Cranberry Bliss Cookies

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in Canada. The image below is what I woke up to this morning. Our first big snowfall of the year:

It seriously made me want to watch one of my favourite holiday movies, Elf, and put up my Christmas tree. I decided it was a little too early for that, given it was only mid-November. I did however get a jumpstart on my holiday baking with these amazing Cranberry Bliss Cookies! I love Starbucks and their classic holiday pastry – the Cranberry Bliss Bar. I thought these cookies were a perfect modification. These cookies are decadent, with a yummy layer of cream creese, dried cranberry and white chocolate icing. They really do taste like the holidays!

Recipe adapted from: Gimme some oven

You will need:

For The Cookies:
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries

For The Frosting:
1 (8 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup white chocolate chips, melted in the microwave or double-boiler
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar

For The Topping:
1 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
1/4 cup white chocolate chips, melted in the microwave or double-boiler

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt until well-blended. Set aside.

Place your butter and sugars in a bowl.

Using an an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Add in the eggs one at a time, beating in between to incorporate.

Reduce the speed to low, and slowly add in the dry ingredients. Increase the speed to medium, and continue beating until well-combined.

Fold in the white chocolate chips and cranberries, and mix until just-combined.

Do not overmix. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.

Place dough by rounded tablespoon-fulls onto a baking sheet that has been prepared with parchment paper or a silicone mat, at least 2.5-inches apart.

Bake in a 350 degree fahrenheit oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden around the edges.

Remove pan, and transfer the cookies to a cooling rack until completely cooled to room temperature.

Now to make some yummy frosting.

Combine your room temperature cream cheese and melted white chocolate in a bowl.

Note: it is very important that your cream cheese is at room temperature before adding the white chocolate. Otherwise the chocolate could seize up.

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the cream cheese and melted white chocolate until combined.

Add in the vanilla and mix until combined.

Reduce speed to low and add the powdered sugar. Mix until incorporated.

Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, and beat once more for 1 minute on medium speed until the frosting is smooth.

Spread the frosting on the cooled cookies.

Immediately sprinkle the frosted cookies with the chopped dried cranberries.

Next, use a fork to drizzle on the frosting, swishing it back and forth over the cookies.

Absolutely delicious!

Santa Claus would love these.

Enjoy!