Bottom of the Bag Becomes Bliss

I had a couple of handfuls of hard dried cranberries that I needed to something with so I could throw out the giganormous bag they were in. This worked out quite nicely.

Cranberry Bliss Bars

Cake
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon ginger OR 2 T. finely minced crystallized ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup diced dried sweetened cranberries
4 ounces white chocolate, cut into chunks or white chocolate chips

Frosting
4-ounces cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
4 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries

Drizzled Icing
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoons vegetable shortening
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Make cake by beating butter and brown sugar together with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs, vanilla, ginger, and salt and beat well. Gradually mix in flour and baking powder until smooth. Mix 3/4 cup diced dried cranberries and white chocolate into the batter by hand. Pour batter into a well-greased 9x13" baking pan. Use a spatula to spread the batter evenly across the pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until cake is lightly browned on the top. Allow cake to cool.
 
Make frosting by combining softened cream cheese, 3 cups powdered sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. When the cake has cooled, use a spatula to spread frosting over the top of the cake.
 
Sprinkle 1/4 cup of diced cranberries over the frosting on the cake.
 
Whisk together 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon milk, and shortening. Drizzle icing over the cranberries in a sweeping motion with a squirt bottle or fill a plastic food storage bag with the icing and cut off the tip of one corner.
 
Allow cake to sit for several hours or cover and chill in refrigerator for 2 hours then slice the cake lengthwise (the long way) through the middle. Slice the cake across the width three times making a total of eight rectangular slices. Slice each of those rectangles diagonally creating 16 triangular slices.

From: http://www.topsecretrecipes.com

Makes 16 bars.