Cranberry Pistachio Bliss Bars are one of my favorite festive treats, similar to the popular Starbucks bars. They are a buttery, chewy blondie bar with the perfect amount of white chocolate, tart cranberries and salty pistachios, all topped with a creamy cream cheese frosting!
These Cranberry Pistachio Bliss Bars Are A Festive Version of the Popular Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bar!
I have to say that I am (and have been for as long as I remember) obsessed with the Cranberry Bliss bars from Starbucks. If you haven’t ever had one, they are a buttery, chewy blondie base with Craisins, topped with a creamy frosting. And while they are delicious, they are OBVIOUSLY better homemade. So not only did I want to recreate the yummy recipe at home, I wanted to put a festive spin on it with the addition of pistachios!
The colorful red of the cranberries paired with green pistachios and the white cream cheese frosting are so pretty and perfect for the holidays. This bar recipe is coming in on Day 7 of the 12 Days of Christmas Cookies and I couldn’t be more excited to share this recipe with you guys!! If you missed any of the first 6 days of cookies, I am recapping them all at the bottom of this post! Get caught up!!
Cranberry Pistachio Bliss Bars are the perfect holiday dessert, and great for a cookie platter! They look so pretty and taste even better. But of course, these Bliss Bars are great all year long. If you don’t love pistachios, you can leave them out entirely, or even sun in another nut if you prefer!
How do you make Cranberry Bliss Bars?
This recipe is SO easy, and like I said you can absolutely leave out the pistachios if you want a version just like at Starbucks! Here are some tips to make the bars:
- Make sure you don’t over-bake these! You want them to stay soft and chewy, and to ensure this, make sure that you bake them until the centers are just set. If anything under-baking them is better.
- The cream cheese frosting is creamy and rich. You can also use a little orange, almond, or vanilla extract in this to add another layer of flavor.
- Drizzling white chocolate on top makes these extra pretty. You can absolutely leave this step off, or even use semi-sweet chocolate!
These bars are soft, chewy with the perfect salty/sweet bite. The cream cheese frosting pairs so well with the blondie. They are the perfect match for a cup of coffee or tea!
These Cranberry Pistachio Bliss Bars are one of my favorites from this years 12 Days of Christmas Cookies series!
Print
Cranberry Pistachio Bliss Bars
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 30 bars 1x
- Category: Cookie Bars
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
These are similar to the popular Cranberry Bliss Bars from Starbucks, but I added pistachios, which makes them festive and gives a salty/sweet crunch!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup chopped pistachios
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
Frosting
- 1 (8- ounce) block cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Optional Toppings
- 1/4 cup white chocolate chips, melted
- chopped dried cranberries for garnish
- chopped pistachios for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper or foil and coat with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter and brown sugar together on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add in the eggs, vanilla, baking powder, and salt and mix for another minute until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn mixer to low and add in the flour and mix until just combined. Stir in the cranberries, pistachios, and white chips until evenly incorporated.
- Spread the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 18-20 minutes, until the center is just set. Don’t over-bake.
- Allow the bars to cool completely in the pan before frosting.
Frosting
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the cream cheese and powdered sugar together until smooth. Spread evenly on the bars.
- Sprinkle with extra dried cranberries and pistachios if desired and drizzle with melted white chocolate.
- Let the white chocolate set and cut into bars.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 209
- Sugar: 21.3 g
- Sodium: 110 mg
- Fat: 9.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 29.6 g
- Protein: 2.5 g
- Cholesterol: 32.8 mg
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Find more recipes like this:
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Day 2: Crock Pot Peppermint Pretzel Candy
Day 3: Chocolate Chip Shortbread
Day 4: Peanut Butter Balls
Day 5: Cookies and Cream Marshmallow Bars
Day 6: Gingersnap Cookies
These were so delicious I could not stop eating them! So moist. Directions were very easy to follow and were thorough!
Made these for Thanksgiving, and they were a huge hit. Delicious.
Question, I could only find roasted, salted pistachios. Would you recommend using unsalted butter or omitting the 1/2 tsp salt?
I’ve made your recipe for these before but didn’t the earlier recipe have orange zest in the icing???
Nope, but I bet that would be great!
So sweet however great. We utilized cranberry bliss bars and icing. I’m wondering if you or anybody has kept it in the freezer?
Starbucks does…
Woww! My family like this. Thank you!