Easy 4-Ingredient Cranberry White Chocolate Cookie Bars
40aprons.com/easy-cranberry-white-chocolate-cookie-bars/Squares of sugar cookies dotted with dried cranberries, topped with a rich white chocolate ganache and white sugar pearls. An easy, festive holiday treat!
Recipe Makes (Approximate): cookie bars
Equipment
- Oven
- 9x13 baking pan metal preferred
- parchment paper
- large mixing bowl
- large silicone spatula
- wire cooling rack
- Medium microwave-safe bowl clean, completely dry
- Silicone spatula clean, completely dry
- Sharp chef's knife
Ingredients
For the Cranberry Sugar Cookie Layer
- 2 16-ounce packages refrigerated sugar cookie dough (at room temperature, see Notes)
- ¾ cup dried cranberries
For the White Chocolate Ganache
- 12 ounces white chocolate chips (or chopped white baking chocolate)
- ½ cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
To Decorate (Optional)
- white sugar pearls
Instructions
For the Cranberry Sugar Cookie Layer
- Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit. Line 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper, leaving excess parchment paper hanging over sides of pan. Excess paper will act as "handles" to help remove cookies from pan after baking.
- Add 2 16-ounce packages refrigerated sugar cookie dough and ¾ cup dried cranberries to large mixing bowl. Gently fold cranberries into cookie dough until fully incorporated and evenly distributed.
- Transfer cranberry sugar cookie dough to prepared pan. Spread and/or press dough out into flat layer covering parchment paper, making sure dough layer is evenly thick across entire pan.
- Place pan in preheated oven. Bake cookie dough 20 minutes, then begin checking doneness. Continue baking cookie dough as needed until edges of dough layer are set and center of cookie dough surface is lightly golden-brown. Note: be very careful not to over-bake cookie dough. If unsure, remove pan from oven.
- When cookie dough layer is ready, remove pan from oven and place on top of wire cooling rack. Let cookie layer cool in pan until room temperature.
For the White Chocolate Ganache
- Once cookie dough layer is cooled, add 12 ounces white chocolate chips and ½ cup unsalted butter to microwave-safe bowl. Microwave chocolate and butter on 50% power in 20-second increments, stirring mixture after each increment, until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth. Note: do not over-heat chocolate and be very careful not to get any water in mixture.
- Once chocolate mixture is smooth, pour mixture directly on top of cookie dough layer in baking pan. Spread chocolate mixture out across surface of cookie dough layer and into corners in one even layer, covering cookie dough completely.
To Decorate (Optional)
- Once chocolate ganache layer is smooth, sprinkle white sugar pearls across surface as desired.
To Serve
- Place baking pan in refrigerator and chill cookie bars, uncovered, 30 minutes or until chocolate layer has hardened.
- Once chocolate layer has hardened, remove baking pan from refrigerator. Carefully loosen cookie bar sheet from pan, using excess parchment paper as "handles" to lift cookie bars out of pan as needed. Set parchment paper and cookie bar sheet on counter, cutting board, or other flat work surface.
- If desired, use knife to carefully trim away outer edges of cookie bar sheet. Slice sheet into 4 rows of 4 cookie bars per row. Serve as desired.
Recipe Notes
- Sugar Cookie Dough: Use your favorite ready-to-bake refrigerated dough! I used Pillsbury sugar cookie dough, but any brand will work fine. You can even use your favorite homemade sugar cookie recipe - just prepare the dough in advance and jump in with this recipe once it's ready.
- Servings: The number of cookie bars you get from this recipe depends entirely on the size of the cookie bars you cut. You're welcome to make them as small or as large as you like.
- Bake Time: Times will vary from one oven to another based on a number of factors. Keep an eye on the cookie dough and go by visual cues rather than an exact time. Your total bake time could range anywhere from 20 to 35 minutes.
Nutrition Information (Approximate)
Serving Size: 1 cookie barCalories: 417calProtein: 3gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 30mgSodium: 163mgPotassium: 73mgTotal Carbs: 51gFiber: 0.3gSugar: 36gNet Carbs: 51gVitamin A: 177IUVitamin C: 0.01mgCalcium: 43mgIron: 2mg
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