Cranberry Oatmeal Bliss Bars

I look forward to the holiday season — it is a good excuse to indulge a little by baking cookies and other scrumptious desserts. I especially like to try new recipes — last year I stumbled upon Starbuck’s Cranberry Bliss Bars. Here’s my own version of the recipe — using an old-fashioned oatmeal blondie brownie recipe along with dried cranberries, orange zest, white chocolate chips and a cream cheese icing. Yum. This festive dessert is pretty good!

“Cranberry Oatmeal Bliss Bars” makes a colorful bar cookie for the holiday season. And, I’ve found another recipe using cranberries! I like the tart flavor of dried cranberries (Craisins) and citrus along with the sweet white chocolate chips. The cream cheese icing makes a nice topping for this rich dessert — I reduced the sugar listed in many of the internet recipes in the icing — it is still very sweet! Since the recipe uses dried cranberries, you can make this recipe any time of the year.

My recipe is a simplified version of many of the “copycat” recipes for the Starbucks’ bar shown on the internet. I included oatmeal in my blondie brownies which adds to the flavor and also the nutritional value. Rather than the ginger in the Starbucks’ recipe, I substituted orange zest — I tried using ginger but it didn’t impress me.

For the blondie brownies, I adapted a favorite old family recipe found in the cookbook, “Granddaughter’s Inglenook Cookbook”, for “Toll House Oatmeal Cookies.” This cookbook was the mainstay of both my grandmothers — it is fun to reminisce over all their handwritten notes and comments in the margins of the pages. This recipe has “good” marked by it

The original “Granddaughter’s Inglenook Cookbook” was written in 1901 — there have been a number of revised editions — and features favorite recipes mainly of farm women. The press for the book states. “It comes from a people who believe that living should be simple, that we are wiser when we come together, and that hospitality is holy. When we are gathered at the table, both body and soul are fed.” The description certainly fit both my grandmothers and that style of living still is applicable today. It is something to think about during the holidays.

Here are the ingredients (except for vanilla extract) for my oatmeal blondie brownie bars.

Mix as directed and bake the bars in an oiled 9″ x 13″ baking pan. Don’t over-bake the bars; the center should just be set but still soft on top. You will need to check the oven frequently — it doesn’t take much to over-bake these bars. Then they will be very dry.

For the icing, I mixed cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla and orange extracts and beat with a mixer until creamy and smooth.

My icing version also includes melted white chocolate chips. I used a microwave to melt the chocolate — it takes only about 30 seconds for the chips just begin start to soften and melt. The chips don’t have to melt completely. If needed, turn the bowl and melt about 15 seconds longer. If the chips become too hot, they will “seize” and turn into a glob.

Add the melted white chocolate chips to the icing and mix in. Lastly, stir in the fresh orange zest — spread on the blondie bars and sprinkle with chopped cranberries. Then chill so the icing becomes firm. The cream cheese icing makes a thin layer — don’t worry — you really don’t need too much.

The Starbuck’s version shows the bars cut into triangles, so I tried this, too.

Good enough. For the holidays, this recipe fits right in. I love the flavor of the oatmeal which is included in the recipe and also the cream cheese-white chocolate chip icing. The orange zest — folded in at the end — adds to the festive flavor and color. It is quite different from other bar recipes — I’m glad I discovered these “Starbucks’ bars.” Enjoy the blondie brownies during the holidays — and really — any time of the year.