recipe | Beauty Observed

“How fun!” I find myself exclaiming this many times throughout the week. Here are just a few things that touched me or made me smile:

Beauty in my week:

Hibiscus by my mother-in-law’s pool.
Lots of family time.
A birthday girl.
Answered prayers!

*****

Blooming in my garden:

Hydrangea
Purple hosta
Pink sweet pea
Black-eyed Susan
Lipstick daylily
Echinacea
Roses
Purple star phlox paniculata
Midnight Salvia

*****

What we are eating next week:

Saturday Dinner out
Sunday Ravioli, meat sauce, salad, garlic bread, green beans
Monday Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, cooked carrots
Tuesday Salmon, asparagus, cauliflower, rice
Wednesday Chicken taco soup, tortilla chips
Thursday Kielbosa, sauerkraut, potatoes, apple sauce
Friday Burritos

Baking this weekend: Ed’s favorite-apple pie

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Have a great weekend! Remember Philippians 4:8. “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

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I call these Cranberry Bliss-fully Happy Bars because they make my youngest daughter super happy when she sees me mixing up a batch. For some reason, she thinks I bake them just for her. She doesn’t like to share. It actually works out okay because my son doesn’t like cream cheese. I usually hack off an end for him before I frost them.

There’s also a little hint I’d like to give you. I always grease the 9×13 pan with butter and then line it with a piece of parchment paper that is big enough to hang out the sides. This makes it very easy to lift the cooled bars out of the pan. It is much simpler to frost and cut the bars into triangles or squares when they are flat on the counter.

I hope these make you as blissfully happy as they do my 13 year old daughter! (They make me pretty happy, too!)

Cranberry Bliss-fully Happy Bars

Cookie Bar Recipe

3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup white chocolate baking chips (6 oz.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease 9×13 baking dish with butter. Line baking dish with parchment. Make sure that there is enough parchment to overhang the sides of the dish. You will be using this to lift out the bars after they have cooled.

Melt butter. Mix in brown sugar. Let cool. using a mixer, beat in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift or whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well. Dough will be very stiff. Stir in cranberries and white chocolate baking chips.

Spread cookie dough into the prepared pan. (I use my fingers to press the mixture into the corners.) Bake for 20-25 minutes until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean. Do not over bake. Cool completely on wire rack.

Using parchment paper, lift cookie bars out of pan.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 oz. package of full-fat cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cups white chocolate baking chips (6 oz.)
1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar with electric mixer until fluffy. Frost cookie bars that have been removed from pan. Sprinkle with chopped cranberries. Melt white chocolate baking chips in microwave. Drizzle melted white chocolate over frosted cookie bars.

Cut into triangles or squares.

Refrigerate leftover bars.