Cranberry Bliss Cookies
‘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
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
Directions:
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.
If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a photo and hashtag it #gimmesomeoven. I'd love to see what you cook!
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Sounds delicious! Pinning it now and will definitely be baking these next week, thanks for sharing!
Thanks Yvonne, we hope you enjoy these! :)
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Hi Ali, These cookies look delicious! I wanted to let you know that they will be in a Christmas Cookie Roundup on my blog this week with a linkback to your site for the recipe. Happy Holidays! Joan-MyCookieClinic
Hi Joan, thank you, we hope you enjoy them! And thanks for the shout out on your b log, we’ll have to look for that roundup! :)
My daughter’s girl scout troop is making cookie baskets for the firefighters who work on Christmas. Could I make these ahead of time and freeze them? (I already know how delicious they are because I made them last year!!!)
That’s so sweet Abby, and we think these should freeze fine! :)
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These are my go to Christmas cookies! Everyone loves them and people always ask me for the recipe. I just finished making 150 of them for Christmas presents this year. Thank you again for sharing such a fantastic recipe!
Thanks for sharing Kasia, we’re happy they’re a hit! We hope you have a wonderful Christmas! :)
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These are delicious cookies. I don’t care for white chocolate so I added toasted pecans instead. Also I used dark brown sugar so mine came out darker than your’s but still had a very lovely flavor. I didn’t make the frosting but did drizzle white candy melts over the top. Thanks for this. I’m not very adventurous when it comes to cookie recipes…kinda a chocolate chip girl….so I am very happy that these came out so well. I will definitely try more of your recipes.?
Thanks, Tomeika, we’re so happy you enjoyed them! :)
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I might try adding a bit of chopped crystallized ginger to the cookie batter….
We think that’s an awesome idea Tonie! We hope you enjoy these! :)
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These look so good, I want to make them but haven’t yet. Your recipe doesn’t say when to add the vanilla, could you please let me know. Thank you.
Hi Jennifer! Oops, thanks for pointing that out, we’re glad you caught that! You can just add the vanilla when you add the eggs. We hope you enjoy these! :)
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These look amazing, do you have to keep them refidgerated?
Thanks, Marsha — we hope you enjoy! And no, you don’t have to keep them refrigerated.
I absolutely love these cookes and have made them the last several years for Christmas parties!! They are not only beautiful but so delicious! They are way better than Starbucks in my opinion!
We’re so glad to hear that, Kelly, thank you! :)
Thank you, Kelly — we’re so happy to hear that! :)
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How many does this recipe make?
It makes about 4 dozen. We hope you enjoy!
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#GIMMESOMEOVEN great recipe made today definitely will be adding to Christmas cookie line up do from now on. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Justin, we’re so happy you enjoyed these!
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These cookies are so good! I only made the cookies, not the frosting because they are already sweet!
Thanks, Maribel, we’re glad you enjoyed them!
Hye, can you share the measurement in gram please? i really love this cookies. thanks.
Hi Nina! This site works great for metric conversions — enjoy!
I LOVE THESE! I made and gave these out as Christmas gifts to neighbors. Everyone loved them and I plan on making them again next Christmas. Making them tomorrow for a get-together with friends. Why not make them during the summer too?!?!? The recipe needs NO changes at all! They stay soft for days.
Thank you, Tiff — we’re so glad they’re a hit! And we think they’re great all year-round. :)
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I made these today and my family loves them! We are having our annual cookie smackdown at my office on Wednesday and these will be my entry…I will let you know how it goes!
I have to tell you – I bake cookies for my coworkers every year, and they actually fight over these cookies. They are a HIT! Thanks for the recipe! I like to add edible pearl sprinkles when I frost them for an extra bit of festive-ness. :)
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These cookies are super good! I made them for a holiday bake off at work and placed 1st. They’ll definitely be a regular part of my holiday baking going forward.
So easy and delicious. I served them with and without the frosting. Got equally excellent reviews on both versions.
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I have made these for years now! We do a Christmas cookie walk at my school to raise $ for missions each year. I’ve been told I’m not allowed to skip this recipe. This year, a new teacher told me his wife’s birthday was in 2 months (hinting that these would be a great birthday treat), so guess what I’m about to put in the oven.
Someone asked about freezing… I do SSSSOOOOOO many batches of cookies for that cookie walk each year. I use recipes that I can roll the dough into logs and freeze. When it’s time to bake, i slice and bake. No problems!
Thank you for sharing! The recipe is amazing. Everyone loved them. I made them for Christmas and still get people requesting them. ❤️