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Starbucks-style gluten free cranberry bliss bars. Tender blondies packed with white chocolate chips and dried cranberries and just enough orange zest, topped with a cream cheese and thick white chocolate frosting. What could be more perfect for the holiday season?
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Although there is absolutely room for difference of opinion about Starbucks coffee and “coffee” drinks, one thing's for sure: they do know how to do baked goods. They don't even serve their cranberry bliss bars in Starbucks stores any more.
That never really mattered much though. If we want it gluten free, we're gonna have to do it ourselves anyway. So, at great long last, I can finally present these festive, Starbucks-style gluten free cranberry bliss bars. They're like a cross between gluten free blondies and gluten free cranberry bread, with frosting, of course.
Tender blondies packed with white chocolate chips and dried cranberries and just enough orange zest, topped with a cream cheese and white chocolate frosting, more dried cranberries and a generous drizzle of white chocolate. The frosting is nice and thick, too, so it slices cleanly.
There's something just so perfect about tart and tangy dried cranberries paired with sweet white chocolate. And of course you could always make these your own by switching up the mix-ins (try diced dried apricots in place of the cranberries and dark chocolate in place of white).
Love orange zest and want more of it?Try adding some to the frosting. Or replace orange flavor with lemon…
Festive Gluten Free Cranberry Bliss Bars
Ingredients
For the bars
- 1 ¾ cup (245 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (I used Better Batter; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum, (omit if your blend already contains it)
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
- 6 ounces white chocolate chips
- ½ cup (80 g) dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
- 10 tablespoons (140 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups (273 g) packed light brown sugar
- 3 (150 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature, beaten
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
For the frosting/topping
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups (200 g) confectioners’ sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 ounces white chocolate, chopped
- ½ cup (80 g) dried cranberries, roughly chopped
Instructions
Make the bars.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch square pan and place one sheet of parchment paper across the pan, with the sides overhanging the edges. Grease the parchment paper and place a second sheet of parchment paper across the pan in the other direction, the sides overhanging the edges. Set the pan aside.
- In a small bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking soda and orange zest, and whisk to combine well, breaking up any clumps of zest. Place the white chocolate chips and dried cranberries in a separate small bowl, add about 1 teaspoon of the dry ingredients and toss to coat. Set the chips and cranberries aside. In a large bowl, place the butter and beat with a handheld mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the brown sugar, and then the eggs and vanilla, beating until smooth after each addition. Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Add the chips and cranberries with the reserved dry ingredients, and mix until just evenly distributed throughout. The batter should be very thickly pourable.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and spread into an even layer. Place in the center of the preheated oven and bake until firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached (about 28 minutes). Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan.
Make the frosting.
- Place the cream cheese in a large bowl and beat with a handheld mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the confectioners’ sugar and salt, and beat on low speed until the sugar is absorbed into the cream cheese. It will clump. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until thick and creamy. Place 2 ounces of the white chocolate in a small, microwave-safe bowl and melt in 15 second bursts, stirring in between, until smooth. Drizzle the melted white chocolate into the cream cheese frosting and beat to combine well. Spread the frosting into an even layer on top of the cooled bars, still in the pan. Sprinkle the dried cranberries evenly over the top of the frosting and press down gently to help them adhere. Melt the remaining 2 ounces white chocolate and drizzle on top of the cranberries. Place in the refrigerator until set.
- Remove from the refrigerator and remove the bars from the pan by lifting up on the overhung parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, slice the bars into 6 equal rectangles (slice the square in half, then each half into 3 equal rectangles), then slice each rectangle in half diagonally to create 12 triangles.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
baked for 28 minutes and they were still not setting up. baked in 4 minute intervals for another 16 minutes and still could not get a toothpick to come out with just a few moist crumbs. At this point I thought my white chocolate was just liquefying, so removed from oven. They looked very good but after Cooling they sunk some in the center. I followed directions to the T. What did I do wrong
Hi, Roger, everyone believes that they followed a recipe “to a T” but it’s rarely the case. My first and second questions are always whether you used one of my recommended all purpose gluten free flour blends, and whether you measured by weight, not volume (which is inherently unreliable). The third is whether you made ingredient substitutions, each of which will take you further away from the recipe as written. It may also be that your oven is out of calibration, which is very very common, too. That’s a very long time to bake a batch of blondies of any kind.
King Arthur, Measure for Measure. no substitutes except that I used salted butter. I haven’t cut into it yet, we’ll see how it tastes. thanks for the reply
I’m afraid I expressly recommend against that blend. You can find all the details of the flour blends I recommend on this page.
when I print out your recipes the grams disappear.
Hi, Doreen, they don’t disappear, you just have to click the toggle at the top of the form to switch from customary to metric. Then, you can print out with the gram measurements. Unfortunately, I can’t switch the default on that page only, and it won’t allow you to print out both measurements like you see on the live website. I hope that’s helpful!
Made these today and had to take a few shortcuts but they turned out great and were a favorite at the dessert party I took them to. Thanks for another winner!!
So glad to hear it, T! An oldie but a goodie! :)
What is the calorie count and nutrition info on your gluten free festive cranberry bliss bars
Hi, Joan, I’ve added approximate nutrition information. I hope that’s helpful!
Deliciousness! These are a must make!
I just finished making these and they are gorgeous! They smelled so good cooking and the frosting is so good, it’s going to be hard to wait to taste the bars!