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I am begging you to make these.

You’re simply missing out if you don’t.

These were heavenly. Decadent. Outstanding.

I stumbled across them on Recipe Girl’s blog…

This is what happened after I read her post:

I bee-lined it to Target for cream cheese and eggs.

Don’t you hate when you have almost all the ingredients to a recipe!? That’s how I end up at the store, daily.

They are basically a blondie bar topped with an amazing white chocolate cream cheese (with a hint of orange zest) frosting.

Cranberry Orange Bliss Bars

(Adapted slightly from Recipe Girl)

Yield: 24 bars

Prep Time: 35 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Ingredients:

BLONDIE LAYER:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter, cubed

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup dried cranberries

6 ounces Vanilla CANDIQUIK, coarsely chopped

FROSTING:

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

6 ounces Vanilla CANDIQUIK, melted

1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped

1 teaspoon fresh orange zest

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13×9-inch baking pan with nonstick spray.

2. Prepare the blondie layer: In a medium bowl, melt butter in the microwave; stir in brown sugar. Scrape the butter & sugar into a large bowl and let cool to room temperature. Use an electric mixer to beat in the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; gradually add the dry mixture to the butter mixture. Fold in the cranberries and chopped CandiQuik (the batter will be thick).

3. Spread the blondie batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 18-21 minutes until edges are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean (do not over bake). Cool completely on a wire rack.

4. Prepare the frosting: In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the softened cream cheese and powdered sugar until well-blended. Gradually add half (3 oz) of the melted CandiQuik and orange zest; beat until blended. Frost blondies. Sprinkle with cranberries. Drizzle with remaining (3 oz.) melted Vanilla CandiQuik.

  Cut into square or triangle-shaped bars if you’re feeling fancy.

Store bars in the refrigerator (if there are any left). 

  Happy Baking! 

Friday, December 2nd, 2011, 2:38 pm   |   Bars & Brownies, Breads & Muffins, Christmas, Cookies, Recipes, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized  |  RSS feed |  Respond  |  Trackback