Raspberry White Chocolate Almond Bars

Last week my ladies and I got together for salads and dessert (and laughing, crying, and figuring out life). We kept supper simple with everyone bringing their favorite salad. I’m always delighted at how the meal comes together when everyone brings their specialty! It makes such a wonderful plate of food! We topped off our supper and conversation with coffee and a couple of desserts.

Raspberry White Chocolate Almond Bars are perfect for ladies’ gatherings. The raspberry flavor and color are ideal for a very Valentiney dessert. I also make them for bridal and baby showers (you can use blueberry jam for boy baby showers). They are so delicious and can be eaten easily with fingers while sitting around the living room or standing and mingling.

Raspberry White Chocolate Almond Bars 

 

Please note that I doubled the following recipe, and my photos will reflect that. I enjoy these bars so much that I always just go ahead and make a double batch and put the extra batch in the freezer to have on hand for another occasion.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 bag white chocolate chips, divided

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. almond extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

1/4 cup sliced almonds 

Parchment paper

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9×9″ pan with two long sheets of parchment paper that are the width of the pan. These will criss-cross to cover the bottom and sides of the pan so you can just lift the bars out of the pan later. No need to spray the pan. 

Step 2:  Melt the butter in a saucepan. Remove from heat and pour in 1 cup of white chocolate chips. DO NOT STIR! You will be tempted to stir, but don’t. Just let it sit. It will look like the photo below. Set aside.

Step 3:  In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until foamy; Gradually add the sugar. Set aside.

Step 4:  Combine the flour and salt in a separate bowl. Set aside. 

Step 5:  Now you have your egg mixture, your flour mixture, and your butter/chip mixture. Stir the butter/chip and the 1 tsp. of almond extract mixture into the egg mixture. Then add the flour mixture to the egg mixture just until combined. 

The consistency will resemble thick muffin batter.

Step 6:  Spread half the mixture in the bottom of the pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden. 

Step 7:  While the crust bakes, stir the remaining white chocolate chips into the remaining batter. 

Step 8:  Warm the raspberry jam in a bowl in the microwave, or in a saucepan over the stove. I forgot to take a photo of this step, but you see I have my remaining batter and jam sitting out while the crust is in the oven. 

Step 9:  When the crust comes out of the oven, spread the jam evenly on top. 

Step 10:  Drop the remaining batter by tablespoonfuls over the jam layer. Sprinkle with almonds. (I forgot to get a photo with the almonds.) Bake at 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Step 11:  Cool in the pan on a wire cooling rack. When completely cooled, just lift the bars out of the pan by pulling up the sides of the parchment paper. 

At this point, if I’ve doubled the recipe, I just wrap up the extra batch (left whole) in the parchment paper, slip it in a gallon bag, and put it in the freezer. I will be so happy down the road when I get these out again! 

Step 11:  Cut the other batch into 16 squares–4 rows across each way. 

If this is the only dessert I’m serving then I leave them in 16 squares, but if I’m serving another dessert, then I cut them again on the diagonal for a total of 32 triangular bars. 

I like the way the triangles stack on a plate, and I love seeing that tangy red jam baked in the middle with sweet chunks of white chocolate dispersed throughout. These bars are soooo good! That other batch might not last too long in my freezer.

Hope you’re all having a lovely first week of February!