Chocolate chip cookies and bars are probably one of my absolute favorite desserts and they come in so many different variations. I absolutely fell in love with this recipe I pinned to my Dessert board from So Festive!

Since it is Valentine’s Day, I definitely wanted to add a little of the holiday color into the bars so I decided to take the recipe and turn it red. Then, after they baked, I cut them into hearts versus bars. Other than that, I kept almost everything else the same.

Ingredients for Red Velvet Blondies:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp red food coloring
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Let’s Make It:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 9×13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add in vanilla and mix well. Add in eggs, one at a time.

3) In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda. Slowly add to the butter mixture letting each prior addition incorporate before adding more. Slowly add red food coloring until desired color is reached. Fold in semi-sweet chocolate chips.

4) Spread batter into the prepared pan. Top with 1/2 cup of milk chocolate chips.

5) Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until golden on top. Let cool before using cookie cutters to slice.

So, I am not going to admit how many of these Red Velvet Blondies I ate during my photo shoot. Let’s just say that the family asked me to make them again so they could have more than one. I had tried other chocolate chip cookie bars before {we call them blondies because they are a lot like brownies} and this one was definitely the best. I loved the amount of chocolate chips and how soft they turned out. Just perfection.

I hope you will come visit me to find out what else the four of us at Just Us Four have been up to recently. You’ll find lots of delicious recipes and even a few crafts thrown in. Of course, you can also see what I am crushing on or making by following me on Pinterest and Instagram.

Some of my most popular recipes right now include {you can click on the picture to visit}:

This awesome post has been shared with Home Stories A to Z and Living Well Spending Less.

The post Red Velvet Blondies appeared first on TGIF - This Grandma is Fun.

I’m sure our family is a lot like yours in the sense that there are just certain goodies that your family MUST have during the holidays.  What is on your absolute must have goodie list?  For my kids it is my mothers fudge, (which to this day I STILL can’t make right!)  English Toffee, Almond Joys and Snowball Cookies. So this week I will be making and freezing some goodies before everyone gets here.

But this year I am adding a must-have goodie of my own!

Enter these White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies that I pinned from Taste of Home.  I have read that they are almost exactly like Starbuck’s Cranberry Bliss Cookies and it’s no surprise that Starbuck’s would sell some scrumptious morsels like these!  The tartness of the craisins with the white chocolate and cream cheese frosting is definitely Christmas worthy!

I love that these are a bar-type cookie and can be made in one pan and then just cut and serve.  These would also make a beautiful presentation for a wedding or baby shower.

I would definitely recommend adding these White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies to YOUR must-have goodie list.  Your family will love you for it!

This Pin Rocks!

Print

White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies

Course Dessert

Author madefrompinterest.net

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup dried Craisins
• 6 ounces white chocolate chips
• FROSTING:
• 1 package 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated orange peel optional
• 6 ounces white chocolate chips melted
• 1/2 cup Craisins chopped

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Melt your butter in the microwave and then pour into the brown sugar. Mix well. Let cool to room temperature. Next beat in eggs and vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon then gradually add the dry ingredients into the butter mixture.
• Stir in cranberries and white chocolate chips. (batter will be thick).
• Grease a 9 x 13 dish and press mixture in. Bake for 18-21 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean (do not overbake).
• Let cool.
• Frosting:
• Blend together the cream cheese, powdered sugar and orange peel if desired. ( I did not include the orange peel) Gradually add half of the melted white chocolate chips and beat until well blended.
• Frost the cooled blondies. Sprinkle with the chopped cranberries then drizzle with remaining melted white chocolate.
• Let the drizzled chocolate cool and harden then you can cut into bars. I like to cut into a rectangle shape then cut each rectangle in half into a triangle shape.
• These are also beautiful for wedding and baby showers!

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