Keto Christmas Cranberry Bars
Tart cranberries and sweet buttery cake-like bars with fantastic texture will call you back for seconds.
Orange and cranberry is a classic holiday combination, an absolutely one of my favorites. It is an obvious pairing, because the sweetness of the orange really brings out the tangy zip of the cranberry… And of course the orange and red goes so beautifully together.
The white chocolate in both the crust and the optional drizzle on top creates a nice balance for the tartness of the cranberries.
Even though the recipe has several steps involved, they are all pretty basic and simple to execute. See for yourself and enjoy a traditional holiday treat with a cup of hot cocoa, coffee, or tea!
Cranberries and Christmas:
Vibrantly festive with their red hues, cranberries are the quintessential holiday accompaniment!
It was probably inevitable that the cranberry became associated with Christmas. With their bright red shiny color, they reflect the season perfectly and consequently as early as the 1840s, people were stringing them with popcorn to make festive garlands for the Christmas tree.
At the same time, with their winter availability and the fact they were slow to spoil, cranberries represented one of the few fruits that could be served fresh during the holidays.
To settlers’ delight, it was discovered very early that the tartness of cranberry sauce helps cut the far and richness of such traditional holiday fare as pork, goose, duck and turkey, making it a perfect complement to festive dishes.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Ease: The cakey batter and frosting come together in about 5 minutes (plus the hands off bake time). Easy peasy!
- Flavor: Brown sugar cake, tangy cream cheese frosting, tart dried cranberries, and sweet white chocolate. This flavor combo is incredible!
- Festive: The red and white colors makes these bars perfect for the holiday season; they look fantastic on a holiday cookie plate!
- My number one tip is NOT to over-bake the cake/bar portion. The top of the bars should be dry with the center just slightly underdone when you pull them from the oven. They will continue to cook a bit as they cool. We’re going for soft and tender bars – not dry and hard.
- Allow enough time for the bars to cool completely before topping with frosting.
- When melting white chocolate for the topping make sure that you melt the white chocolate very slowly. It can go from melted to lumpy in a matter of seconds, chocolate of all kinds can seize up, so go slow. I omitted this step, because I felt that the bars were sweet enough on their own… But I wanted to leave the option here for you!
This delightful keto holiday treat is reminiscent of the famous cranberry bliss bars sold at Starbucks with cranberries, one of CJ’s favorite pre-keto treats…hints of orange and ginger, and cream cheese icing. This easy recipe is low carb, keto, gluten-free, grain-free, sugar-free, and fabulous!
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Here is a companion blog post to get the best results from our Keto Quick Start Guide
https://www.cjsketokitchen.com/basic-tips-to-understand-the-keto-diet-the-keto-diet-simplified/
CJSKETOKITCHEN RECIPE SPOTLIGHT
In this section we try and highlight other recipes that might interest you. This week we decided to highlight another very popular and easy to make recipe:
Keto Christmas Cranberry Bars
Ingredients
Bliss bar ingredients
- 6 TB butter softened
- 1/3 cup brown natural sweetener
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp orange extract
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ginger ground
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp vanilla bean powder optional
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cranberries fresh or dried
- 1/2 cup sugar-free white chocolate chip
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans optional
Orange Cream Cheese frosting:
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 1 tsp liquid splenda
- 1 tsp orange extract
- 1 tsp orange zest fresh
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cranberries fresh or dried
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8 or 7x11 inch pan.
- Cream together butter and sweetener. Add salt, eggs, extracts, and spice. Mix thoroughly.
- Add dry ingredients. Mix briefly. Stir in chips and diced cranberries by hand. Add pecans if desired. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool thoroughly. Ice if desired.
Frosting instructions:
- Combine cream cheese, sweetener of choice, grated orange zest and extract. Spread on cooled bars. Top with remaining 1/3 cup dried cranberries.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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