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Cranberry Bliss Bars with Orange Cream Cheese Icing and White Chocolate Drizzle

Cranberry Bliss Bars

Seattle's most famous holiday bakery square, rebuilt at home with real white chocolate instead of confectionery coating. A dense, ginger-warmed blondie base stays deliberately underbaked for chew, then gets a silky orange cream cheese icing, a scatter of dried cranberries and a crosshatch drizzle. Chill the slab, warm your knife, and cut clean triangles.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 22 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 47 minutes
Servings: 24 Bars
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 265
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1.5 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground ginger or 2 tbsp finely chopped crystallized ginger
  • 0.75 tsp salt
  • 0.75 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
  • 1.5 cups light brown sugar packed
  • 2 large eggs room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp orange zest from 1 large orange, divided
  • 0.5 tsp orange extract optional, for a stronger citrus note
  • 0.75 cup white chocolate chips for the batter
  • 0.75 cup sweetened dried cranberries for the batter
  • 8 oz block-style cream cheese full fat, room temperature
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature, for the icing
  • 2 cups powdered sugar sifted
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract for the icing
  • 0.5 cup sweetened dried cranberries coarsely chopped, for topping
  • 0.5 cup white chocolate chopped or chips, melted for the drizzle

Equipment

  • 1 9x13 Inch Baking Pan lined with parchment paper, overhang on two sides
  • 1 Large mixing bowl
  • 1 electric hand mixer or stand mixer with paddle
  • 1 Rubber spatula
  • 1 offset spatula for spreading the icing
  • 1 fine grater for the orange zest
  • 1 small microwave-safe bowl for melting the drizzle chocolate
  • 1 long chef's knife warmed and wiped dry for cutting

Method
 

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2 inch overhang on the two long sides so you can lift the slab out later.
  2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, ground ginger and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, beat the melted butter and packed light brown sugar with a hand mixer on medium speed for about 1 minute, until smooth and glossy with no sandy pockets.
  4. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, 2 teaspoons of the orange zest and the orange extract if using. Mix for 30 seconds more, until the batter looks silky and slightly lightened.
  5. Add the flour mixture and fold with a spatula only until the last streaks of flour disappear. Stop there. Overmixing develops gluten and turns the bar cakey instead of dense and chewy.
  6. Fold in the 3/4 cup white chocolate chips and 3/4 cup dried cranberries. The batter will be very thick, more like cookie dough than cake batter.
  7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and press it into an even layer with the spatula or lightly dampened fingertips, pushing it all the way into the corners.
  8. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until the top is golden, the edges have just pulled from the sides and the center still looks barely set. A tester in the middle should come out with moist crumbs clinging to it, not clean. This slight underbake is what gives the bars their chew.
  9. Cool the slab completely in the pan on a wire rack, at least 1 hour. If the base is even faintly warm the cream cheese icing will slump and melt.
  10. For the icing, beat the room temperature cream cheese and the 4 tablespoons of butter on medium speed for 2 minutes, until completely smooth with no lumps.
  11. Add the sifted powdered sugar in two additions, beating on low then medium until creamy. Beat in the vanilla and the remaining 1 teaspoon of orange zest. The icing should be thick enough to hold a soft peak but spreadable.
  12. Spread the icing over the cooled slab in an even layer with an offset spatula, taking it right to the edges.
  13. Scatter the chopped dried cranberries over the icing.
  14. Melt the 1/2 cup white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl in 20 second bursts, stirring between each, until just fluid. Transfer to a small zip bag, snip a tiny corner and drizzle thin diagonal lines across the slab in one direction, then the other, to make a crosshatch.
  15. Refrigerate the slab uncovered for 30 to 60 minutes, until the icing is firm to a light touch.
  16. Lift the slab out by the parchment onto a cutting board. Trim the edges if you like, then cut into 12 squares using a long knife warmed under hot water and wiped completely dry. Slice each square corner to corner to make 24 triangles, wiping and rewarming the blade between cuts.
  17. Serve chilled or at cool room temperature.

Notes

  • Underbake slightly. Pull the pan when the center still looks barely set and a tester shows moist crumbs. A fully dry tester means a cakey, dry bar.
  • Use block cream cheese, not tub or spreadable. Tub cream cheese has too much water and the icing will never firm up.
  • Do not swap in fresh cranberries for the dried ones in the batter. The extra water makes the blondie soggy and sour.
  • The orange is structural, not decorative. Without zest or extract the bar tastes like a plain white chocolate blondie.
  • For the signature triangles, cut the chilled slab into 12 squares, then slice each square corner to corner. Wipe the knife with a hot, dry cloth between cuts.
  • Serve with hot brewed coffee, a latte or a cold glass of milk. These were designed to sit next to a spiced holiday coffee.
  • Store covered in the refrigerator up to 5 days, or freeze unfrosted slab up to 2 months.