Raspberry Streusel Bars

One of my prized possessions is a cookbook of family recipes that was given to me when I got married. The cool thing is that it was put in a photo album so that I could keep adding recipes as I developed my own cooking style. Truth be told my repertoire in the kitchen hasn't drifted far from the lessons I learned from the many southern women in my life who wrote those church cookbooks that contain recipes that feed an army. So, it's only fitting that I found this raspberry recipe in my family photo album and kid you not, it's a recipe found on the box of Fleischmann's Margarine!

Raspberry Streusel Bars

1-1/4 cups quick oats, uncooked

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1-3/4 sticks Fleischmann's margarine, melted

1 cup raspberry jam or preserves

3/4 cup white chocolate chips, divided

1/4 toasted chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Stir in Fleischmann's margarine until mixture is crumbly. Reserve 1 cup crumb mixture; set aside. Press remaining crumb mixture onto bottom of an 8 inch square pan. Bake 10 minutes.

Spread raspberry fruit evenly over baked crust to within 1/4 inch of edges. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips. Combine reserved crumb mixture with remaining 1/4 cup white chocolate chips and almonds. Sprinkle over fruit mixture, pressing lightly into fruit. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack. Cut into squares and serve. Makes 16 servings.

Things I tried with this recipe...

I had a little extra brown sugar, so I added more than the recipe called for and yes, I did stay true and buy Fleischmann's margarine! I purchased Smuckers' seedless red raspberry jam and 1 cup was the whole jar, I thought it would be too much, but it was a good balance with the crumb mixture. I did not include almonds - I just didn't feel like adding them and I don't think the recipe missed them at all.

The mistakes I made were thinking I could make a white chocolate raspberry sauce (do not melt white chocolate chips in the microwave - always use a double-broiler) or that I thought I had the time to make jam/preserves on my own...I entertained the idea for a few brief moments.

Overall, this was a yummy dessert made even better when warm and topped with Vanilla Haagen-Dazs ice cream and a couple of fresh raspberries. I displayed this dessert on a "American" patterned salad plate by Fostoria - a set of plates given to me by one of those southern ladies in my life.