My Cranberry Bliss Bars are even better than the coffee shop version. The combination of cranberry, ginger, and white chocolate with a touch of orange zest is spot on. Enjoy this seasonal Starbucks treat all year round by making it yourself.
I get a lot of requests for recipes. And often times it is a request for a copy cat recipe. Do I have a recipe for one of their favorite store or restaurant foods? Over the last few weeks I have had two different friends ask me if I had a recipe for Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars.
As I am not a coffee drinker, nor a frequent visitor to Starbucks, I had never had a Cranberry Bliss Bar until I bought one to try out for this recipe. In my recipe stash, I had a recipe I had cut out of the newspaper years ago for a Cranberry Ecstasy Bars. I gave them a try and they were delicious.
I had a friend stop by so I had them help me with a side by side comparison of the cranberry bars. They looked pretty much the same. But the final verdict was mine were better!
I delivered a plate full of the bars to my friend who is a Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bar fan. She stores an entire box of them in her freezer. And even 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 spot on. So I added the orange zest into the frosting recipe below to make them even better.
How to make Cranberry Bliss Bars
- The bar begins with a blondie cake base with dried cranberries, chunks of white chocolate and candied ginger. I found the candied ginger in the bulk food section of my grocery store
- After the cake base is cooked and cooled, a cream cheese frosting with a touch of orange zest is added.
- After frosting, sprinkle with some chopped dried cranberries and then give it a drizzle of melted white chocolate. I melt the white chocolate in the microwave and then put into a freezer zippered plastic baggie, zip close and then push chocolate into one corner of the bag. Snip the corner off and then drizzle over the cut bars. I use a freezer bag because it is heavier and easier to hold the hot, melted chocolate.
- You will want to keep the Cranberry Bliss Bars refrigerated because of the cream cheese frosting.
- Allow them to cook completely before cutting. Cut them into rectangular shaped pieces and then cut each rectangle in half diagonally.
I also like to cut the edges off of all four sides to give it a nice clean finish.
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!
Check out more delicious cranberry treats:
Cream Cheese Cranberry Cake Bars
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Cranberry Bliss Bar Recipe
Cranberry Bliss Bars
Ingredients
Cake Base:
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 1/4 C brown sugar packed
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 cup minced dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup quality white chocolate bar coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup minced candied ginger
Frosting:
- 4 oz. cream cheese softened
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp butter softened
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp grated orange rind
Drizzle:
- 2 Tbsp minced dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup white chocolate melted
Instructions
- 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. Mix 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
Nutrition
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Originally shared December 2, 2009
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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!
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!
So glad you enjoyed them. The orange zest gives a great flavor!
ihave made it with raisins and its great!!!!
http://www.trofos.com/pagesall/products.aspx?cid=17
Hey! Just wanted to tell you. I made these last year for the first time….then made them again and yet another time. They were so good and I could.not. Get enough of then. Been dreaming about them all year in fact!! I love a good Pinterest recipe and you are the wxact definition of what I’m looking for. I actually went to Starbucks and had a slice because I haven’t had time to make a pan of these yet. And even though it was delicious and sparked my needs for this baked good, I know this recipe will be better. Thanks lady!
So glad these were just what you were looking for! Enjoy!
Try this recipe with dried blueberries instead of the cranberries. It’s better!
Good to know – thanks!
I like my Mickey biscuit cutter as well as do not need
a special occassion or excuse to bake them!
Those look JUST like the rice Krispie treats that they market in the Disney parks …
just those opt for $3.99 each!