Holidays usually involve a frenzy of baking and cooking for most people. I am not overly fond of baking but I did make these cranberry bars for the holidays. They turned out festive looking and tasted great. I used dried cranberries and white chocolate frosting for these bars. Drizzling them with melted white chocolate at the end gave them a nice finish.
The inspiration for these came from Starbuck’s Cranberry Bliss Bars. This is a lightened version since I used egg whites (no yolks) and unsweetened apple sauce in place of more butter.
Easy Cranberry Bars Recipe
These festive-looking, delicious cranberry bars are perfect for year-round baking. The inspiration for these came from Starbuck's Cranberry Bliss Bars. This is a lightened version since it uses egg whites (no yolks) and unsweetened apple sauce in place of more butter.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 dash ground cinnamon
- 2/3 cup white sugar
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 4 tbsp melted unsalted butter
- 2 pcs large egg whites
- 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup white chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries chopped
Frosting
- 8 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
- 2 oz white baking chocolate melted
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries chopped
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Bars
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13 inch non-stick baking pan with cooking spray.
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In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and make sure it is well blended.
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In another bowl, whisk the sugar with the butter, egg whites, applesauce and vanilla.
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Blend the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in 2 or 3 batches until all is well blended. Add drops of water if needed to smooth out the mixture.
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Fold in white chocolate chips and dried cranberries into the batter. Spread the batter onto the baking pan using a spatula to smooth evenly.
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Bake 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges are ligh brown and a toothpick inserted in the dough comes out clean. Let cool.
Frosting
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In a large bowl, use an electric mixer (or stand up mixer) to beat the cream cheese, confectioner's sugar and vanilla until it is well blended. Frost the bars and sprinkle with remaining cranberries.
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Melt the white chocolate by placing it in a microwaveable bowl and heating for 15 seconds. Stir. Do 15 seconds at a time until the chocolate is melted.
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Drizzle the bars with the melted white chocolate using a drizzling spoon or use a ziploc bag and snip one corner.
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When the chocolate has set, cut into 15 large squares and cut each square diagonally into triangles.
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Store in the refrigerator until ready to eat.
I hope you enjoy this lightened version of cranberry bars. This does not have to be prepared during holidays only since dried cranberries are available year round. These are not overly sweet and can be enjoyed as breakfast, snack or dessert.
Kain Na! (Let’s Eat).
