These are reminiscent of the famous cranberry bliss bars sold at Starbucks. 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. For breakfast. I’m not the most patient person in the world. 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). 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.
This post may have affiliate links. Thank you for supporting my love of baking, this blog, and my growing family!Ingredients:
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)
Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup gentle sweet (or my version) finely ground (not a mandatory step but grinding it prevents the icing from feeling gritty… you can grind it first before using the food processor to chop the cranberries and then there is no need to wash the food processor bowl)
2 t. fresh lemon juice or 1/4 t. lemon extract
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9×13 baking pan.
2. 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.
3. Spread in the 9×13 baking dish. Bake for 20-25 min. until golden brown. Allow to cool completely.
4. Meanwhile make the icing: With an electric mixer combine cream cheese, sweetener, and lemon juice or extract. Whip until fluffy.
5. 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.
6. 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 (do not follow my cutting diagram… this was before I finished my cup of coffee, hence the large variations in bar sizes). This is easiest if you clean your knife between cuts or dip it in cold water.
If you use any of my links to iherb you save $5 and get free shipping over $20. They have competitive pricing for a lot of staples in THM. The promo code is FQM372 if you need it. You can make five pounds of your own sweetener for $32 with my link.
I also have links for Amazon: http://amzn.to/1WJ9R8V and the Trim Healthy Mama Store: https://store.trimhealthymama.com/category-s/1823.htm
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Ingredients
- 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
Instructions
- 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.
Want to save money by making your own sugar free sweetener blend similar to Gentle Sweet? Check out my sweetener post here.My affiliates: Amazon
iherb - large selection, good prices
Jet - save 15% with code TRIPLE15
Thrive Market - free apple cider vinegar
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I made these for lunch today. Husband’s response….These are new new favorite THM sweet!!! Score!!!!
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I made it this week, adding a handful of pecans to the dough, it is delicious! Even my husband said it was good 🙂
I was skeptical on the size of the pan, compared to the small amount of dough, but they are perfect!
I have not yet tried these but I will. Since I will be making them for a large gathering I will try doing individual crusts in square mini muffin pans with parchment cup liners. That way there will be less waste due to crumbling and they can be served in the baking cups which makes it better for hygiene. Thank’s for the recipe.