Cranberry Bliss Bars- Homemade Style!

One of my favorite things around the holidays are the seasonal flavors at Starbucks, hence the Peppermint Mocha Cupcakes! In addition to the delicious drinks they also pull out some yummy treats during the holidays that I love. One of those amazing goodies is the cranberry bliss bar. In college I used to buy these things by the box. My waistline does not allow for that anymore, but I did manage to find a recipe for them and decided to try my hand at homemade cranberry bliss bars for my work Christmas party. I think they came out excellently! I would substitute some of the butter for oil if I made them again to make the bars more moist, but otherwise they're perfect! Here are my pics:




Recipe:
Cranberry Bliss Bars (adapted from My Baking Addiction)

Bar:
1c butter, softened
1c brown sugar
zest of one lemon
1t vanilla
3 lg eggs
1 1/2c flour
1/4t kosher salt
2t pumpkin pie spice
1/2c chopped cranberries
1/2c white chocolate chips

Topping:
1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick butter, softened
1t vanilla
powdered sugar
Cranberries
White chocolate shavings

Bars:
Preheat to 325F. Line a 9"x13" pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, zest, and vanilla. mix until well combined. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined. Stir in cranberries and white chocolate. Bake for 25 minutes.

Topping:
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add in vanilla. Add powdered sugar until smooths creamy consistency is achieved. Apply cream cheese mixture to bars. sprinkle cranberries and white chocolate shavings liberally on cream cheese. Cool in refrigerator for 30 minutes to set.

Enjoy!