These cranberry blondies with a sprinkling of cinnamon and juicy dried cranberries are one of the best Christmas traybakes you can make. Easy cranberry blondies are fun to adapt and add chocolate chips or even fresh orange zest for some delicious cranberry orange blondies.
Chewy and gooey cranberry blondies are one of my favourite things to bake as the weather cools down and the nights draw in. I love hot bakes and these are perfect – they can be served on their on, with ice cream or with a drizzle of double cream.
Top Questions
What’s the difference between a blondie and a brownie?
How long do blondies stay fresh?
How do you know when blondies are done?
Can you eat undercooked blondies?
Why you’ll love this Cranberry Blondies recipe
These are the best cranberry orange blondies. The tart dried cranberries and gooey chewy centre… heavenly.
If you’re looking for a Christmas traybake recipe, this is it! All your friends and family will love biting down into these festive treats.
I love how easy these dried cranberry blondies are to make, It’s a simple blondie recipe with a handful of dried cranberries tossed in!
Cranberry Blondies Ingredients
For the full recipe and instructions scroll to the bottom of the page for the recipe card.
Cranberries
I love dried cranberries! They are equal parts sweet and tart! The perfect fruity addition to this Christmas traybake. You can use fresh chopped cranberries but you’ll want to add a little more sugar to them.
Cinnamon
The best winter spice. CInnamon is warming and perfect in blondies. The flavour pair perfectly with these gooey caramelly taste of the cranberry blondies.
How to make Cranberry Blondies – step by step
For the full recipe and instructions scroll to the bottom of the page for the recipe card.
Gently melt the butter in 10 second bursts in the microwave.
Add the brown sugar and the caster sugar to a bowl.
Add the butter to the sugar.
Mix together until combined.
Stir in the eggs. (Photographed before I added the third in)
Mix together until the eggs are combined.
Add the vanilla extract and stir in.
Sieve in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix well.
Sitr in white dried cranberries. Add the mixture to the prepared cake pan and level it off. Bake for 30 minutes and until the top feels set to the touch and is light brown in colour.
Allow to cool before removing from the cake tin and slicing up. (If you can wait that long!)
Top Tips
Serve the cranberry blondies while they are still warm and slightly gooey in the middle.
Don’t forget to grease and line your baking tray for the Christmas traybake! This will stop it from sticking to the tray.
Ensure all your ingredients are at room temperature before you start baking, doing so helps everything come together and stops them from curdling.
Cranberry Blondies Serving Suggestions
Dessert Christmas Blondies with Ice Cream
Cut a nice big square and serve your easy cranberry blondies warm with a huge scoop of your favourite ice cream! I love using vanilla or salted caramel with these blondies.
Christmas gifts
Edible gifts are the best gift to get! Which makes them even better to give this Christmas. Stack your baked and cooled cranberry blondies and tie them with ribbon. Or present them in a neat little box for your guests.
Dusting of icing sugar
The simplest and lightest decoration for your cranberry blondies. Once you arrange them on the plate sieve the icing sugar over the top and serve!
Equipment
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Cranberry Blondies Substitutions and variations
Cranberry blondies with white chocolate
Creamy and milky, white chocolate is the perfect chocolatey pairing to these cranberry blondies. You can decorate your blondies with melted chocolate or by throwing the chocolate chips into the batter when you add the cranberries.
Add dark chocolate
Another great idea is to add rich and deep dark chocolate to your blondies. The contrast of caramel flavours in the blondies to the luxurious dark chocolate is wonderful.
Cranberry Orange Blondies
The zest of an orange will help take these cranberry blondies to the next level. The slight twist from the citrus is a perfect complement to the sweet and sharp cranberries.
Cranberry Pistachio Blondies
To add some crunch to these easy cranberry blondies, why not try adding a handful of pistachios to the blondie batter before you bake them? Their light sweet flavour is really good with the gooey cranberries.
Cranberry Walnut Blondies
Walnuts have a slightly tangy taste to them, you can mix them into your blondies for added flavour and a tasty crunch!
Funfetti Blondies
Really celebrate by adding some sprinkles (or hundreds and thousands) to your blondie batter and make these magical funfetti blondies.
Strawberry Blondies
If you’re looking for a lighter more summery blondies recipe, add some freshly chopped strawberries into the batter and make Strawberry Blondies.
Storing Cranberry Blondies / Making ahead of time options
Blondies are best when served warm, so I suggest enjoying them fresh or if you do have leftovers, pop them in a Tupperware in the fridge and then reheat your blondie square when you fancy some chewy cranberry blondie.
You can also freeze baked blondies once they’ve been chopped up and fully cooled. Wrap each square in clingfilm and then in tinfoil before freezing them for up to one month.
FAQS
What’s the difference between a blondie and a brownie?
The main difference between a blondie and a brownie is the addition of cocoa powder. The rich chocolatey flavour is a core part of a brownie but in a blondie, this is replaced with vanilla essence and a wonderful caramel flavour.
How long do blondies stay fresh?
Blondies stay fresh for about a week if kept in an airtight container. They will start to harden up a little bit so I recommend popping them in the microwave for 20 seconds bursts to warm and soften them up.
How do you know when blondies are done?
You know when your blondies are done when the edges look a little cakey but a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with a little batter on it. This will mean they are nice. and gooey in the centre but well-cooked on the outside.
Can you eat undercooked blondies?
All the best blondies are a little bit undercooked in the centre as this is what makes them chewy and gooey in the centre. Just make sure they have been in the oven for at least 20-30 minutes.
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Recipe
Cranberry Blondies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 175 grams (6.25 oz) unsalted butter
- 200 grams (1 cups) light brown soft sugar
- 150 grams (0.75 cups) caster sugar
- 3 medium eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 250 grams (2 cups) plain flour / all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- small pinch salt
- 200 g dried cranberries
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
- Line a 9 inch x 12 inch cake pan (traybake tin/cake tin) with greaseproof paper.
- Gently melt the butter in 10 second bursts in the microwave.175 grams (6.25 oz) unsalted butter
- Add the brown sugar and the caster sugar to a bowl.200 grams (1 cups) light brown soft sugar, 150 grams (0.75 cups) caster sugar
- Add the butter to the sugar.
- Mix together until combined.
- Stir in the eggs. (Photographed before I added the third in)3 medium eggs
- Mix together until the eggs are combined.
- Add the vanilla extract and stir in.2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Sieve in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix well.250 grams (2 cups) plain flour / all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, small pinch salt
- Stir in the dried cranberries and cinnamon. Then add the mix to the traybake tin.200 g dried cranberries, 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- Bake for 30 minutes and until the top feels set to the touch and is light brown colour.
- Allow the blondie to cool in the cake tin until easy to handle and remove from the tin, place on a cooling rack and slice into bitesize pieces or bars.
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
These blondies look amazingly delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
What an interesting twist on Blondies. I can’t wait to try these.
I love the cranberry flavor in these. They taste incredible. Next time I’m making more though – the kids ate them all!
These are so perfect for the holidays. I think these are going to be perfect on our holiday table.
I love anything with cranberry- especially this time of year. These blondies look amazing and I can’t wait to make them this week!