Raspberry Almond Cookie Bars

This little slices of fruity, buttery goodness are the answer to the question of what to make for dessert tonight.  Because that is always a question, right?  These come together so quickly and easily, I've made them twice in the last week.  You just mix up the dough in the stand mixer and use the same dough for top and bottom layers, with some raspberry preserves sandwiched in between.  No other parts to mix up, no other bowls to get dirty.  Not only that, but the buttery almond cookie combined with the sweet-tart raspberry has the perfect amount of softness and crunch, richness and lightness.  And it's just pretty!

Raspberry Almond Cookie Bars

Number of Servings: 16
Time to Prepare: 2 hours

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature, cut into chunks
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 3/4 cup raspberry preserves
• 1 Tbsp coarse Turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8x8 pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Combine flour, sugars, oats, salt, butter, egg, and almond extract in a stand mixer.  Mix until it comes together into a slightly crumbly dough.  Set aside about 2 cups of the dough and press the remaining dough into the prepared pan.  Spread the preserves on top (you can microwave it for a few seconds to help it spread more easily if needed), to about 1/4" from the edge all around.  Crumble the remaining dough on top of the preserves in an even layer.  Sprinkle with Turbinado sugar.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the top is golden brown.  Allow to cool for at least an hour, then cut into squares.

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