Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

For bar cookies:

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1½ cups flour 1 teaspoon ground ginger ¼ teaspoon salt 1 cups (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperatur­e, plus more for pan

1¼ cups firmly-packed light brown sugar 3 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup minced dried cranberrie­s

1½ ounces white chocolate, chopped

¼ cups minced crystalliz­ed ginger

For frosting:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperatur­e

3 tablespoon­s unsalted butter, at room temperatur­e

1 cup plus 3 tablespoon­s sifted powdered sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract teaspoon grated lemon zest Pinch of salt cup minced dried cranberrie­s freshly

For white chocolate drizzle:

1 ounce white chocolate ¼ cup sifted powdered sugar 1 teaspoon milk To prepare bar cookies: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with parchment paper and then butter the paper.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, ground ginger and salt, and reserve.

In a bowl of an electric mixer on medium- high speed, beat butter until creamy, about 1 minute. Add light brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat until fully combined. Reduce speed to low, add flour mixture and mix until just combined. Fold in dried cranberrie­s, white chocolate and crystalliz­ed ginger.

Spread batter in prepared baking pan and bake until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. Remove pan from oven, transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

To prepare frosting: In a bowl of an electric mixer on medium-low speed, combine cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and salt, and mix until

To prepare White Chocolate Drizzle: In a double boiler over gently simmering water (or in a bowl in a microwave oven), melt white chocolate. Remove from heat, add powdered sugar and milk, and whisk until fully combined. Scrape White Chocolate Drizzle into a small, sturdy plastic bag; cut a tiny corner of the bag and squeeze to decorate. Decorative­ly drizzle the White Chocolate Drizzle over the top of the entire frosted cake. To serve, slice the cake lengthwise down the center, creating two long rectangles. Cut each rectangle into 4 equal portions; then slice each of these in half diagonally.

Makes 16 triangle-shaped bars.

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