Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars Copycat Recipe

Posted on January 21, 2016 by Better Baking Bible

Cranberry blondies with white chocolate and orange-infused cream cheese frosting.

CRANBERRY BLISS BARS / DREAMCAT115 / CC BY

Starbuck’s cranberry bliss bars are everything you need to spice up a cold winter’s day! These bars are actually blondies – rich, dense, and sweet dessert bars that resemble a traditional brownie only with brown sugar and vanilla to substitute the cocoa. Starbucks has some of the best recipes out there and they generously released their original banana bread recipe I posted here but haven’t revealed their cranberry bliss bars… yet.

So we had to do a little bit of digging to find a nearly identical recipe and the one we found is right on the bullet! These cranberry bliss bars taste exactly the same, if not TEN TIMES better. I have to admit that these are totally addictive and taste like nothing I’ve ever tried before! They are filled with white chocolate, cranberries, and a hint of orange. All wonderful flavors of the season that taste delicious when combined together. The frosting is made of cream cheese, white chocolate, and freshly grated orange zest.

Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of recipes to secret menus for not only Starbucks, but also Tim Hortons, McDonalds, even copycat recipes for the Costco muffins. The copycat recipes taste nearly identical and makes me feel like I’m cheating without getting caught! I’ve been tempted to try of the Costco muffins recipe for a while now. When I do, I’ll be sure to post it along with some really pretty pictures. But for now, try these holiday inspired Starbucks cranberry bliss bars:

Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars Copycat Recipe

A copycat recipe of Starbucks’ delicious holiday cranberry bliss bars.

Ingredients:

For Blondie Bars

3/4 cup butter, cut into chunks
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup dried cranberries
6 oz white baking chocolate, chopped

For Frosting

8 oz (1 package) cream cheese, at room temp
1 cup powdered sugar
6 oz white baking chocolate, melted
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped
2 tsp fresh orange zest

Instructions:

To Make Blondie Bars

Preheat oven to 350F and grease and line with parchment paper a 9×13″ baking pan.
In a large mixing bowl with a electric mixer on low, combine sugar, butter, and then beat in eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon until combined. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix until incorporated. Fold in cranberries and white chocolate.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

To Make Frosting

In a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer on high, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until well combined. Slowly add in half of the melted white chocolate and beat until well incorporated.
Frost the blondies and then sprinkle over with chopped cranberries. Drizzle the remaining white chocolate over the blondies and place in the fridge to chill. Once completely cooled and ready to serve, cut blondies into triangle shapes, and voila!

CRANBERRY BLISS BAR / TANJA VAN DEN BERG-NIGGEN / CC BY

Christmas Dinner Prep – A Guide for a Fast and Easy Meal!

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Better Baking Bible

Christmas is just around the corner, and we can’t wait to get started with our Christmas dinner prep! Don’t sweat it, making a delicious dinner that not only tastes great, but also looks great, isn’t as hard as it may seem. If it’s your first year making dinner for the family, or if you are looking for ways to lessen the load, we’ve got all the tips and tricks to help you out on your way. We’ve partnered with Mayfair Granite this holiday season to bring to your this ingenious Christmas dinner guide that will make making dinner easy, peasy, and in a snap!

Madarica Kolac – Croatian No-Bake Layer Cake Recipe

Posted on November 21, 2015 by Better Baking Bible

Loaded with chocolate, made in bite-sized pieces, and even better – no baking! If you love all of the above, you’re going to be drooling over “Madarica”, a traditional Croatian dessert that is simple to make, yet tastes VERY delicious. Plus, it looks super impressive which makes it the perfect dessert to prepare for a holiday coffee get-together or an after dinner dessert.

Madarica has thin layers of chocolate and store-bought crust which make this delicious cake a year-round favorite dessert! This cake is easy to make if you are in luck and can buy the store bought crust by Podravka like the one seen here. This cake is called no-bake because you can purchase the already made layers. If you can’t buy the crust anywhere, no worries – we have included the recipe below!

*If you would like to share my recipe and photos please provide proper credit and a link back to this original post. Thanks!

Madarica Cake Recipe

A traditional Croatian chocolate cake with thin layers of chocolate and crust.

Ingredients:

For Cake Crust

* If you can’t buy Podravka Madarica Cake Crust, then use this recipe

5 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 egg whites
180g sour cream
1 tsp baking powder
1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

For Cake Filling

4 cups milk
5 tbsp all-purpose flour
5 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla sugar
1.5 cups sugar
50g dark chocolate
¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tbsp rum

For Cake Glaze

100g dark chocolate
3 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp unsalted butter

Instructions:

To Make Cake Layers

In a mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, egg whites, and sour cream until light and fluffy. Gradually add in flour and baking powder and knead to form a dough.
Preheat oven to 356 F. Separate dough into 6 equal parts and roll out as thin as possible into rectangles on a piece of parchment paper. Transfer to a baking sheet and place another piece of parchment paper on top (to avoid burning the top) of each layer and bake each layer for 8 minutes. The layers must not turn golden, they must stay pale!

To Make Cake Filling

On medium heat, bring milk, sugar, and vanilla to a boil. Separate one part of the milk and whisk in cocoa and flour. Add the mixture into the boiling milk and add in the dark chocolate, always stirring until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in butter and rum. Cover with tin foil until cooled.

To Make Cake Glaze

In a pot over medium heat, melt chocolate with butter and oil and whisk together until combined.

To Assemble

Place the first cake layer onto a baking tray and evenly spread one part of filling. Cover with second layer and repeat until finished, making sure the last layer is a dough layer. Pour the hot glaze over the whole cake and transfer cake to fridge to chill overnight. The next day, cut cake into small rectangles and serve!

*If you would like to share my recipe and photos please provide proper credit and a link back to this original post. Thanks!

Easy Post Holiday Leftover Recipes for Hog Roast

Posted on November 3, 2015 by Better Baking Bible

Put your holiday leftovers to good use with our deliciously easy ideas!

It’s no secret that a great party includes a delicious hog roast. This is the kind of food great for a party that smells great, tastes fantastic and of course, it looks spectacular when you are cooking it. Most people love a hog roast and it’s easy to see why!

You can make your own roast at home with modern spittingpig hogroast machines that can cook a whole hog or other roasted meats easily. Load up the meat onto the spit, turn it on and voila – it doesn’t get any easier! A roasted hog goes a long way, which means lots of meat left over. There is no need for any of it to go to waste with these easy solutions:

Let Your Guests Take Some Home

Slice the meat up, wrap it up in foil, and send your guests home with delicious leftovers for the next day. If you made stuffing, send them home with this too! From a food safety point of view, make sure they are keeping leftover pork in the fridge, to keep them safe during the holidays.

Cold Pork Salad and Sandwiches

Another great alternative is to slice up the leftover meat and serve it later as part of a salad. Alternatively, you can serve it sliced with a stack of bread, wraps or buns alongside some butter, a selection of sauces and maybe some stuffing. Your guests can make themselves a delicious sandwich if they get the nibbles later in the evening.

Pulled Pork Pizza

Pulled pork makes a wonderful pizza topping to replace pepperoni, bacon, or chicken. You can shred the pork and mix it with thyme, Taleggio, and lemon-dressed rocket pizza dressing. Fast and delicious!

Chinese Pork Wraps

My favourites are Chinese style wraps; just take a handful of pulled pork from the freezer let it defrost. Warm it through quickly in a frying pan with a little oil and a pinch of five spices them serve it with Hoi-sin sauce in wraps with sliced spring onions and cucumbers. If you want to save on calories, you can also make lettuce wraps which are DELICIOUS without the guilt!

Curries, Goulashes and other Beautiful Dishes

Pork in chunks is fantastic in curries, stews and goulashes. It makes wonderful pies and pasties. You just need to freeze it in a way that makes it easy for you to grab a portion and defrost only what you need.

The great thing about this style of party food is that you can dress it up or dress it down. Serve it simply with applesauce in a bun or serve it more formally as part of a roast dinner. Whatever is leftover, just make sure to use your imagination and combine it with your favourite foods. Pizza, wraps, salad, and goulash, taste a whole lot better with a dash of home roasted pork!

Granny’s Mini Pecan Pie Tarts

Posted on June 14, 2015 by Better Baking Bible

PECAN PIE CLOSE-UP / SEA TURTLE / CC BY , IMG_5886 / ISABELLE / CC BY

Calling all nut lovers – satisfy your sweet tooth this season with you very own homemade pecan pie tarts! You shouldn’t have to settle for only a slice of pecan pie when you can have your very own mini-pecan tarts overloaded with healthy nuts and a gooey mixture of brown sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla. These pecan pie tarts are hands down my favorite dessert and make the perfect treat to toss in a zip-lock bag and take with you on the go. You can even make this recipe in advance and display the tarts on tiered cupcake holders for an elegant presentation and a warm welcome to the upcoming season. If you are looking for a Thanksgiving dessert or a mini gift for x-mas, I would definitely have these tarts at the top of my list.

Granny’s Mini Pecan Pie Tarts

Yields 12

These mini pecan tarts are easy to make desserts and make great snacks to take to school or to the office!

Ingredients:

For Pie Tarts

2 (3-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped pecans

For Filling

3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

To Make Pie Tarts

In a medium bowl, beat together cream cheese and 2/3 cup butter at medium speed. Beat in flour and salt until combined and divide the dough in half. Flatten each half into a circle about 1 inch thick, wrap in plastic wrap and let it chill for 1 hour.
Shape dough into 2-inch balls and flatten them. Place each into in 3-inch muffin cups, forming each into a shell and letting it form a lip above the cups. You can use a fork to press into the edges to make little decorative lines. Sprinkle pecans evenly in pastry cups.

To Make Filling

Whisk together eggs, brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, vanilla extract and salt until blended.
Pour mixture evenly over pecans until pastries are full. Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes or until set.

No Bake Chocolate Salami

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Better Baking Bible

Even though it’s not an actual salami, this desert sure looks like one. It’s an super easy recipe that is “no bake” so you can prepare it ahead of time, let it sit, and voila your ready to entertain guests and family with this chocolatey favorite.

*If you would like to share my recipe and photos please provide proper credit and a link back to this original post. Thanks!

No Bake Chocolate Salami

A simple and delicious desert to wow your family and guests.

Ingredients:

7.05 oz (200 g) dark chocolate
3.5 oz (100 g) butter
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp dark rum
1.4 oz (40 g) almonds
2.1 oz (60 g) arrow root or baby cookies
pinch of salt
powdered sugar

Instructions:

On low heat, melt butter with chocolate. Add egg yolks to the mixture, stir for 1 minute.
Add sugar, cocoa powder, salt and rum. In the end, add crushed cookies and crushed (or roughly chopped) almonds. Stir to combine. Let cool slightly.
Using parchment paper, roll it and shape a log. Wrap in plastic wrap and let cool in the fridge.
When the mixture is cooled, roll it into powdered sugar and cut slices. Serve.

Peaches Biscuits With Cocoa and Rum (Breskvice)

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Better Baking Bible

These biscuits are a traditional Croatian recipe that look like little peaches rolled in sugar and colored in food coloring to get an authentic peachy look. They are filled with cocoa filling with rum and are usually kept for special occasions like Easter, Christmas, or for Weddings. They make the perfect treat when combined with tea or coffee on Sunday morning. Give it a try!

Peaches Biscuits With Cocoa and Rum (Breskvice)

Ingredients:

Biscuit Dough

2 cups caster sugar
1½ cups vegetable oil
1 cup milk
4 eggs
1½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla paste, or extract
6 cups plain flour (approx)

Filling

1 cup cookie crumbs
1 ½ cups ground walnuts (walnut meal)
2 tsp cocoa powder
1 cup apricot jam
1 tbsp bourbon or rum
1-2 tbsp milk
¼ tsp cinnamon

Sugar topping

¼ cup milk
¼ cup peach brandy (optional or replace with milk)
Pink and yellow food colouring
1 cup caster sugar

Instructions:

In a large mixing bowl combine the sugar, oil, milk, eggs, baking powder and vanilla and whisk until well combined.
Blend enough of the flour to form a soft dough.
Roll teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls and bake on a lined baking sheet for 15-20 minutes. The biscuits should be pale in colour (not golden). Cool completely.
Using a paring knife, carefully cut a circle in the bottom of each biscuit and scoop out the centre using a teaspoon.
Place the biscuit crumbs into a food processor and blitz for several seconds until it resembles coarse sand.
In a medium mixing bowl combine the 1 cup of biscuit crumbs, ground walnuts, jam, bourbon and cinnamon and mix well.
Using a teaspoon or a butter knife, scoop a little of the mixture into the cavity of half the biscuit and press another half on top to sandwich them together. Gently squeeze them together until both biscuits touch and are stuck together. If any of the filling squeezes out just wipe it away with your finger, making sure there’s no filling residue at the join. Set aside.
For your sugar topping, place the milk in one bowl and add about 4-5 drops of the pink and 2 drops of yellow food colouring.
Place the peach brandy into another bowl and add 3-4 drops of yellow food colouring.
Place the sugar into a third bowl.
Take each filled biscuit and carefully dip one half into the coloured milk and then the other half into the coloured brandy. Quickly and gently remove any excess liquid by dabbing the cookie onto a clean sponge or paper towels laid on the bench. (Remember you’re using food colouring so make sure your work bench is protected from splashes). Place the damp biscuit into the sugar bowl and toss around to coat it entirely, shaking off any excess.
Store in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks or can be frozen for up to 3 months (just thaw 2-3 hrs before serving)

Notes

These are best made 2-3 days beforehand as the biscuits will soak up some of the liquid and become softer.

Better Baking Bible

Cake, Recipes, Cookies, Cupcakes, & Easy Desserts for the Modern, Busy woman!

Category Archives: Christmas

Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars Copycat Recipe

CRANBERRY BLISS BARS / DREAMCAT115 / CC BY

Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars Copycat Recipe

CRANBERRY BLISS BAR / TANJA VAN DEN BERG-NIGGEN / CC BY

Christmas Dinner Prep – A Guide for a Fast and Easy Meal!

Madarica Kolac – Croatian No-Bake Layer Cake Recipe

Madarica Cake Recipe

Easy Post Holiday Leftover Recipes for Hog Roast

Granny’s Mini Pecan Pie Tarts

PECAN PIE CLOSE-UP / SEA TURTLE / CC BY , IMG_5886 / ISABELLE / CC BY

Granny’s Mini Pecan Pie Tarts

No Bake Chocolate Salami

Peaches Biscuits With Cocoa and Rum (Breskvice)

Peaches Biscuits With Cocoa and Rum (Breskvice)