Saturday, December 3, 2011

Cookie Blog Hop-Grand Marnier Cranberry Cookie Bars Two Ways

I am very excited to be a co-host for December's Blog Hop, #cookielove.  December is #cookielove month! Please join in on the #cookielove fun by linking up any  any cookie recipe from the month of December 2011. Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #cookielove event! The twitter hashtag is #cookielove :).  

For this event I made Grand Marnier Cranberry Cookie Bars, two ways, some with dark chocolate on top, and some without, all in the same pan. During this busy holiday season, anything that you can do to streamline your baking is a good thing.  Making cookie bars is a quick way to get a whole pan full of wonderful cookie bars in a short amount of time.

I used  Kim@LIv LIfe's Grand Marnier Cranberry Sauce to make these cookie bars. I had made the sauce for Thanksgiving  loved it and decided to use the sauce recipe for my cookie bars.  The sauce has Grand Marnier, orange zest, and orange juice. which pair beautifully with the tart cranberries.  Kim cooked her cranberries in the oven and I made mine on the stove top to make the sauce.  I made my sauce the night before I made the bars, so the sauce would jell, and get firm.  

Here is the list of wonderful co-host friends  We are all so excited to host this fun event, and all of those wonderful cookies .
Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves
Badger Girl Learns to Cook 
 BigFatBaker,
bloc de recetas 
,Bon a croquer,
Cafe TerraBlog,  
Cake Duchess,
Creative Cooking Corner
Easily Good Eats 
GeorgieCakes 
Hobby and More
knitstamatic 
Mike's Baking  
Mis Pensamientos
No one Likes Crumbley Cookies 
Oh Cake 
Queen's Notebook 
Savoring Every Bite 
Simply Reem 
Teaspoon of Spice 
That Skinny Chick Can Bake 
The Art of Cooking Real Food 
The Spicy RD 
The Wimpy Vegetarian 
Vegetarian Tastebuds 

Grab the linky tool   Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #cookielove event! The twitter hashtag is #cookielove :). 

Grand Marnier Cranberry Cookie Bars, Two Ways 
Adapted and Inspired by Kim@livlifetoo.blogspot.com 
Grand Marnier Cranberry Filling

2 12 oz bags of fresh cranberries.

2 c of water

2 c sugar

6 Tbsp Grand Marnier

4 Tbsp orange juice

2 Tbsp orange zest

Wash cranberries, and pick through. Set aside.  combine sugar and water in large point and heat to boiling. Add cranberries to boiling water and cook over med, heat, until all cranberries have “popped’, about 10min. Remove from heat. Stir in Grand Marnier, orange juice, and orange zest. and let them cool, until set. You can do this night before, you make the crust, if you want.

Crust Recipe

3 c. flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. butter
1 lg. egg, beaten
1 c. chocolate chips, I used Dark Chocolate chips


Combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in beaten egg until just moistened. Save 2 cup dough. Pat remaining crumbs into greased 15 x 10x1 inch pan. Bake in 350 degree oven about 10 min, till crust is lightly brown.

Spread Grand Marnier Cranberry filling carefully over hot crust.  Sprinkle reserved dough over the filling.  Sprinkle chocolate chips over reserved dough on half of the reserved dough. Bake at 350 degrees 20 to 25 minutes or until top is golden.

Spread melted chips over half of the pan. Let cool in pan. While slightly warm, slice into bars, then let them cool completely in pan They freeze well, if you can keep everyone from eating them first.


 

35 comments:

  1. Becky, these look AMAZING!!! I love cookie bars with fruit and yours look so festive with the cranberry! Have a great weekend, my friend!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Scrumptious! Love these cookies bars they look amazing. I'm glad you made these, they're one of my favorite cookies, great minds think alike!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Superb looking cookie bars..they look very festive and the crust also looks great..#cookielove to you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. These look positively delicious! I love bar cookies and I love cranberry - your recipe looks perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cranberrys are the ideal holiday treat and I love the combination with the Grand Marnier! Great recipe!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lizzy-I usually make these bars with raspberry jam, but I like the festive color of the cranberries.

    Katrina- These cookie bars are delish!

    Georgie-These bars are a family favorite. This is the first time that I tried the cranberries though:)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Raji-Cranberries do give these cookie bars a festive touch!

    Laura-Thank you for your sweet comments. I the addition of the cranberries.

    Linda-Cranberries and Grand Marnier are wonderful together, and give thee cranberries more of the orange flavor, Yum!

    ReplyDelete
  8. very festive and grand mariner, oh yeah! love these bars!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your flavors here really do compliment each other. I am so wanting to try the ones with chocolate! Thanks for posting this festive treat right in time for the holidays-yum!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Richa-Thank you for your sweet comments. #cookielove to you.

    Tina-The bars are so good with the chocolate, especially dark chocolate.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Richa-Thank you for your sweet comments. Lots of #cookielove.

    Tina-The bars with the chocolate are so good, especially dark chocolate, yum!

    ReplyDelete
  12. These looks so yummy and love the idea of making two different options in one pan - gonna try that will other recipes too - thanks for the great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Deanna-You are welcome! These are yummy! Lots of #cookielove.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Mmm cranberries, looks delicious! Great idea making two versions in the same pan, going to have to try that out.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Ok... In the Grand Marnier genre I added a Grand Marnier Orange Cookie to your list!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love baking with cranberries and your idea for having two flavors in the pan is so much fun! Yay for #cookielove :)these are wonderful:)

    ReplyDelete
  17. cranberry cookie bars sound delicious! love the idea of layering the flavors. sending some #cookielove to you! glad you joined out #lovebloghop!

    ReplyDelete
  18. What delightful cookie flavors you have! Glad you joined this CookieLove event with us!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Deb-If you make these cookie bars, let me know how they turned out.

    Kim-Thanks for the inspiration for these yummy cookie bars!

    Lora-Cranberries are so versatile, and you can do so many things with them, including these yummy cookie bars.

    Junia- thanks for the #cookielove, and I am so glad that I joined the cookie blog hop, so much fun.

    Elizabeth-Thank you for your sweet words. I'm glad that I joined #cookielove, too

    ReplyDelete
  20. These look so fantastic! I love cranberry and chocolate so I would definitely make mine with the dark chocolate on top. What a great #cookielove recipe - happy to be hosting with you!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Grand-Marnier & cranberries sounds delicious!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Totally loving these cookie bars...
    Love the idea of making 2 flavors in same pan... What fun.
    Delicious!!!

    ReplyDelete
  23. These look totally tasty! Thank you for sharing, and glad to host with you!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Sounds delicious!! I love the chocolate on top too. Nice to host with you!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Thank you all for kind words. I am soo happy to be co-hosting with all of you. I've see amazing cookie recipes. Lots of #cookielove.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Still kind of wondering is this a twitter thing or a blog thing? Either way I do like these cookies you made. I made the sauce on the stove and it worked perfect too. I made it in the morning and it was jelled by dinner. Hope all is well with you and the family.
    -Gina-

    ReplyDelete
  27. Gina- for those of us, like me, that don't do Twitter, It's a blog thing. I suppose if, you do Tweet, then it's both a blog and Twitter thing. I'm just sayin'

    Hope that you try these cookie bars, and that you have a good week! Happy Baking!

    ReplyDelete
  28. I'm loving these bars, I have been on a cranberry kick lately!!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Emily-These cookie bars are delicious!

    Suzanne-thanks for stopping by the Cookie Blog Hop!
    Aren't cranberries the greatest?

    ReplyDelete
  30. These sounds like a gorgeous mix of flavors, love that they have orange, chocolate AND cranberry, YUM!!! Take care, Terra

    ReplyDelete
  31. Terra-these bars have lots of flavors, plus the Grand Marnier:) Lot of #cookielove and nice to be co-hosting with you!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Nothing says Christmas and the holidays like cranberries! Visiting from the blog hop!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Cindy- Nice to meet you, and thanks for stopping by my blog.

    ReplyDelete

Print friendly