This morning, I started having a hankering for a bar cookie my grandmother used to make. I think I might even have her recipe somewhere, but I couldn't locate it when I wanted it, so I found that Ree Drummond, of the Food Network show Pioneer Woman was able to come to the rescue.

I just had to make mini adjustments to her Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

Here's my recipe for Raspberry Bars:

Quote:

Grandma Gertrude's Raspberry Oatmeal Bars
Ingredients

1-3/4 stick Cold Butter, Cut Into Pieces
1-1/2 cup All-purpose Flour
1-1/2 cup Quick Oats
1 cup Brown Sugar, Packed
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 jar (10 To 12 Ounce) Red Raspberry Preserves
1/3 cup slivered almonds, coarsely chopped

Preparation Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 or 8 x 10 baking dish.

Mix together the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle half the mixture into the pan and pat lightly to pack it a little tight. Spoon raspberry preserves evenly over the surface, then use the back of a spoon to carefully spread it around. Add the coarsely chopped almonds to the remaining half of the oat mixture, carefully spread it out over the top of the jam and pat lightly again.

Bake until light golden brown on top, about 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in pan.

When cool, cut into squares and enjoy.

Try to resist the urge to eat these right away. They're good slightly warm, but no need to burn your tongue on the ultra hot jam!



Notes: Prep time is about 10 minutes, cook time is 40 minutes and the difficulty level is easy. If you don't have homemade raspberry preserves on hand, like my Grandma did, the Bonne Maman brand is a good substitute. I like that it does not contain high fructose corn syrup. I you want to see step-by-step preparation photos, refer to the link I provided to the original recipe I modified, on the Pioneer Woman site.

Enjoy!

Anne

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