Bliss Bars

These bliss bars are the ultimate holiday treat - rich, buttery, and bursting with festive flavors. Featuring a soft, chewy blondie base, luscious white chocolate cream cheese frosting, and a sprinkle of dried cranberries, they’re a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. Plus, they can be made with all-purpose, white whole wheat, or gluten-free flour.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword bliss bars, christmas recipe

Prep Time 25

Cook Time 22

2 15

Servings

Calories 272kcal

Author Erin Dooner

Ingredients

Blondies:

1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large 50 grams each, out of shell eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (250 grams) flour (see notes)
1 cup (170 grams) white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate
2/3 cup (115 grams) dried cranberries, chopped

Frosting:

1 cup (170 grams) white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate
8 ounces (225 grams) cream cheese, room temp
4 teaspoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Topping:

1/4 cup (53 grams) reserved frosting
1/2 cup (86 grams) dried cranberries, chopped

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the blondies:

Preheat the oven to 350 °F (176 °C) and line a 9” x 13” (23 cm x 33 cm) pan with a sheet of parchment paper.
1 cup light brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the melted bu1 cup unsalted butter, meltedtter, brown sugar, granulated sugar and vanilla extract.
Beat in the eg2 largegs, and stir just until combined.
Sprinkle the bak1 teaspoon baking powdering powder and salt over the top and stir.
Stir in the flour until just combined.
Stir in the white chocolate and dried cranberries.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 19-22 minutes or until the edges have browned, and they're clearly set in the middle. I baked mine for 21 minutes, and at 18 minutes, when I tilted the pan, you could tell that the batter drooped to one side. So they go from still raw to baked pretty quickly.
Remove to a wire rack to cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.

Make the frosting:

Melt the white chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl at 50% power in 30-second increments, stirring after every interval, until smooth and totally melted. 1 cup (170 grams) white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate
Use a hand mixer to beat in the cream cheese, milk, and vanilla and mix until well combined. 8 ounces (225 grams) cream cheese, room temp
Reserve 1/4 cup (53 grams) of the frosting.
Spread the rest over the totally cooled blondies.

Top the bars:

Evenly distribute the cranberries over the frosting.
Pipe the reserved frosting over the bars.
Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days. For freezing, freeze the frosted bars on a baking sheet until solid, then transfer to an airtight container. Thaw in the refrigerator before serving.

Notes

The blondie base is adapted from Smitten Kitchen's Blondies, and the frosting is from my Cranberry Bliss Cookies recipe on my other blog.
For the flour, you can use all-purpose, white whole wheat or for a gluten-free version, use King Arthur Flour Gluten-free Measure for Measure Flour or Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-free Baking Flour. If using Bob's, use 276 grams of flour instead of 250 grams.
Instead of all vanilla extract, you can add in a bit of almond or orange extract.

Nutrition