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All of the flavors that you love in a Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bar! These Blonde Brownies with White Chocolate and Cranberries are buttery, thick, chewy and even better than their coffee shop counterparts! Prepare a batch of bars to share with friends and family for a festive and easy holiday dessert.
If you’re someone who enjoys indulging in Christmas cookies or sharing baked goods with loved ones, then this white chocolate blondie recipe is a must-make this season!
I borrowed the delicious flavor combination of cranberries and white chocolate chips that we all know and love in the Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars, and packed them into Ina Garten’s classic blondies recipe. With a few simple twists on The Barefoot Contessa’s original, these simple cookie bars become a festive, seasonal treat!
What is the difference between a brownie and a blondie?
What are blondies?! If you’re not familiar with the “Blonde Brownie,” this rich, sweet dessert bar is very similar to the traditional chocolate brownie, but it substitutes vanilla for the cocoa used in brownies. Blondies also contain brown sugar, which you won’t typically find in a brownie recipe.
Blonde brownies are made of flour, brown sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder or baking soda and vanilla. You’ll often find nuts or chocolate chunks stirred into the batter as well. The taste is a lot like a thick, chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie bar!
How to make Blonde Brownies:
As I mentioned above, I adapted Ina Garten’s original blondies recipe with a festive holiday spin. You can’t go wrong when baking with The Barefoot Contessa!
Ingredients for Chewy Blonde Brownies:
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- Granulated white sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Eggs
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Sweetened dried cranberries (such as Craisins)
- White chocolate chips
First, use an electric mixer to cream together butter, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes on high speed).
Add the vanilla and eggs (one at a time), while mixing on low speed. Use a spatula scrape down the sides of the bowl, as necessary.
Next, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Slowly add this flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low speed, just until combined.
Then use a spatula to gently fold the cranberries and white chocolate chips into the batter.
Spread the batter in a 9 x 13-inch pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. You can use a spatula or your damp fingers to spread the batter evenly in the dish.
Bake the blonde brownies in a 350 degree F oven (or a 325 degree F oven for dark or nonstick pans) for exactly 30 minutes. Be careful not to over-bake the blondies! Then allow them to cool on a wire rack before slicing and serving.
How to serve Blonde Brownies with White Chocolate and Cranberries:
The blondies can be served warm, at room temperature, or even cold — straight from the fridge! They’re perfect for an afternoon snack with a cup of coffee or tea, and they’re also great as a dessert on a holiday buffet or cookie tray. For a real treat, try a warm blondie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Cook’s Tips and Recipe Variations:
- To make these exactly like the Cranberry Bliss Bars from Starbucks, finish the bars with cream cheese frosting and sprinkle dried cranberries over top.
- How to make blondies chewy: Be careful not to over-bake the bars or they will not have that soft, chewy texture that we all love. When you remove them from the oven, the center will still be soft and may even look slightly underbaked. That’s fine! The blondies will firm up as they cool, and will be perfectly buttery and chewy!
- Are blonde brownies supposed to be gooey? The baked, cooled bars will not be gooey, but they will be soft, buttery and chewy on the inside — very similar to a fudgy brownie.
- Why are my blondies cake-like or crumbly? These blondies will not be cake-like because they have such a high fat-to-flour ratio. The bars will be dry and crumbly if you bake them for too long. That’s why it’s important to pull them out of the oven when they’re still soft and slightly under-baked.
- Make blonde brownies with walnuts, pecans or macadamia nuts if you’d like some added crunch! Just fold in about 1 cup of the chopped nuts at the same time that you add the white chocolate chips and cranberries.
- Turn this into a butterscotch blondie recipe by swapping out the white chocolate chips and cranberries. Instead, replace those two ingredients with about 3 cups of butterscotch chips.
- For a classic combination, make these blonde brownies with chocolate chips instead of the white chocolate and cranberry.
- Make these cranberry orange blondies by adding about 1 tablespoon of orange zest to the batter, along with the cranberries and white chocolate chips.
- How to store blonde brownies: Store the blondies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- How to freeze blondies: Wrapped tightly, the blondies will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- If baking with unsalted butter, increase the salt to 1 teaspoon.
More easy dessert recipes that are perfect for the season:
- Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Old Fashioned Cranberry Apple Crisp
- Old Fashioned Chewy Molasses Cookies
- Easy Pecan Pie Bars
- 3-Ingredient Scottish Shortbread Cookies
- Williamsburg Gingerbread Cookies
Blond Brownies with White Chocolate and Cranberries
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- ½ cup granulated white sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sweetened dried cranberries
- 12 ounces white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (or 325 degrees F for dark or nonstick pans). Spray 9 x 13-inch pan with nonstick spray and set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter, brown sugar and white sugar on high speed for 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla and eggs (one at a time), while mixing on low. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, as necessary.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low speed, just until combined.
- Use the spatula to gently fold in the cranberries and white chocolate chips.
- Transfer batter to the prepared baking dish. Bake for exactly 30 minutes, being careful not to overbake the blondies (a toothpick may not come out clean, and that’s fine – the bars will continue to cook and set as they cool).
- Cool blondies on a wire rack before slicing and serving.
Notes
- To make these exactly like the Cranberry Bliss Bars from Starbucks, finish the bars with cream cheese frosting and sprinkle dried cranberries over top.
- How to make blondies chewy: Be careful not to over-bake the bars or they will not have that soft, chewy texture that we all love. When you remove them from the oven, the center will still be soft and may even look slightly underbaked. That’s fine! The blondies will firm up as they cool, and will be perfectly buttery and chewy!
- Are blonde brownies supposed to be gooey? The baked, cooled bars will not be gooey, but they will be soft, buttery and chewy on the inside — very similar to a fudgy brownie.
- Why are my blondies cake-like or crumbly? These blondies will not be cake-like because they have such a high fat-to-flour ratio. The bars will be dry and crumbly if you bake them for too long. That’s why it’s important to pull them out of the oven when they’re still soft and slightly under-baked.
- Make blonde brownies with walnuts, pecans or macadamia nuts if you’d like some added crunch! Just fold in about 1 cup of the chopped nuts at the same time that you add the white chocolate chips and cranberries.
- Turn this into a butterscotch blondie recipe by swapping out the white chocolate chips and cranberries. Instead, replace those two ingredients with about 3 cups of butterscotch chips.
- For a classic combination, make these blonde brownies with chocolate chips instead of the white chocolate and cranberry.
- Make these cranberry orange blondies by adding about 1 tablespoon of orange zest to the batter, along with the cranberries and white chocolate chips.
- How to store blonde brownies: Store the blondies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- How to freeze blondies: Wrapped tightly, the blondies will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- If baking with unsalted butter, increase the salt to 1 teaspoon.