The good people at Oh Nuts asked if I would like to choose a few items from their catalog to use in my holiday baking.  Yes, please! After deliberating for far too long, I decided upon White Chocolate Chips and Cranberries.  It was a task to keep my husband from eating all of the white chocolate before I even started, but now he admits it is better to have waited. I made Cranberry Bliss Bars, using the recipe from Food.com.

Cranberry Bliss Bars

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks, very soft)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons orange extract or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 3/4 cup white chocolate chips {I used grated white chocolate bars!}

FROSTING

• 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon orange extract (or vanilla)

TOPPING

• 1/3 cup dried cranberries, chopped
• 1 -2 tablespoon grated orange rind
• 1/3 cup white chocolate chips {or grated white chocolate}

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (325 for a glass or dark pan). Prepare a 10×15 by lining it with parchment paper or use a non-stick spray.

With an electric mixer, beat together softened butter and sugars 3-5 minutes until light; gently blend in eggs and orange extract (don’t overbeat eggs). Add the flour, baking powder, and ginger and beat briefly. Add the cranberries and chips, stirring just until incorporated.

Spread thick batter in prepared 10×15 pan. Bake 350 for 20-24 minutes until light brown AT EDGES and a skewer tests clean. Don’t overbake or your bars will be dry. Let it cool completely. NOTE: If you use a 9×13 pan, the bars will be thicker and will take 26-28 minutes.

Blend cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add orange extract and confectioner’s sugar and beat until frosting is fluffy and spreadable (adding 1 t. milk if needed). Spread evenly over COOLED bars.

Use a zester to remove rind from an orange; sprinkle zest over frosted bars. Chop 1/3 cup cranberries coarsely; sprinkle over frosted bars.

DRIZZLE: Mix white chocolate and 2 tsp. canola oil in a glass measuring cup. Microwave 1 minute; stir until melted. Use a fork or whisk to drizzle the white chocolate diagonally across the bars. {I didn’t do this.  I just sprinkled the grated chocolate on the top.}

Allow one hour for the white chocolate to set before cutting.

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I received a product sample from Oh! Nuts.  All opinions are my own.