These are reminiscent of the famous cranberry bliss bars sold at Starbucks with cranberries, hints of orange and ginger, and cream cheese icing. Â
They aren’t an exact copycat because I didn’t feel like ordering cocoa butter to make sugar free white chocolate chips  or spending a day hovering over the oven to make sugar free dried cranberries.  If you decide to give either a try google you can find recipes for both online from other blogs.
I, however, wanted these this morning. Â For breakfast. Â I’m not the most patient person in the world. Â Anyway, these are a soft bar flavored with your choice of ginger or orange (the Starbucks version uses ginger but I’m not a huge fan of it so I’m adding a variation to use orange extract instead of fresh ginger). Â They are studded with fresh cranberries and topped with a generous amount of cream cheese frosting.
These are gluten free, grain free, sugar free (the optional 1 tsp. molasses adds a tiny bit and fresh cranberries have another tiny amount), low carb, and a THM S.
- 6 T. softened butter
- 1/3 cup Trim Healthy Mama Gentle Sweet or my copycat
- 1 t. molasses optional
- pinch of salt
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 of my local blend baking mix 1/4 cup each coconut flour, almond flour, and ground golden flax seed
- 1/2 t. baking powder
- 1/2 t. finely grated fresh ginger OR 1/2 t. orange extract
- 1 tsp. vanilla omit if using orange extract
- 1 cup fresh cranberries finely chopped by hand or in a food processor and tossed with 1 t. stevia (I use Better Stevia)
- 8 oz. cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup gentle sweet or my version finely ground
- 2 t. fresh lemon juice or 1/4 t. lemon extract
- Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 baking pan.
- Cream together butter and sweetener. Add molasses, salt, eggs, and your choice of orange extract or ginger. Mix thoroughly. Add baking mix and baking powder. Mix well. Set aside 2 T. chopped cranberries to garnish with and fold in the rest of the cranberries.
- Spread in the 9x13 baking dish. Bake for 20-25 min. until golden brown. Allow to cool completely.
- Meanwhile make the icing: With an electric mixer combine cream cheese, sweetener, and lemon juice or extract. Whip until fluffy.
- Spread icing very gently on cooled bars. The bars can crumble if you aren't gentle. The best way to do this is to drop little blobs of icing all over and spread using an offset spatula. Top with reserved chopped cranberries.
- Refrigerate until cold to cut and get them out of the pan easier. Slice into large squares then cut those in half on the diagonal to make triangles. This is easiest if you clean your knife between cuts or dip it in cold water.
Originally published January 12, 2016. Revised and republished September 20, 2018.
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