Raspberry Almond Bars

Name: Raspberry Almond Bars
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 48 serving(s)
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups butter, softened; 2 cups sugar; 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 4 large egg yolks; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 4 cups all-purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 cup almonds, chopped; 1 cup seedless raspberry jam

Submitted by Lizzymommy

"Altered from a friend's recipe that originally called for Walnuts, these cookies are my teens' favorite from our annual Holiday cookie trays (which usually includes 24-36 different kinds of cookies, so...they have some STIFF competition!) Wonderful all year round, these are simply scrumptious. One terrific variation is to add a layer of lemon curd on top of the raspberry jam or you can substitute half of the flour with ground almond meal. DIVINE! Of course, you can always sub walnuts for the almonds to go back to the original recipe. :)"

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Ready In:: 1hr 15mins
Ingredients:: 10
Serves:: 48

ingredients

1 ¹⁄₂ cups butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 large egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
1 cup almonds, chopped
1 cup seedless raspberry jam

directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9x13-inch baking pan by lining with heavy duty foil crosswise and lengthwise and then evenly grease the foil. This eases removal from the pan, which in turn makes it much easier to cut into even pieces. If you're going to skip this step, just grease your pan very well. :).
In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Beat in lemon peel and cinnamon. Reduce speed to low; beat in egg yolks and vanilla until well combined, frequently scraping bowl. Slowly add flour and salt and mix just until blended, occasionally scraping bowl. Stir in walnuts.
With lightly floured hand, pat half of dough evenly onto bottom of prepared pan. Spread raspberry jam over dough, leaving 1/4-inch border all around. With lightly floured hands, pinch off pieces of remaining dough and drop randomly on top of jam (it's okay if dough pieces touch); do not pat down.
Bake until crust is golden, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
When cool, cut into medium-sized pieces or 1-inch squares.