Sweet spiced cookie bars studded with dried cranberries and white chocolate chips are decorated with a stunning cream cheese icing and a drizzle of melted white chocolate. This copycat Starbucks recipe makes a perfect fall treat for Thanksgiving or Christmas parties.
PREP TIME 30 minutesminutes
COOK TIME 25 minutesminutes
TOTAL TIME 55 minutesminutes
YIELD 12servings
Ingredients
For the Cranberry Bars
1cup(2 sticks) buttersoftened, plus 1 tablespoon for the baking pan
1 1/4cupbrown sugar
1tspvanilla extract
3eggs
1 1/2cupflourplus 1 tablespoon for the baking pan
1/2tspbaking powder
1/2tspground ginger
1/2tspground nutmeg
1/2tspsalt
1cupwhite chocolate chips
1/2cupdried cranberries
For the Icing
4ozcream cheesesoftened
1tbspfresh lemon juice
1/2tspvanilla
2cupspowdered sugar
1/2cupdried cranberrieschopped
For the Final Drizzle
1/2cupwhite chocolate chips
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan with 1 tablespoon of softened butter and dust with 1 tablespoon of flour, set aside.
Add the butter and sugar to a large mixing bowl. Beat them together with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.
Add the vanilla extract and one egg at a time. Beat the eggs in until just combined before adding the next egg.
Add the flour, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Stir it into the batter until just combined.
Fold in the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries. Spread the mixture into the prepared baking pan and smooth into a nice even layer.
Bake the cranberry bars for 25 minutes or until just light golden brown. Let cool completely before frosting.
To make the frosting, add the cream cheese, lemon juice, and vanilla to a mixing bowl. Beat them together with a hand mixer until well blended.
Add the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until just blended. Spread the frosting over the cooled cranberry bars and immediately add the chopped cranberries so they stick before the frosting sets.
Finally, melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave on HIGH in 30 second increments, stirring between each session. Do not overcook! Drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of the cranberry bars.