Cranberry Bliss Bars

The first time I had one of these cranberry bliss bars were when my boss shared them at work courtesy of his wife.  They tasted amazing!  Skip forward a few months, it is a coworker's birthday and one of her favorite desserts are these bars.  I had no idea there were so many copycat recipes all over the web; apparently these are popular at Starbucks every Winter.  My boss' wife was generous enough to share her recipe with me which is a slight adaption of one I found online.

Cranberry Bliss Bars

Makes about 30 triangular slices

slightly adapted from Mr Breakfast

Cake:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons finely minced candied ginger

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped sweetened dried cranberries

Frosting:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 tablespoon orange zest

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 - 2 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon orange juice

Garnish:

1/4 cup chopped sweetened dried cranberries

1/3 cup white chocolate chips, melted

1 tablespoon oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line a 9x13 pan with foil leaving an overhang and lightly grease it.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger powder, and minced ginger.  Set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until fluffy.

Add the eggs and vanilla, beat well.

Add the flour mixture to the bowl, beating until smooth.  Stop and scrap the bowl down as needed.

Stir in the cranberries and the chocolate chips by hand.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for 20 to 25 mins, or until the cake lightly browned.

Allow the cake to cool.

While the cake is cooling, beat all the frosting ingredients together.  Spread the frosting over the cooled cake.

Immediately sprinkle with the chopped cranberries.

Melt the chocolate chips with the tablespoon of oil and using a cake decorating bag or a ziploc bag with the tip cut open, drizzle the melted chocolate all over the cake.

Remove the cake from the pan using the foil overhang.  Cut the bars and store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to serve.

White Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake

Want to know how to make a cheesecake taste even more rich?  Add white chocolate to your batter!   Inspired by the Starbucks White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha drink, I decided to turn the house favorite Oreo Cheesecake into the perfect holiday treat for our dinner guests this past weekend.

I followed the white chocolate and raspberry swirl cheesecake recipe from Junior's Cheesecake Cookbook but eliminated the raspberry swirl for 8 chopped Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe-Joes.  Also, the crust was made with the chocolate peppermint cookies.

Chocolate Cookie Crust
A Baked By Jen Original
Makes 1 9-inch crust

15 chocolate peppermint sandwich cookies
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350F.  Place the cookies in a ziploc bag.  Flatten, remove excess air, and seal.  Roll a rolling pin over the bag until you have finely crushed crumbs.  Place crumbs in a bowl and mix in the melted butter.  Press firmly into a 9-in springform pan.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack as you proceed with cheesecake recipe.

White Chocolate Peppermint Fudge

I am pretty sure I have gained 10 pounds this month alone; I am afraid to step on the scale at this point.  The last few weeks, I have been baking up all sorts of holiday sweets for family, friends, coworkers, from the tried and true to something new, like this white chocolate peppermint fudge.

I've included the recipe; however, I would increase the amount of extract to at least 1 teaspoon the next time I make it.  The peppermint flavor was very subtle.

White Chocolate Peppermint Fudge

slightly adapted from AllRecipes.com

Makes 64 pieces

2 (10z) packages of white chocolate chips

1 (14oz) can of sweetened condensed milk

1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract

1 1/2 cups of crushed peppermint candy canes, divided

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil.

Combine the chips and sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir frequently until almost melted, remove from heat and continue to stir until smooth.  When the chips are completed melted, stir in the extract and the crushed candy canes, reserving 1/4 cup.

Spread mixture evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan.  Sprinkle remaining crushed candy canes over the top.

Chill for 2 hours, then cut into 1 inch squares.

The other sweets that I have made over the last few weeks included:

Pecan Pie Bars

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Sugar Cookies

Chocolate Almond Butter Toffee Bark