This Better Than Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bread has all the bells and whistles of the original cranberry bars, but in an irresistible pound cake form. Skip the coffee shop and stay home and bake!
My better than Starbuck’s cranberry bliss bread is one of the best perks of fall!
I delight in everything about this season, and even though it’s a cliche, I still get a warm rush when Starbuck’s brings out the pumpkin lattes. But I think everyone can agree that while their coffee is pretty fantastic, their baked stuff has taken a nosedive in recent years. There was a time when I was happy to splurge on maple oat nut scones and pumpkin breads, but not anymore. Now I grab my coffee solo, because I know I’ve got an even better treat waiting for me at home.
The base of this ‘bread’ is a rich buttery cake made with part whole wheat flour and studded with dried cranberries and white chocolate chips. The thick vanilla frosting is covered with more cranberries, and then the whole thing is drizzled with white chocolate. It’s fun, festive, and way better than the dried out squares in the case.
tvfgi recommends: the perfect loaf pan
Loaf pans can be surprisingly tricky to work with because they come in all kinds of sizes and most recipes aren’t specific about the dimensions. This is the classic 1 1/4 pound, 9×5 loaf pan that is your best bet for most recipes. USA pans are my favorite because they’re sturdy, and made here in the US.
I recommend having at least 2 loaf pans in your collection because some recipes are formulated for 2 loaves.
Part of the appeal of the cranberry bliss franchise is that gorgeous top. It just screams holiday! It’s a yummy combination of a creamy white frosting, drizzled white chocolate, and sweet/tart cranberries for a pop of color.
TIP: some white chocolate can be tricky to melt. Adding a teaspoon of vegetable oil to the chocolate before melting can help prevent it from seizing. Go low and slow, whether you melt it in the microwave, or a double boiler on the stove.
Do you love to copy Starbucks recipes as much as I do? Try my other copy cat recipes~
This Better Than Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bread has all the bells and whistles of the original bars, but in an irresistible pound cake form. Skip the coffee shop and stay home and bake!
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 stick (1/2 cup, 113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries, plus a handful more for scattering over the frosting
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- milk or cream to thin
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 tsp coconut or vegetable oil
Instructions
- Set oven to 350F
- Whisk together the flours, soda, powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla.
- Gently mix in the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
- Fold in the cranberries and chocolate chips.
- Turn the batter into a greased standard (81/2 x 4 1/2) loaf pan. I like to line it with a sheet of parchment paper to make it easy to remove the cake after baking. Bake for 55 minutes to an hour until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without wet batter clinging to it. Don't over bake, check it early. Let the cake cool before you frost it.
- To make the frosting mix the sugar with enough milk or cream to create a thick spreadable consistency.. Blend in the vanilla. Spread over the top of the cooled cake. Scatter with dried cranberries.
- Make the chocolate drizzle by melting the chocolate and the oil in a small (clean and dry!) microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir to melt. If necessary microwave for another few seconds, but be careful not to over do it.
- When the chocolate is smooth, take a spoon and drizzle it all over the top of the cake in a criss-cross pattern.
78 Comments
Geneine Wolff
January 13, 2019 at 6:02 pmCan I make this recipe in muffin form? At what temperature? Some muffins bake st 375, and some at 400. Thank you
Sue
January 13, 2019 at 8:04 pmI haven’t tried this as muffins, so I can’t say for sure Geneine, but I’d probably go for 350F.
Krisztina Szucs
December 16, 2018 at 2:44 pmHi there!
I would like to know if this bread can be made with rregular flour and fresh cranberries?
Sue
December 16, 2018 at 3:48 pmI think that would be good, but I haven’t tried so I can’t say for sure. The flour substitution shouldn’t be a problem at all, but not sure what the fresh cranberries will do to the cake, worth a try though!
Roxanne
December 9, 2018 at 1:58 pmThird time’s the charm. Made two at a time last night. One was perfect the other didn’t cook all the way through…I swear the toothpick came out clean! :-)
Re-made one but the outside was overdone to get the inside done. Made it one more time this morning…perfect!
Sue
December 9, 2018 at 3:59 pmYou’re so sweet to come back and let us know, and I’m so glad you persevered! I often have that trouble with toothpicks, I sometimes have to jab something multiple times to be sure :)
Tammara
December 4, 2018 at 11:04 amSo, I’m making this now!! But mine started bringing on the top writhin 20min!! Why would that happen?! I did everything in the recipe and it’s set to 350. :(
Sue
December 4, 2018 at 12:16 pmOvens are often way off in temperature, Tammara, is it possible yours is calibrated too high?
Janelle
December 2, 2018 at 11:26 amLooks wonderful, and will make later today…. but I wonder if you’ve ever tried adding pecans? Would it change the baking, etc? It sounds like a wonderful addition to me. Perhaps I’ll try one loaf with and one without.
Sue
December 2, 2018 at 11:45 amI haven’t added pecans, but you could certainly do that, and it wouldn’t change the recipe baking time.
alex
November 26, 2018 at 10:41 amwanna make the cranberry bread. do not want to buy whole wheat flour, nor ever use it in my recipies. can i make this with just ap white? it really looks delicious. thanks.
Sue
November 27, 2018 at 7:39 pmYes, it will work fine with white flour, no need to get special flour for this.
Mary Vaccaro
November 12, 2018 at 5:31 amMy daughter-in-law has an egg allergy. Do you think I could substitute 2 med. bananas instead of eggs.
Sue
November 12, 2018 at 5:41 amIt’s worth a try, I haven’t experimented with egg substitutes in this recipe, so I can’t say for sure.
Jacquie
October 10, 2018 at 7:02 amFantastic recipe. I perfected the bars a number of years ago. A couple of suggestions, 1. replace some of the water/milk in the frosting with lemon juice 2. Add one tbsp grated orange zest in the batter. Occasionally I added chopped pistachios to the top. The color combo with the cranberries is very holiday festive and the sweet-salty contrast is yummy. I agree, the bars dry out far too quickly, thank you for doing the legwork on this recipe. They are my daughters fave
Sue
October 10, 2018 at 8:46 amThanks so much Jacquie ~ I like your tweaks :)
Lana
October 9, 2018 at 1:56 pmHi
Just found this Amazing recipe. I LOVE CRANBERRIES . Can I use all purpose flour instead of white and wheat flour?
Thanks
Sue
October 9, 2018 at 3:05 pmYes, you sure can Lana, hope you love it!
Jeanette Chapman
October 9, 2018 at 10:33 amHi
In England we don’t use cups or “sticks” as you probably know. whilst I can get around most of the receipt can you tell me how I measure the butter please. I have no idea what a stick is and short of melting butter into a cup and then letting it harden, I have no idea!
Many thanks in advance.
Regards,
Jeanette
Sue
October 9, 2018 at 11:54 amThat would be 113 grams Jeanette.
Trish
September 10, 2018 at 3:53 pmDoes this freeze well? I’m thinking of making this to give as Christmas gifts this year. Do you think I could make the loaf, freeze it, and then thaw it shortly before giving and do the frosting, drizzle, etc. then?
Sue
September 10, 2018 at 4:22 pmI think most quick breads freeze well, so if you double wrap it and get it pretty airtight, it should be fine.
Jean Jenkins
September 3, 2018 at 5:31 amCan you use reg milk instead of buttermilk ?
Sue
September 3, 2018 at 7:38 amThat should be fine, Jean. You can also make your own ‘buttermilk’ by adding a little lemon juice or vinegar to regular milk. For every cup of milk I add a tablespoon of acidic lemon or vinegar.
Moriah
January 15, 2018 at 6:43 pmAha, take that Starbucks! You’re coffee always made my stomach quesy anyway and you’re food is way to expensive.
Though I will admit, their cheese, greens and tomato sandwiches (especially the one with feta) I do like. But again, so expensive! Do you have any diy’s for their sandwiches??
Sue
January 15, 2018 at 7:53 pmI haven’t done a copy cat sandwich, that will have to be next!
Lori
December 24, 2017 at 10:12 amMade this for Christmas Eve and it was amazing! The only caveat I would have is that people need to use clear Vanilla extract; I used the kind from Mexico and while it tasted phenomenal, it discolored the frosting! Ack!
Marsha Tomko
December 8, 2017 at 7:40 amMy husband and I baked this bread together. Was easy. Smelled delightful while baking. Expectations were high. Let it cool and drizzled all the dreamy white chocolate over it. Got our hot tea ready for our much anticipated “first piece”. It was just “okay”. Couldn’t put our finger on it until the second piece. It was dry!! I didn’t even notice during prep that there is no oil in this bread. Did oil, of some kind, get left out of the recipe accidentally? If not, what can we do to remedy this? We really want to try this again! Help!!
Marsha and Glen
Sue
December 8, 2017 at 9:16 amHi Marsha and Glen! This recipe uses butter, not oil, and should have a nice pound cake type texture. Is it possible you left out the butter? Another possible reason for the dryness might be that your oven runs hot, and the bread was accidentally over-cooked. If you want to try this with oil instead of butter, you would use about 20% less oil, so a little bit less than 1/2 cup. Hope this helps!
Hannah
December 6, 2017 at 8:37 amI cannot wait to try this recipe! I was just wondering, would it work if I used a mini loaf pan and decreased the cooking time? I’m hosting a cookie exchange this weekend and would like to give these as little gifts to my guests!
Sue
December 6, 2017 at 8:44 amSure, that would be fine. I think the rule of thumb is to reduce the oven temp by 25 degrees, and bake for about 25 minutes, but I would do a test loaf to be sure, Hannah, since they’re going to be gifts.
Renee Seltmann
December 4, 2017 at 8:15 amCould I use all white flour? I hate to buy a bag of wheat, for just this recipe! Has anyone tried it that way?
Sue
December 4, 2017 at 8:19 amYes absolutely Renee, it will work fine.
Kelly Placeres
November 4, 2017 at 6:33 pmI just baked this amazing cranberry bread! I doubled the recipe it is so easy and it came out great! I love it I also used fresh and dry cranberries. It came out yummy.
Sue
November 4, 2017 at 7:36 pmThanks Kelly, I’ve been meaning to try it with fresh berries :)
Imraan
February 19, 2017 at 4:14 amWhen I first looked that the Cranberry bliss Bread picture I thought this will take some time to bake but after reading your recipe it seems so easy to make ! I will surely be trying this very soon! Thanks for the great recipe!
Sue
February 19, 2017 at 5:22 amLet me know what you think Imraan :)
Alyssa
December 29, 2016 at 3:02 amDelicious recipe!!! I had fresh cranberries that I needed to use up, and the bread turned out the ideal combo of sweet and tart.
Courtney
December 1, 2016 at 9:46 amI wasn’t wondering if I could just use regular flour instead of whole wheat flour because I have a gluten allergy?
Sue
December 1, 2016 at 10:33 amYes, that should be fine, Courtney. I bet you could use a good gluten free flour blend as well.
Joan
December 11, 2016 at 5:22 pmI just made these today and I used GF flour. I also made them in a tiny loaf mold from Demarle. They turned out perfect at 25 minutes, the flour was not an issue.
Sue
December 11, 2016 at 5:53 pmGreat to know, thanks Joan!
kavi
September 29, 2016 at 4:02 amyummy… i think it will be very tasty they have used cranberries & white chocolate chips those who love choclates they definetly love it cranberries it will be very tasty with this too combination
Sue
September 29, 2016 at 7:21 amSounds wonderful!
nina
September 29, 2016 at 3:14 amThanks for sharing the recipe with us so that we can learn it easily :)
Phyllis
September 17, 2016 at 6:24 pmHave this in the oven right now .Cannot wait to taste it,looks yummy.
Donna Elick
November 3, 2015 at 8:44 pmOh my heavens. This looks amazing. I am totally making this over the weekend. I can’t wait to try it.
Diane
November 2, 2015 at 9:13 pmThis looks wonderful! This may be a dumb question, but are the cranberries just dried cranberries or are they SWEETENED dried cranberries? Thanks
Sue
November 3, 2015 at 6:25 amI believe I used standard sweetened dried cranberries, Diane, but I’m sure either would work. I think in general most dried cranberries are sweetened because the fruit is so tart.
Allizon
September 18, 2015 at 8:36 amHow much does this recipe yield?
Sue
September 18, 2015 at 11:32 amOne loaf, Allizon.
Laura@Baking in Pyjamas
September 2, 2015 at 2:02 pmI just had my first Pumpkin Spice Latte today and can’t wait for the rest of the Autumn bakes to hit the shelves. I’ve never seen Cranberry Bliss Bars in the Starbucks here in the UK but after seeing this I’m dying to try your version. It certainly looks like bliss indeed!
Sue
September 2, 2015 at 2:19 pm:) Thanks Laura – I haven’t had my first Pumpkin Spice Latte, I guess I better get with the program! Thanks for stopping by.
Jennifer
December 16, 2014 at 7:47 amThese look really yummy! Have you ever tried making this in mini loaf pans to give as gifts? I’m thinking a full size pan might be too much. Think it would still work but maybe just cook for less time?
Karen
December 16, 2014 at 6:31 pmI would love to make these in mini pans too. I’ve put other bread recipes in mini pans and I usually just check them around 25 minutes or so. I think this would work with this recipe.
Sue
December 16, 2014 at 6:43 pmI’m sure it would, it’s only that baking time that can screw things up. This would make great gifts in mini tins!
Ryann
November 25, 2014 at 7:21 amThese look delicious! I’ve been looking for a recipe to make for Christmas gifts, definitely trying this recipe! Question, what size loaf pan did you use? Thanks!!
Sue
November 25, 2014 at 7:32 amGreat question, I just updated the recipe to say a standard loaf pan, about 8 1/2 x 4 1/2. Good luck with it Ryann!
Ryann
November 28, 2014 at 5:31 pmThanks for the reply, looking forward to gobbling up this bread, oh and of course making christmas gifts ;-)
Christina
November 15, 2014 at 12:47 pmWow! I am SO making this bread! I can almost taste it just by looking at it…cannot wait! Thanks for the recipe, Sue!
Melynda@OurSundayCafe
November 15, 2014 at 7:37 amI love Cranberry Bliss anything! I have pinned this for later. Thank you.
Caroline
October 17, 2014 at 7:56 amWow…this could not be more beautiful! I love that gorgeous top! I need a slice right now!
Foodiewife
October 12, 2014 at 10:06 amI’ve had a starbucks gift card in my wallet, for months, that I haven’t used. Funny, but I rarely go there. So, I’ve never tried any of their baked goods. I’ve seen these bars, and have been tempted. Your version is gorgeous! I’d love to have this with my own coffee, from home!
cheri
October 2, 2014 at 2:12 pmHi Sue, Just had a pumpkin latte today as a matter of fact, always signals fall. Love, love this cranberry bread. Looks gorgeous!
Kiran+@+KiranTarun.com
October 2, 2014 at 12:01 pmThe baked goods at Starbucks does look tempting but these looks so delicious!! Yum :)
Laura+(Tutti+Dolci)
October 1, 2014 at 12:42 pmSo gorgeous, love the drizzle and cranberry topping!
Abbe@This+is+How+I+Cook
September 30, 2014 at 8:25 pmThis looks so good. I admit I’ve heard about the Starbucks version and I did use to love those maple scones, but this looks like way better. I mean, REALLY WAY BETTER!
Kitchen+Belleicious
September 30, 2014 at 7:22 pmbetter? I totally see it and believe it! It looks and sounds 10 times better and that is one of my favorite breads from starbucks too!
Amanda
September 30, 2014 at 4:48 pmI love everything about this bread!
La Cuisine Helene
September 30, 2014 at 1:34 pmI really have to bake this bread, it looks so yum. I always look at it when I go to Starbucks but I never tried it.
Susan
September 30, 2014 at 10:02 amAs much as I prefer unadorned sweet breads, this is so gorgeously delicious I would love to try it! You’re right, it does scream “Holiday”.
Monique
September 29, 2014 at 4:13 pmHi Sue..I/ve made the bars but never the bread nor the cookies..everything everywhere looks terrific.. a few links don’t work but if you Google the name of the blog and the recipe..it does..(Ex..Gimme some oven)..
Thanks everyone!
Averie @ Averie Cooks
September 29, 2014 at 2:11 pmThanks for the shoutout, Sue! That is so nice of you! :)
Wow, your bread. Just wow. I totally want this! I’ve made Cran Bliss Bars, and Cookies, and was just yesterday on a long run thinking well what else could I do with that…and voila, bread! But now I won’t make it because you beat me to it, but seriously, looks amazing!
Liz+@+Floating+Kitchen
September 29, 2014 at 1:45 pmFestive indeed! I’m loving this thick white chocolate topping. YUM!
Luci {Luci's Morsels}
September 29, 2014 at 11:54 amThese look stunning! And these are my sister’s favorite. I’m debating between sharing the recipe with her or making them for her and then winning best sister of the year award!! And yes – I completely agree with the Starbucks nosedive. They went with La Boulange and now the morsels look like pre-formed options that are high in calories and fat -with little character. The seasonal cookies are super cute, but I still never buy them. Ok – Starbucks rant over (until it comes up in conversation again)!
Luci’s Morsels – fashion. food. frivolity.
Catherine
September 29, 2014 at 10:52 amDear Sue, I agree; the baked goods at Starbucks is expensive and really not all that much to write home about.
Homemade is the best and so much easier on the wallet.
This looks absolutely delicious!!! Blessings dear. Catherine