White Chocolate Cranberry Bars

Cranberries are quickly becoming one of my new favorite Christmas baking ingredients!

Not only do cranberries add a jolt of color and flavor to holiday tables, but these savory ruby jewels are more than seasonal fancy.

A study found that cranberries have more antioxidants than almost any other fruit, offering protection against heart disease, cancer, and the effects of aging (how's that for your daily trivia?!).

I don't know about you but that's enough reason for me to want to bake with cranberries - just think about how good we are being to our bodies!

The tangy cranberries mixed with the white chocolate and cream cheese icing in this recipe makes for a perfect treat - for breakfast, lunch or dinner... or all three ;-)

I froze a bag of cranberries (which I highly recommend doing as we only get fresh cranberries for a short period of time) so that I can make them again in the new year. I know I won't be able to wait until next Christmas to make these again!


White Chocolate Cranberry Bars
Adapted from: fat girl trapped in a skinny body

Ingredients

Bars
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
3/4 cup chopped white chocolate

Frosting
4 ounces low fat cream cheese
2 tsp butter
1 tsp orange zest
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Garnish
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
1/2 cup white chocolate, melted


Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 7-inch square baking pan.

In a medium size bowl combine flour, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder and salt; set aside. Beat eggs in a medium mixing bowl for 1 minute. Gradually add sugar, beating until thoroughly blended. Stir in dry ingredients and melted butter; blend well. Add cranberries and white chocolate, mixing gently just until combined. Spread evenly in well greased pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool before spreading frosting.

Mix all of the frosting ingredients together and spread a thin layer over the cooled cake. Immediately sprinkle with the chopped dried cranberries.

Melt the 1/2 cup white chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave for about 1 minute. Pour the melted chocolate into a sandwich sized ziplock bag (make sure the melted white chocolate is smooth and that there are no small chunks). Cut a small hole on a bottom corner of the bag. Pipe the white chocolate over the frosted bars. Enjoy!