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Raspberry Almond Bars are tart, sweet and packed with almond flavor. Made with almonds, raspberry jam and white chocolate, these Raspberry Almond Bars are an easy crowd pleasing dessert treat that everyone will love.
There are some desserts that just become your new favorite addiction in the first bite. That’s what happened the first time I tried these Raspberry Almond Bars.
I used to work with a friend of mine whose daughter made these amazing Razzmatazz almond bars. When I say amazing, I mean A-MA-ZING! And every potluck the entire workplace would just sit and wait to see if her Razzmatazz almond bars would be brought in and if they were, you needed to step aside or push your way through because there was going to be a run on the lunchroom. Every. Time.
Now, what I have learned is that the famous Razzmatazz bar is Pillsbury classic (get recipe HERE) but my friend’s daughter put her own spin on the recipe and did a little of this and a little of that and although I’m sure the Pillsbury version is delicious, my friend’s daughter’s Selena’s version was my favorite! I have no idea what she did different to make hers so special but when I had a hankering for Razzmatazz bars one day, I decided to put my thinking cap on and try to put my own spin on the Pillsbury recipe.
WHY DO YOU USE SEEDLESS JAM FOR RASPBERRY ALMOND BARS?
Seedless jam is easy to find and usually mixed in with the other jams and jellies in the peanut butter aisle of your local supermarket. If you are unable to find seedless jam, you can use jam with seeds but you may want to run it through a small mesh strainer first. The seeds are harmless but who wants to be picking seeds out of their teeth all day?
CAN I USE WHOLE ALMONDS FOR MY RASPBERRY ALMOND BARS?
You can use whole almonds for your Raspberry Almond Bars but you may want to do a rough chop on them first before adding them to your recipe. The flavor will obviously not change but it’s easier to eat Raspberry Almond Bars when you don’t have huge crunchy pieces of almond to get through.
HOW DO YOU MAKE RASPBERRY ALMOND BARS?
Easy! To make your Raspberry Almond Bars, preheat oven to 325°F and line 9 x 9 baking dish with parchment paper. Melt butter in small saucepan over low heat or 1 minute on high in the microwave and set aside. Beat eggs in large bowl until foamy. Add sugar and beat at high speed for 1 minute. Stir in butter and then add flour, salt and almond extract; mix at low speed just until combined. Stir in 1 cup of white chocolate chips. Spread half of Raspberry Almond Bars batter in bottom of baking pan. Bake at 325°F. for 15 to 20 minutes or until light golden brown. Stir remaining white chocolate chips into second half of batter. Warm raspberry jam in microwave for 30 seconds on high, stir and return to microwave for another 30 seconds if needed.
Remove pan from oven. Pour jam evenly over cookie bar base. Gently spread spoonfuls of remaining Raspberry Almond Bars batter over the jam, swirl lightly with the edge of the spoon to bring some of the jam through and cover with sliced almonds. Return pan to oven and bake an additional 25 to 35 minutes. Remove bars from pan by pulling up on the sides of parchment paper once bars are completely cooled. Cut into squares and serve .. store leftovers (yeah right!) in refrigerator
This recipe for Raspberry Almond Bars is what I came up with and one very rainy, very hungry Saturday afternoon. These Raspberry Almond Bars came out amazing! And whereas I know some recipes use more raspberry than almond, I am an almond freak so I went pretty heavy with the almond in my recipe. I’m not really sure if there is a way to mess these cookies up because anytime I have ever eaten them, I absolutely love them! So these are my version of Pillsbury’s Razzmatazz bars. And for the record, they didn’t even last a day. Of course when I was done making these a sample had to be given to my official taste tester, Big Scary Mike… then he tried to take the entire container of Raspberry Almond Bars with him into his office and there was almost a throw down in the middle of the kitchen. Haha!
Just kidding #notreally
So the next time you are craving something sweet and want to indulge in a treat that will make your tummy smile, try these Raspberry Almond Bars … you won’t be able to put them down!!
ENJOY!!
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Raspberry Almond Bars
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 12 oz pkg white chocolate chips
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon almond extract
- 3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
- 3/4 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F and line 9x9 baking dish with parchment paper
- Melt butter in small saucepan over low heat or 1 minute on high in the microwave and set aside
- Beat eggs in large bowl until foamy. Add sugar and beat at high speed for 1 minute
- Stir in butter and then add flour, salt and almond extract; mix at low speed just until combined.
- Stir in 1 cup of white chocolate chips
- Spread half of batter in bottom of baking pan.
- Bake at 325°F. for 15 to 20 minutes or until light golden brown.
- Stir remaining white chocolate chips into second half of batter
- Warm raspberry jam in microwave for 30 seconds on high, stir and return to microwave for another 30 seconds if needed
- Remove pan from oven. Pour jam evenly over cookie bar base. Gently spread spoonfuls of remaining batter over the jam, swirl lightly with the edge of the spoon to bring some of the jam through and cover with sliced almonds
- Return pan to oven and bake an additional 25 to 35 minutes
- Remove bars from pan by pulling up on the sides of parchment paper once bars are completely cooled.
- Cut into squares and serve .. store leftovers in refrigerator
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