Tasty Starbucks Copycat Cranberry Bliss Bars Easy Recipe

This is my favorite copycat recipe for Starbucks copycat cranberry bliss bars with a soft vanilla cake base, tart dried cranberries, white chocolate chips and a sweet cream cheese frosting on top.

I’ll make them every time when I crave that coffeehouse treat.

Why You Will Love These Cranberry Bliss Bars

Perfect Copycat Recipe
Holiday-worthy Flavors
Impressive Presentation
Make-ahead Friendly
Feeds A Crowd

Ingredients

For Blondie Layer:

1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp of baking powder
½ tsp of table salt
12 tbsp of unsalted butter
1 ½ cups of light brown sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp of vanilla extract
1 tsp of grated orange zest
¾ cup dried cranberries
1 ⅓ cups of white chocolate

For Frosting:

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 ½ cups of confectioners sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 tbsp of orange juice
1 tsp of orange zest, finely grated
⅔ cup of white chocolate

For Topping:

½ cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
1 ⅔ cups white chocolate

Directions

Step 1: Prepare Baking Pan & Oven

Start with preheating your oven to 350°F, adjust oven rack to middle position.

Then spray 9 by 13 inch baking pan with non stick spray. And spray parchment paper with nonstick spray to make ensure blondies don’t stick.

Step 2: Brown the Butter

Melt unsalted butter in a saucepan on medium heat. Then continue cooking and stirring until butter foams and milk solids at bottom turn golden brown.

When color changes, take pan off heat and pour browned butter into a bowl. Let your butter cool completely before using.

Browning butter really deepens the flavor.

Step 3: Mix Dry & Wet Ingredients

Next whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder and table salt. And combine cooled browned butter and light brown sugar, whisk well.

Then add lightly beaten eggs, vanilla extract and orange zest. Stir until smooth.

Step 4: Combine Batter & Bake

Gently fold dry ingredients into wet mixture until combined with a rubber spatula, do not overmix it.

Now, Fold in chopped white chocolate and dried cranberries.

And spread batter evenly into prepared pan, smooth the top.

Then bake for 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown and top is set.

Later, cool pan on a wire rack to get room temperature before frosting.

Step 5: Prepare & Spread Frosting

Beat softened cream cheese, sifted confectioners sugar, vanilla extract, orange juice and finely grated orange zest together until fluffy and smooth in a medium bowl.

Once bars are completely cool, then spread frosting evenly over top.

Step 6: Add Toppings & Finish

Sprinkle roughly chopped dried cranberries over frosted surface, and drizzle melted white chocolate over top.

Use a small zip-top bag and snip off corner for easy drizzling.

Refrigerate them until frosting and chocolate drizzle gets firm and set for neat slicing.

Step 7: Slice & Serve

When these bars are chilled and toppings set perfectly, use parchment paper overhang to lift them out of pan.

Now cut bars into triangles or desired shapes. Then serve and enjoy.

Substitutions For Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars

These bars have some options if you need to make changes:

White Chocolate: This white chocolate is great for authentic Starbucks taste. If you want to substitute, try vanilla chips or milk chocolate chips but the flavor will be quite different.
Dried Cranberries: You can substitute this with dried cherries, chopped dried strawberries or chocolate chips.
Orange Zest and Juice: If you don’t have oranges on hand, you can try lemon zest and juice.
Cream Cheese: It should be fully softened for smooth frosting. You can use a pinch of mascarpone cheese but tang will not same.
Light Brown Sugar: Dark Brown Sugar will work great and gives slightly molasses flavor. You can mix ½ cup of white sugar with 2 tbsp of molasses.
Unsalted Butter: Salted butter will also works but to just reduce added salt to ¼ tsp to balancing.

Tips For Baking

Main mistake is when baking these bars are overbaking, which turns chewy and fudgy texture into dry and crumbly.
Another mistake is not letting bars cool completely before adding cream cheese frosting. Warm bars will cause frosting to melt and slide right off.
Use low heat microwave bursts to prevent it from seizing up to a grainy mess and make sure your cream cheese is truly softened to room temperature, so they stays smooth.
Chill finished bars for at least an hour before slicing it.

Serving Options with Starbucks Copycat Cranberry Bliss Bars

I love to serve them at holiday gatherings with vanilla ice cream on the side, when bars are still slightly warm from oven.
They are great addition to a dessert platter with holiday treats like sugar cookies.
Try them with a glass of cold milk or a mug of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream for a cozy afternoon treat.

Storage Instructions

Store: You can keep these cranberry bliss bars perfectly in fridge for up to a week and store them in an airtight container. Cut them into squares and use them between sheets of parchment paper so they don’t stick together. Cream cheese frosting actually tastes even better after a few days.

Freeze: Freeze these bars for up to 3 months which makes perfect for holiday prep. Then, wrap individual squares in plastic wrap, then store them in a freezer safe container.

Serve: Frozen bars make thaw in fridge overnight at room temperature about 30 minutes, if you want to serve immediately. These bars taste amazing straight from fridge too. No need to warm them.