I absolutely love Christmas and this year I’m extra excited about it because I’m going to be celebrating Christmas in London! This will be my fourth Christmas in London. It’s breathtakingly beautiful there during the festive season and each corner is all about Christmas.
The lights, the decorations, the food, and the happy people make me feel like I’m in my dreamworld. With the Christmas spirit all around, a lot of desserts are being created in my studio and the Cranberry Hazelnut Cookie Bars that I’m going to be sharing today are perfect for your secret Santa gifts.
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Using Cranberries in Desserts
I’ve been using US Cranberries in a lot of my desserts lately and I’ve been in love with the end result.
The beauty of desserts comes from being well balanced. Cranberries have a significant tart and taste that needs to be combined well with other ingredients. I’ve paired cranberries before with pears, pistachios, white chocolate and now hazelnuts. The ways the tartness of the cranberries comes together with the sweetness or nuttiness of these other ingredients is extremely tasty.
Since I’ve been using US Cranberries which are dried cranberries, they also add a chewy texture to my dessert which I love. The desserts I’ve made before will provide you a proof of that.
Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookies
How to make cookie bars
Cookie bars are probably one of the easiest things to make ever! They make use of very basic ingredients and are extremely versatile. You can add any mix-ins you want and play around with any flavors of your choice.
Just make sure that you’re whisking your sugar and butter till it’s light and fluffy. A lot of people rush this process and therefore don’t have the perfect texture at the end.
The best part about cookie bars is that you get to put all the cookie dough in one pan and bake it in one go.
I’ve made so many cookie bars before and all other kinds of bars because they’re effortless and absolute drool worthy! Here are some of the flavors you might like:
Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Eggless Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars
You can always play around with the toppings and mix-ins. I added a layer of melted chocolate on top of these Cranberry and Hazelnut Cookie Bars because why not!?
- 2¼th cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup butter
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup castor sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup hazelnuts
- 1 cup US cranberries
- Preheat the oven at 180 degrees and line a 9x9 inch square tin with parchment paper.
- In a bowl combine the flour and baking soda.
- In a separate bowl beat the butter,brown sugar and castor sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla and the eggs one by one mixing well after each addition.
- Add the hazelnuts and cranberries and combine well.
- Spread the dough evenly onto the baking tray using an offset spatula.
- Bake for 20-25 mins or until it achieves a golden brown colour on top.
If you make these cranberry and hazelnut bars, don’t forget to share a picture with me on my Instagram @shivesh17 and use the hashtag #bakewithshivesh. Happy Baking!
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