These festive and fun White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies are made with fresh cranberries, white chocolate chips, and chopped pecans, with a little extra melted white chocolate drizzled over the top for good measure! A perfect addition to a holiday cookie platter at a Christmas cookie exchange party!
When it comes to Christmas cookie exchanges with friends, I am always trying to think of something to bring that will be different from the usual sugar cookies, peanut butter blossoms, and gingerbread men.
Don’t get me wrong – I love all of the classic Christmas cookies and will be sharing more on the blog here in a few weeks, but I think it’s fun to branch out and contribute something new each year!
Now I know I just posted another bar-type cranberry and white chocolate dessert the other day with my Fresh Cranberry Shortbread Bars, but hear my out on why you need both these recipes in your life.
White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies have a totally different and distinct texture and flavor from the fresh cranberry shortbread bars. White chocolate cranberry blondies are much sweeter and chewier, with the texture and density of a fudgy brownie, whereas the cranberry shortbread bars are much lighter, buttery, and crumblier, just like, well, shortbread.
I was actually recipe testing lots of different cranberry recipes a while ago trying to decide what I wanted to post for Cranberry Week and loved each of these different little bar desserts so much that I decided to just share both.
I even took both treats to a gathering with friends and had about a dozen different taste testers do side-by-side evaluations to help me try and narrow it down and they were all pretty divided about which one they preferred.
We love cranberry season! Some of our other favorite cranberry recipes are White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies, The BEST Cranberry Orange Bread, and Easy Cranberry Fluff Salad!
For the record, I’ll tell you that the shortbread bars are my fave – much, much less sweet, and the cranberry flavor is really at the forefront. But the other three members of my family all prefer these white chocolate cranberry blondies, with their pretty drizzle of white chocolate over the top and additional sugar to cut the tartness of the cranberries even more than the shortbread bars.
I’m thinking you might have to make them both and weigh-in on which ones are your favorite as well.
These white chocolate cranberry blondies are an easy-peasy, one bowl recipe. You can totally swap walnuts or macadamia nuts for the pecans, although I think pecans are especially tasty in this dessert.
There are plenty of white chocolate chips that help boost the sweetness factor of these blondies, which I cut into triangles just for a fun, different shape.
Also I just love, love, love how the fresh cranberries burst while they bake and infuse basically every bite with the sweet-tart juiciness! These bars just aren’t the same made with dried cranberries, so be sure to grab the fresh ones while they are in season!
And that white chocolate drizzle over each bar? That’s a lot of visual bang for very little buck. It’s just ½ cup of white chocolate that I melted in the microwave and drizzled over the blondies after slicing them.
They don’t really need it, since they already have white chocolate chips mixed into the batter, but it sure makes them pretty!
More Cranberry Recipes You’ll Love
- Cranberry Orange Pull-Apart Monkey Bread
- Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce
- Cranberry Jello Salad with Cream Cheese Topping
- Easy Cranberry Apple Pie
- Fresh Cranberry Shortbread Bars
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup salted butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips divided
- 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries washed and patted dry
- 1/2 cup pecans coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13" pan with a parchment paper sling.
- Cream butter and brown sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat in eggs and vanilla.½ cup salted butter, 1 ½ cups light brown sugar, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in another bowl, then add to the butter and sugar mixture, stirring just until combined.1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Stir in the cranberries, 1 cup of the white chocolate, and pecans, then spread into the prepared 9×13" pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown. Do not overbake.1 ½ cups white chocolate chips, 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, ½ cup pecans
- Cool completely, then cut into individual bars or triangles. Melt the remaining ½ cup of white chocolate in the microwave in short 20 second bursts, stirring well between each burst of heat until melted. Transfer to a plastic bag, snip off the corner, and drizzle over the cooled bars. Let set before serving.
Those look SO good -I wish I could grab one off the screen!
These are so pretty and sound delicious! I’m sad to admin that this year was the first time I’d ever made a blondie – I don’t know why I waited so long. They’re so good and so easy to customize! Definitely trying your version!
I love blondies! What a festive spin you put on them. YUM!
These are gorgeous, and I LOVE cranberry treats. I’m pinning this to make for the weekend ahead. Thanks!
These sounds amazing!! i will have to save this one for sure! XO
These look soo good! I love cranberries so I am definitely making these!
I love blondies and I’ve never thought to make them this way! I can’t wait to try them out.
Danielle
momwifefoodie.com
Looks so delicious. Wish I could grab one right now!
Oh-ma-Gawd! So rich and buttery! How’s a girl supposed to start her diet???
Oh what a great way to use fresh cranberries! I love myself a good blondie, and adding cranberries just takes it over the top!
Blondies with cranberry seem perfect together.
YUM! I love the combination of white chocolate and cranberries – it’s so delicious! These blondies look amazing!
Hi Amy, I love to cook and bake, been doing it a long time since Iโm getting up there in years! I have thoroughly enjoyed your site, it is so very well written and informative but just the joy in your posts makes me read it to lift my mood at times when life throws me a curve! Thank you for all your hard work and creativity!
Thank you for such a lovely comment, Yvonne! You made my day!