6.1.10

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!





2 comments:

  1. holy cow...you're actually making me want to bake with this recipe!!!! (I love cranberries, too!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Melissa Polman(Tajdeen)November 16, 2010 at 1:29 AM

    Just tried baking this with Jamie. We ate way too much icing! But in the end, it turned out great and the mix between the bar/cake and icing was fantastic, it was great to be able to taste a bit of the orange in the cream cheese icing as well. It worked so well with the sweetness of white chocolate and tartness of the cranberries. Perfect holiday treat! Thanks Mary!

    ReplyDelete

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