeys.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/cranberry-bliss-bars/# I made sure to credit you on the recipe.
Oh my, these are yummy! I skipped the drizzle, and thought they were plenty sweet enough! I love the orange zest in the frosting…thanks for sharing the recipe!
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So glad you enjoyed them. The orange zest gives a great flavor!