Cranberry-Orange Cookie Bars
Description
White chocolate chips, sweetened dried cranberries, and orange zest and extract star in these sweet cranberry-orange cookie bars.
Ingredients
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1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
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1 cup brown sugar
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1/3 cup white sugar
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3 large eggs
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1 teaspoon orange extract
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1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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2 cups all-purpose flour
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1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
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1 teaspoon ground ginger
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1 cup sweetened dried cranberries (such as Craisins®)
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1/2 cup white chocolate chips
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1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
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1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
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3 cups confectioners' sugar
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1 teaspoon orange extract
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1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries (such as Craisins®), chopped
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1 tablespoon grated orange zest, or more to taste
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1/3 cup white chocolate chips
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1/2 teaspoon canola oil
Directions
1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 9x13-inch baking dish with parchment paper.
2
Beat butter, brown sugar, and white sugar for bars together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Stir in eggs, orange extract, and vanilla extract until well blended. Add flour, baking powder, and ginger; mix until well incorporated and the batter looks like soft cookie dough. Stir in cranberries and white chocolate chips until well mixed. Spread the stiff batter into the prepared pan.
3
Bake in the preheated oven until light brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Don't overbake, or your bars will be dry. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes.
4
Meanwhile, mix cream cheese and butter for frosting together until light and fluffy. Add confectioners' sugar and orange extract; beat mixture until fluffy and spreadable. Spread evenly over the cooled bars.
5
Combine cranberries and orange zest for topping in a food processor and roughly chop. Sprinkle evenly over the frosted bars.
6
Mix white chocolate chips and oil together in a glass, microwave-safe measuring cup. Microwave until fluid enough to drizzle, 1 minute to 1 minute 15 seconds, stirring every 15 seconds until melted. Use a fork or whisk to drizzle the melted chocolate diagonally across the bars.
7
Allow chocolate to set for at least 1 hour before cutting into squares or triangles.