Cranberry Orange Bars

I bookmarked this recipe a long time ago and finally had the all the ingredients in my kitchen to make it. Well, I had dried cranberries and not fresh, but I figured I would try it anyways. They came out really good and were all gone in one day! Eventually I would like to try the recipe with fresh cranberries but I am afraid they might be tarter than when the dried cranberries are used. Overall they came out really good and that's all that really matters!

Cranberry Orange Bars
Source: Good Things Catered

Ingredients:
1/2 cups of butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups of sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1 Tbsp of orange zest
2 cups fresh cranberries (I used dried cranberries)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, orange juice and vanilla and mix until combined. Mix in flour and baking powder. The mixture should have a cookie dough consistency. Fold in orange zest and cranberries. Spread batter evenly in a 9x12 prepared baking pan. Bake for about 40 minutes until golden brown on top.

Note: I halved the recipe and used an 8x8 baking pan and baked it for 20 min. I am really glad I checked it half way through as they would have been super dry if I had baked them for the 40 min.