Raspberry Bars, Take Two

Close, but no cigar.

This past visit to Philly was a fruitful one, as we went to the Metropolitan Bakery to do another taste test of the now-legendary raspberry bars. I decided to be bold and ask the staff whether they knew whether the crust of the raspberry bars was of the same recipe as the lemon bars, or very different. They didn't rightly know, but before we left, the helpful staff member had dug out the ingredient list for all the bakery items and found the raspberry bars. We discovered that in contrast to the simple shortbread crust of the lemon bars, ground and chopped almonds were important components of the raspberry bar crust, and thus I had my next scavenger hunt clue to continue the chase.

This recipe, which DOES include almonds in the crust, comes from the cookbook of another famous bakery, Tate's Bake Shop.  The crust is a bit crunchier than the last one I tried, but I think I will need to swap out some of the flour for almond flour to see if I can improve upon the crunchiness.

Still, a tasty bar in its own right! Buttery, rich, nutty, and a really nice treat fit to go with a hot cup of tea!

 

Raspberry Squares (Adapted from Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook)

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole almonds, chopped finely (I used a food processor for this)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 & 1/4 cups raspberry jam, poured into a bowl and mixed vigorously to loosen mixture

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x9 inch pan with parchment paper and grease lightly.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg yolk and mix to combine. Add the flour and almonds and mix well. The mixture will be crumbly, although it should not be too dry. 

Pat half the mixture firmly and evenly into the pan, about 3 cups volume. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately spread the jam all over the surface of the crust, leaving about 1/4 inch border along the sides. 

Crumble the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Pat lightly down. Bake for another 40 minutes, or until the crumbs are golden brown on top. Cool completely before removing from pan and cutting.