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These Raspberry Butter Bars are sure to be a hit. The buttery shortbread crust compliments the tart raspberries perfectly. It is a variation of the shortbread crust I use to make Salted Caramel Butter Cookie Bars and Caramel Cheesecake Butter Bars.
I have a very large raspberry patch in my garden, so I always have raspberries in the freezer. I also make a lot of raspberry freezer jam, so when I decided to make a pretty dessert for Valentine’s Day, this was what came to mind. I would normally make these cookie bars with fresh raspberries, but I only had frozen ones on hand. To compensate for the extra juice frozen berries produce, I mixed the fruit and jam with a little cornstarch before layering on the bottom crust.
For these bars, I like to line my baking pan with parchment paper. With parchment paper, you can lift the entire dessert out of the pan and cut it on a cutting board. It makes it much easier to cut straight lines and the sides of the pan don’t get in the way.
Raspberry Butter Bars
Ingredients
- 1½ cups salted butter, room temp
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbs vanilla
- 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
Filling
- 1 cup raspberry jam
- 1 cup raspberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9" x 13" baking pan with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter and sugars. Mix on medium speed until creamy. Add 1 Tbs. Vanilla and combine. Add the sifted flour 1 cup at a time, and beat on low speed until soft dough forms.
- Cover the dough and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Press 2/3 of the dough evenly into the pan to form the bottom crust. Reserve 1/3 for the top, approx. 1 to 1-1/2 cups.
- Mix together 1 cup of raspberry jam and 1 cup of raspberries. If using frozen berries add 1 tsp. cornstarch. Spread on top of the bottom crust.
- Sprinkle the remaining dough in little clumps over the raspberry jam layer.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until edges turn golden brown. Cool before cutting.
