Brenda's Blog: 2019

Virtual Cookie Exchange

I am so appreciative of Carol at JustLetMeQuilt for organizing this Blog hop and all the others she puts together. She has been an inspiration to me for years. Thank you Carol for keeping me excited to try new things.

I looked at several copy cat recipes for the Starbucks bar and then I adjusted this one to make it a little more cookie than cake texture. You can use the hint at the bottom if you want it to be thicker like the ones they sell at Starbucks. I do a cookie exchange and I love finding bars that I can make in the 1/2 sheet pan. I hope you enjoy this as much as my family and friends.

Cranberry bliss bar cookie

Ingredients

Bars

· 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted

· 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

· 3 eggs

· 1 teaspoon orange extract

· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

· 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

· 1 teaspoon baking powder

· 1/2 teaspoon salt

· 2 cups all-purpose flour

· 1 cup white chocolate chips

· 3/4 cup Craisins

Frosting:

· 8 oz. cream cheese, softened

· 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

· 1/2 teaspoon orange extract

· 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:

· 1/3 cup Craisins, roughly chopped (Chop and toss in 1 Tab. Powdered sugar to keep from sticking)

· ½ cup of white chocolate chips, melted for drizzle

Instructions

· Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 15x10 inch jelly roll pan or rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper.

· Beat together melted butter and brown sugar over medium speed with an electric mixer. Add in eggs, 1 tsp orange extract
and 1 tsp vanilla extract and beat until mixed well. Add in ground ginger, baking powder, salt, and flour, beating until just
blended. Don't overmix.

· Stir in white chocolate chips and Craisins by hand. Spread and pat evenly into the bottom of prepared pan. Bake in
preheated oven for 18-22 minutes until set and golden brown at the edges. Don't overbake. Remove from oven and
place pan on a wire rack to cool. Allow bars to cool completely before topping with frosting.

· To make the frosting, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar together with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
Add 1/2 tsp orange extract and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and mix well. Top cooled bars with frosting. Spread with a wet spatula.
· Sprinkle with chopped Craisins and drizzle melted white chocolate over the top with a fork. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

· This freezes very well in an airtight container. I have frozen the cookie part in the pan and then frosted when I needed them.