Cranberries are the topic of the day. We have been meaning to do a
cranberry blog since Christmastime but have always had other ideas pop up, so
now we’re doing a Springtime cranberry blog. We have found some really
delicious recipes that we hope you will like as well.
Cranberries can be used in so many different types of recipes both
sweet and savory. At times they can be kinda sour if you don’t pair them up
properly or sweeten them up. Cranberries pair quite well with white chocolate
so those two ingredients are going to be in both recipes today. The cookies are
a simple sugar cookie base with white chocolate chunks and dried cranberries,
so take a look at the recipe and the final product below.
For the gooey white chocolate cranberry cookies you will need...
¾ cup softened butter
¾ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
¾ cup white chocolate chips or chunks
¾ cup dried cranberries
Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Mix the butter and the sugars together. Then add in the eggs and vanilla.
Then add the dry ingredients slowly and mix until well blended.
Stir in the cranberries and white chocolate.
Cover and chill the dough with plastic wrap or tin foil in the bowl for
2 hours-2days.
Once chilled, scoop balls of dough. We made them about a teaspoon in
size and then roll them into balls. Place them on a parchment lined cookie
sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
The other treat we are making are a version of the Starbucks Cranberry
Bliss bars. Since I have allergies, I have never tried a Bliss Bar, but Nicole
has talked about them ever since we talked about baking with cranberries. I
thought they sounded alright, nothing too exciting to me as I am not a super
huge cranberry fan, but when I tasted these bars, oh my gosh, they were one of
the most delicious things ever! One of my new favourites for sure. So take a
look at our Friday night adventure in making Cranberry Bliss Bars.
For the bars you will need...
1 cup
butter, melted
1 ½ cups
packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp.
orange extract
1 tsp.
vanilla extract
½ tsp.
ground ginger
1 tsp.
baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2 cups flour
1 cup white
chocolate chips or chunks (we used chunks)
¾ cup dried
cranberries
For the
icing you will need...
8 ounces or
1 brick of cream cheese
1 ½ cups of
icing sugar
½ tsp.
orange extract
½ tsp.
vanilla
1/3 cup of
dried cranberries
2 squares of
white chocolate, melted
Preheat the
oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare a
15x10 jelly roll pan by lining it with parchment paper. You can also use a
rimmed cookie sheet instead. For thicker bars you can use a 13x9 size pan.
Beat the melted
butter and sugar. Then add the eggs, one by one.
After that, add both extracts
until well mixed and then add in your mixed dry ingredients (flour, powder,
salt, and ginger). Beat until all just mixed together.
Stir in the
cranberries and the white chocolate and spread evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake for
18-22 minutes or until set and the edges are golden brown. Don’t over bake.
Allow the
bars to completely cool on a wire rack for at least a couple of hours.
While the
bars are cooling, you can mix the icing.
Beat the
cream cheese and icing sugar together until smooth. Add the extracts and mix
well. Set aside until you are ready to ice the bars.
When the
bars are cooled completely and ready to be iced, spread the cream cheese frosting over the
top evenly and then sprinkle with the cranberries.
Drizzle the melted white chocolate
over the top (using a fork works well). You can slice and serve right away or let them sit in the fridge
for a bit. That’s what we did and they seemed to firm up quite nice. You can
cut them into the usual Cranberry Bliss bar shape, a triangle, or you can cut
them up into square bars, up to you. They are delicious either way.
