White Chocolate Cranberry-Orange Bars

These bars are a great dessert for a holiday party as it can be prepared ahead of time and still tastes great. I purchased an extra bag of cranberries during Thanksgiving and froze the extras. When I prepared this recipe, I just dumped the frozen cranberries into the batter, and it turned out fabulous. I loved LOVED the tart burst of cranberry flavor that exploded in my mouth- I would definitely recommend using fresh or frozen cranberries in this recipe, but I am sure dried cranberries (Craisins) would work fine in a pinch. The bars had a slight hint of orange flavor that complimented the tart cranberries and sweetness from the white chocolate. Bring this to your next holiday gathering!

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Zest of 1/2 orange
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup dried or fresh cranberries
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat to 350 degrees, and line an 11 x 7 pan with foil, coating with cooking spray.
2. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, zest, nutmeg and set aside.
3. In bowl of stand mixer, beat butter and sugar on high until soft and light in color, about 3 minutes.
4. Turn mixer to low and beat in eggs, one at a time, and then vanilla until thoroughly combined.
5. Slowly incorporate flour mixture.
6. Remove from stand mixer and stir in cranberries and white chocolate.
7. Spread batter in pan (it's thick so use a spatula and/or your hands, and be sure to remove all air bubbles).
8. Bake 25 - 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
9. Cool on rack for 1 hour.
10. Remove from pan and cut into bars.

Source: Good Things Catered