‘Tis the season for cool mornings, warm coffee, and one of my other winter favorites — Cranberry Bliss season at Starbucks!
If any of you have ever tried their heavenly cranberry bliss bars laced with white chocolate and cranberries, you know the reason why these treats fly off the pastry shelves each day. So for my fall baking season this year, I decided to experiment and try translating this favorite into a cookie. Hence the name, “Cranberry Bliss Cookies”!
I started with one of my favorite chewy cookie bases, filled with lots of vanilla, white chocolate chips and dried cranberries. Then topped it with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting, sprinkled with more cranberries, and drizzled with more white chocolate. I mean seriously — what’s not to love?!?
Sure enough, they were nothing short of heavenly. Quite sweet, but the extra tart of the cream cheese and cranberries gives just the perfect tart touch to leave you craving just one more. Perfect for dessert, or even a morning treat with your coffee. And definitely…blissful. :)
Cranberry Bliss Cookies
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 dozen cookies 1x
Description
Classic cranberry bliss bars are turned into cookies!
Ingredients
For The Cookies:
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract, store-bought or homemade
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup dried cranberries
For The Frosting:
- 1 (8 oz.) bar cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, melted in the microwave or double-boiler
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract, store-bought or homemade
- 2 cups powdered sugar
For The Topping:
- 1 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup white chocolate chips, melted in the microwave or double-boiler
Instructions
To Make The Cookies:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt until well-blended. Set aside.
- Using an an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating in between to incorporate. Add the vanilla, then reduce the speed to low, and slowly add in the dry ingredients. Increase the speed to medium, and continue beating until well-combined. Fold in the white chocolate chips and cranberries, and mix until just-combined. (Do not overmix.)
- Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour. Then place dough by rounded tablespoon-fulls onto a baking sheet that has been prepared with parchment paper, at least 2.5-inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden around the edges. Remove pan, and transfer the cookies to a cooling rack until cool. Repeat with remaining dough until all cookies are baked. Wait until cookies reach room temperature before adding frosting and toppings.
To Make The Frosting:
- Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the cream cheese and melted white chocolate until combined. (**Be sure that your cream cheese REALLY is at room temperature before adding the white chocolate. Otherwise the chocolate could seize up.) Add in the vanilla and mix until combined. Then reduce speed to low and add the powdered sugar. Mix until incorporated. Then use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, and beat once more for 1 minute on medium speed until the frosting is smooth. You can add more powdered sugar for a thicker frosting.
- Spread the frosting on the cooled cookies. Then immediately sprinkle the frosted cookies with the chopped dried cranberries. And use a fork to drizzle on the frosting, swishing it back and forth over the cookies.
I’ve made these for several years. As noted, they are fairly sweet but absolutely heavenly! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
You mention that they are quite sweet. Has anyone tried them with less sugar and if so does it effect would it have on the consistency of the dough?
I make 3-4 batches of these each Christmas for my family and friends. They look forward to them each year. Recipe is perfect as is.
I made this cookies hoping that I could use them for a cookie exchange in December. I’m so glad that I did! They are delicious and the icing isn’t too sweet. A perfect cookie and they do taste like the Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars. So delightful!
Everyone said these are better than the Starbucks bars!
I made these for a family dinner and they were a HIT!! My brother-in-law said they were hands down the best cookie he has ever had 🤍 seriously, these were to die for and the easiest recipe.
I don’t consider myself a baker but I certainly try. I was hoping my cookies would have been as beautiful as the one on the recipe. My cookies were not as white as the one in the photo. They weren’t over baked just a little touch of brown on the edge to let me know they were done at 10 minutes. My icing didn’t quite go on as evenly as the photo. It also didn’t look as white. I should have left out the vanilla. It was a lot of steps for an average cookie.
I’ve been making these every year for the last 9 years. Every year they are a hit! It’s always expected and requested for the holidays. I don’t know why it took me so long to thank you for this fabulous recipe but THANK YOU!
Do the cookies need to be refrigerated since they have a cream cheese frosting?