Frosted Raspberry Bars Recipes

OLD-WORLD RASPBERRY BARS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Line 8- or 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, extending foil over edges. Grease foil; set aside.
• Combine all crumb mixture ingredients in bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 2 cups crumb mixture; set aside.
• Press remaining crumb mixture on bottom of prepared baking pan. Spread preserves to within 1/2 inch of edge. Crumble reserved crumb mixture over preserves.
• Bake 40-50 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely; cut into bars.

RASPBERRY STREUSEL BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300°F (149°C). Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving enough overhang on all sides. Set aside.
• Stir the melted butter, granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the flour and stir until everything is combined. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
• Remove the crust from the oven, and turn the oven up to 350°F (177°C).
• Spread preserves over warm crust. Dot the preserves with raspberries on top.
• Whisk the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour together in a medium bowl. Cut in the chilled butter with a pastry blender or two forks (or even with your hands) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the filling with streusel and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the streusel is golden brown. The raspberry filling should be bubbling on the edges.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes at room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (or overnight). Lift the foil or parchment out of the pan using the overhang on the sides and cut into bars. I usually cut them into 16 smaller bars, but you can cut them into 12 larger bars. Drizzle the bars with vanilla icing, if using. These raspberry bars can be enjoyed at room temperature or cold. I personally like them cold.

RASPBERRY CRUMBLE BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place raspberries in a large colander. Run warm water over them for a minute, and then let the liquid drain out for about an hour until softened and thoroughly drained (see notes). Mix raspberries with sugar, flour, cornstarch, and lemon juice.
• Mix the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, butter, and salt together into a crumble-like mixture. Press two thirds of the crumble into the bottom of a 9×13 pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes.
• Arrange the raspberry layer on top of the baked bottom layer. Sprinkle with remaining crumble. Bake for another 25-30 minutes.
• Remove from oven. They will need a little time to set up into "bar" formation, so chill them for a few hours to get them really solid. Orrrr... cut into it right away and eat it like a soft fruit crisp! You should be able to remove them from the pan easily by pulling up on the edges of the parchment paper.

RASPBERRY FROSTING

Steps:

• Puree berries with granulated sugar in a food processor until smooth. Pass mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible.
• In another bowl, beat butter on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and add confectioners' sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in berry puree. Frosting can be stored in refrigerator up to 2 days; bring to room temperature and beat on low speed until smooth again before using.

FROSTED RASPBERRY BARS

Steps:

• Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl.
• Whisk eggs, milk, and vanilla together in a small bowl.
• Beat butter and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with egg mixture, beating dough briefly after each addition. Divide dough in half and wrap in plastic wrap; chill for 2 hours or until firm.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 15x10-inch baking pan.
• Roll out 1 portion of dough into a 15x10-inch rectangle; carefully transfer to the prepared pan. Spread with raspberry pie filling.
• Roll out remaining dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into 1/2-inch wide strips and weave into a lattice pattern over filling.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack, about 1 hour.
• When bars are almost cool, prepare frosting. Beat cream cheese, marshmallow creme, butter, and shortening together in a bowl until smooth. Gradually add 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar and milk, beating until smooth. Drizzle over bars. Chill until set. Cut into bars.