These Cranberry Bliss Bars will please any Starbuck's fan. You don't even have to drink coffee to enjoy these blissful bars. If you love their bars, you will probably think that these are even better.
Cake:
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
3 eggs
2 T. minced crystallized ginger
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 t. baking powder
3/4 c. chopped sweetened dried cranberries
4 oz. white chocolate, cut into chunks
Frosting:
4 oz.cream cheese, softened
3 c. powdered sugar
4 t. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 t. vanilla extract
1/4 c. chopped sweetened dried cranberries
Drizzled Icing:
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 T. milk
2 t. vegetable shortening
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
Cake:
Beat the butter and brown sugar together with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the eggs, ginger, vanilla, and salt; beat well. Gradually mix in the flour and baking powder until smooth. Mix the chopped dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks into the batter by hand. Pour batter into the baking pan. Use a spatula to spread the batter evenly across the pan. Bake 25 - 30 minutes, or until the cake is lightly browned on top. Let cake cool.
Frosting:
Combine the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Once the cake has cooled, use a spatula to spread the frosting over the top of the cake.
Sprinkle 1/4 c. chopped dried cranberries over the frosting on the cake.
Drizzled icing:
Whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and shortening. Drizzle this icing over the cranberries in a sweeping motion with a squirt bottle or fill a small plastic storage bag with the icing; cut off the tip of one corner.
Cover the cake; chill in the fridge for severalhours. Slice the cake lengthwise (the long way) through the middle. Slice the cake across the width 3 times, making a total of eight rectangular slices. Slice each of those rectangles diagonally creating 16 triangular slices.
16 servings.