Brown Butter Cranberry Bliss Bars.

One of my favorite Starbucks holiday treats- soft, chewy, buttery blondies full of cranberries and chunks of white chocolate, all under a layer of white chocolate-spiked cream cheese frosting, cranberries, a hint of orange, and white chocolate drizzles.

As much as Pinterest would have me believe, December isn't always all twinkle lights and snow days.

{Source}

It's also a dizzying blur of holiday parties, family, presents, tradition, getting things done, celebrating, spreading peace and joy, and, let's just be real with it: that balance of too many late-night peanut butter blossoms and rainy days spent running.

How do you make time for yourself in these twenty-five days of rushing and wrapping? I handle my holiday stress in one of two ways (if we're not counting champagne. And we're not... since we all know champagne doesn't count in December): either immediately find my way to a coffee shop and a sugar-free peppermint iced coffee with too much cream or I stress-bake.

These white chocolate blondie bars combine both of those simple, guilty pleasures: my favorite Starbucks holiday treat (cranberry bliss ❤) and just enough time spent in my tiny kitchen browning butter, zesting an orange, and breaking white chocolate into chunks to distract myself from everything else I should really be doing.

The base for these cookie bars is a buttery-soft, chewy blondie full of dried cranberries, chunks of white chocolate, and just enough cinnamon to know they mean business. The original recipe called for melted butter whisked together with brown sugar. I went one step further (because it's December and all) and baked these with brown butter.

I know. I'm already asking you to zest an orange and make cream cheese frosting with white chocolate drizzles. But in the time it would take you to order a Starbucks latte and wait in the drive-thru on a rainy Saturday afternoon is the exact amount of time it will take you to brown your butter. It's an extra step, but it is so, so worth it. The brown butter adds a rich, nutty flavor that complements the brown sugar and cranberry flavors so perfectly.

All that white chocolate. These Starbucks copycats have officially nestled their way onto my must-bake Christmas list, right between the peanut butter cup treats and cut-out sugar cookies.

Brown Butter Cranberry Bliss Bars

Printable Recipe

Blondies

3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup dried cranberries
6 ounces white baking chocolate, coarsely chopped

Frosting

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 ounces white baking chocolate, melted
1/2 cup dried cranberries, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Prep. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13-inch with nonstick spray or line with parchment paper.

Brown your butter. Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly, until golden brown. Once butter is browned, remove from heat. Stir in brown sugar and pour into the bowl of an electric mixer. Allow to cool to room temperature. (For more information on how to brown butter, see my post here.)

Whisk. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. 

Mix. When brown butter mixture has cooled to room temperature, mix in eggs and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture to the butter mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until smooth. Stir in cranberries and chopped chocolate (batter will be thick!) 

Bake. Spread blondie batter into prepared pan. Bake for 18-21 minutes (I baked mine for 19 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake! Cool completely before frosting. 

Frost. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until combined. Gradually orange zest and half of the melted chocolate; beat until blended. Frost blondies. 

Sprinkle + cut. Sprinkle with chopped cranberries and drizzle with remaining white chocolate. Let frosting set before cutting into triangles or squares. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. 

Source: Adapted from Taste of Home.

White Chocolate Cranberry Banana Streusel Bread.

This is what happens when... 

You want to bake something wintry and festive. 

Something that doesn't require a cookie scoop. 

Something cranberry and white chocolate... but in loaf form. 

It's what happens when you say, "What should I bake today?" and your boyfriend always, always answers with, "... remember that banana bread?" 

I do. I do and I love you.

It's what happens when you know you're about to go into the world to Christmas shop and the only way to get through it requires cake for breakfast.

Basically... this is what happens when you put Christmas in your banana bread.

Strip this banana bread down and it still ranks right up there with just-sugared buttons & bowknots and raspberry almond thumbprints. You know: things that come out of my oven that I absolutely cannot resist... because it's basically banana cake! Thick, dense, and... with a good crumb? Perfectly soft and cakey? Come on. Please don't make me say moist.

Quick! Whisk in some Christmas. 

It's kind of like baking pie... only not.

Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. A handful of white chocolate. Fat, juicy cranberries bursting with a tangy-tart-sweetness.

Tangy-tart-sweetness is totally a thing.

And, at the last minute, a buttery cinnamon-brown sugar streusel. Because Merry Christmas to me!

And to you! Because this is the type of quick bread you make for someone you love. I was hesitant at first about skipping cookies to bake banana bread baking cranberries into banana bread. Would it be too much? Too tangy? Too sweet, with the crunchy brown sugar topping and melted chunks of white chocolate?

Bake it and believe! One slice and it was over. This just became a new Christmas/everyday/right now tradition.

... and I don't know what you're doing Christmas Eve, but I am officially that girl leaving Santa slices of banana bread and milk. If there was ever a way to do Christmas right... this would be that.

White Chocolate Cranberry Banana Streusel Bread 

Printable Recipe

Bread 
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
1 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 large bananas)
1/3 cup vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup fresh cranberries, tossed in 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Streusel
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold butter

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter or spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

To make streusel, combine all ingredients in a bowl and cut together using a fork or pastry blender.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer (or in a large bowl with a wooden spoon), beat the sugar and softened butter until well-combined, about 1 minute. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the banana, yogurt, and vanilla extract and beat until well-combined. 

Stir in the flour mixture until just moist. Do not over-mix! Gently fold in the white chocolate chips and the cranberries tossed in flour.

Pour evenly into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with streusel, then bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.* Cool 15 minutes in pan on a wire rack, then remove to wire rack and allow to cool completely.

*If the edges start to brown before the center is fully baked, carefully place folded strips of foil around the edges of the pan to keep from burning. Occasionally I'll have to place a sheet of foil over the top as well during the last 15 minutes of baking to keep the top from over-browning/burning.

Source: Adapted from my dark chocolate raspberry banana bread, originally from Recipe Boy.

Cranberry-Orange Cookies.

I have a secret. It has nothing to do with cranberries or sugar, but now that Christmas is just thirty-seven days away, I feel like I can I be honest with you.

... I've been buying Christmas ornaments since September.

Moving into our first apartment in October was the perfect cover. Hey, we need pots and pans and bath towels. Let's just stop by World Market and see what's up.

"Did you find towels? What do you think of this couch?" Towels? What? I don't know, but I'll tell you what I think of these sparkly sea otter ornaments I just found and accidentally bought.

Oh we need a wine opener and bread? Target's a few minutes away. Let's just pick that up right now.

TRAP. We will also leave with gingerbread ornaments, glittery snowflakes, and twinkle lights. 

The rest of my brain is mildly freaking out.

Why are you asking for my Christmas list. Be real... I don't even have a grocery list. What do you buy the man who seriously thinks a 12-gallon shop vac was the best gift you've ever given him? Where does one find mistletoe? Why can't I tie my scarf like Pinterest? Work Christmas parties. They're real and they are happening. I love this apartment. But seriously... where is the Christmas tree going to go? We still don't have pots and pans. Should I have started Christmas shopping already? Wait... 37 days? What am I going to bake?!?

This Christmas I'm on a winter mission. Like The Hobbit trailer, but with more mistletoe, butter, and Christmas lights. I really want to dig deep and be adventurous. I'm talking gingerbread. Real cakey squares of gingerbread. Homemade fudge and chocolate bark, perfect yeasted cinnamon rolls, something with crushed candy canes, crispy peanut butter balls, and, I'm so serious this time... at least one pie.  

   

Baklava?

Probably not. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Phyllo, am I right? I just can't deal.

Up first: discovering a new favorite Christmas cookie. Something to shake up my cookie trays with all the peanut butter blossoms and sugar cookies that I make every. single. year.

Like a chewy, soft cranberry-orange cookie, rolled in sugar, if you will, with just-barely-crunchy sugary edges, a chewy cookie center, and all that purely festive cranberry-orange flavor.

I can't stop.

These are cookie tray cookies, Thanksgiving Eve cookies, breakfast-and-hot-chocolate-cookies, Black Friday cookies, I-just-spent-how-much-Christmas-shopping-on-Amazon cookies, and no, seriously: I'm-just-going-to-sit-here-and-eat-cookies-until-I-figure-out-where-the-Christmas-tree-is-gonna-go cookies.

I'm not going to tell you how many of these I ate the first day. I'm not.

Cranberry-Orange Cookies

Printable Recipe

3/4 cup salted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1-2 tablespoons milk, if necessary

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1 tablespoon orange zest

For rolling cookies in: 1/2 cup granulated sugar + 1 tablespoon orange zest

Preheat oven to 350°F. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and mix until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add to the butter mixture and mix until just incorporated. If necessary, add 1-2 tablespoons milk, just until the dough comes together. Fold in the cranberries and orange zest. Chill dough for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, place 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon orange zest in a small bowl and rub zest into sugar until thoroughly combined and fragrant.

Roll dough into large 1-inch balls. Roll in orange sugar and place on baking sheet, flattening slightly with your hand.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges just start to turn golden.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Source: From Cooking with Cristine.

Heart-Shaped Cranberry Orange Cinnamon Rolls.

2012 has officially lost it's sparkle. 

We're heading into March, my least favorite month of the year. My birthday month is over. Valentine's Day is over. It's not winter, it's not spring. What is it?

It's just... March. 

January had resolutions and confetti. February had pink and sprinkles and cake. Summer is three months away. It's "too soon"  to start planning our anniversary presents (April is so not "too soon", by the way). And Christmas? Christmas is at least eleven years away.

Life as an adult requires that I must always have something fun and potentially sparkly to look forward to. Otherwise, honestly? I just cannot deal with laundry and gas prices and work. Monday morning? What are we doing Friday night? It's March? So... Disneyland this November? What are we doing for our five year anniversery? "We haven't even had our fourth!"

Whatever. 

You know what helps with awkward, uneventful, in-between months? 

Cinnamon rolls! 

Cinnamon rolls that are super easy, shaped like hearts, and full of cranberries, orange-zesty brown sugar, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. 

You see all those crispy, crackly brown sugar bits? This is why you use parchment paper. Otherwise you'll be scrubbing your baking sheets for days. Truth. 

So yeah. These are good...

- Burning-hot off the baking pan. 

- At midnight, cold, smuggled out of the kitchen like nobody's business. 

- Warm, with melted butter. 

- Dunked in drizzled with sugary-orange icing. 

- With both. 

- With breakfast. With lunch. With dinner. 

- Eaten all. by. your. self.

Can I just say it? I love brown sugar. 

Maybe there's hope for March after all.

Heart-Shaped Cranberry Orange Cinnamon Rolls 

Printable Recipe

2 cups Bisquick or buttermilk baking mix

2/3 cup milk

3 tablespoons melted butter

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon 

1 cup cranberries (I used dried, but fresh would work too) 

The zest from two oranges

The juice from one orange

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. 

In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, and zest from one orange; set aside. 

Juice one orange and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the Bisquick, milk, zest from the second orange, and a tablespoon of the fresh-squeezed orange juice with a wooden spoon, just until dough comes together. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 3-4 minutes. 

Roll dough into a large rectangle, about 1/4-inch thick. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture and cranberries over the top. Drizzle a tablespoon of fresh orange juice over the top.

... I really like cranberries. Feel free to use less.

Carefully lift both ends of the dough and roll both towards the center, like a scroll. Cut in 1/2-inch slices. You may have to reform them a little bit or pinch the ends to make them look more heart-like. (If you don't want to make them heart-shaped, just roll the dough up jelly-roll style, cut into 12 cinnamon rolls, and bake on a baking sheet or in a greased muffin tin.)

Place on baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the biscuits comes out clean. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to wax paper to cool completely.

*I didn't have the patience to stop eating these long enough to glaze them, but to make an orange glaze, mix 1 cup powdered sugar with 2-3 tablespoons fresh-squeezed orange juice. Drizzle over the top and get to eating! 

Source: Adapted from the cinnamon pinwheels recipe.