Celebrate Valentine’s Day with these delectable Chocolate Raspberry Bar Cookies. Rich buttery batter layered with raspberry preserves and chocolate chunks.
Valentine’s Day is right on the horizon! Do you have plans with your sweetie for the day? It’s supposed to be quite cold here so I’m thinking we’ll stay in, build a fire, and cook prime rib for dinner. With either Potatoes Anna or Crispy Roasted Potatoes on the side. And these luscious Chocolate Raspberry Bar Cookies for dessert. Sound good? I think so!
I kinda wish we didn’t put so much pressure on ourselves for Valentine’s Day. It’s similar to Christmas in that we all fall prey to the excessive marketing hype and go crazy buying cards, chocolate, and flowers. But still, it’s nice to have one day during the year when we make a special effort to show our loved ones how much we care.
Back when I was a child in elementary school, I remember that every year our whole class made little Valentine’s mailboxes to hang on the sides of our desks in anticipation of the day. We decorated our little pouches with hearts and cupids and waited for them to be filled with cards from our classmates.
Valentine’s Day Memories
Remember those little boxes of Valentines with the translucent cellophane envelopes? We’d spend hours selecting just the right one for each classmate. And there was always one in the box for the teacher, too. Everyone in the class got a card from everyone else. It was so much fun and all very innocent.
Then…we all grew up, and things changed dramatically. High school came with all kinds of expectations, and I never felt like I met them. Ever. I wasn’t a “popular girl.” I was very shy and a little chubby which probably tells you all you really need to know. February 14 was not a day I looked forward to.
I didn’t really start to like Valentine’s very much until I met BeeBop, and my whole life changed. He’s a keeper, that one, and I hope he knows all year round just how much I adore him :-).
How to Make Chocolate Raspberry Bar Cookies
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Liberally butter a 9×13 pan and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in the butter.
Add the egg, milk, and vanilla and beat at medium speed with an electric mixer just until well blended. Reserve 1/2 of the batter for topping and set it aside for now.
Spread the remaining batter in the buttered baking pan. In a small bowl (or the measuring cup), stir the raspberry preserves to loosen them a bit. Dollop the preserves over the batter, then spread them evenly. Sprinkle the chocolate chunks evenly over the preserves. Drop the reserved dough by spoonfuls over the chips.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until the batter is golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into bars. When ready to serve, dust with confectioner’s sugar.
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Chocolate Raspberry Bar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter room temperature (1 stick)
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup milk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup raspberry preserves
- 1 cup chocolate chunks
- Confectioner’s sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Liberally butter a 9×13 pan and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in the butter. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla and beat at medium speed with an electric mixer just until well blended. Reserve 1/2 of the batter for topping and set it aside for now.
- Spread the remaining batter in the buttered baking pan. In a small bowl (or the measuring cup), stir the raspberry preserves to loosen them a bit. Dollop the preserves over the batter, then spread them evenly. Sprinkle the chocolate chunks evenly over the preserves. Drop the reserved dough by spoonfuls over the chips.
- Bake 20-25 minutes or until the batter is golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack. Cut into bars. When ready to serve, dust with confectioner’s sugar.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated by software based on the ingredients in each recipe. It is an estimate only and is provided for informational purposes. You should consult your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian if precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
I’m Lana Stuart, an award-winning cookbook author, food blogger, and lifelong cook raised deep in Southwest Georgia. I started Lana’s Cooking in 2009 to share the tried-and-true recipes I grew up with. Around here, the food is full of flavor, the traditions run deep, and there’s always room at the table.
Yes, so sweet what we did in grade school with Valentines. So glad your story has a happy ending. I am a big bar baker. I love these. Of course the flavor combo is classically mouth watering.
Your raspberry bar cookies look delicious. Could you use chocolate morsels instead of the chocolate chunks> Thank you.
Lana these bars look delicious. I’m all about chocolate and raspberries!
Now that sounds like an amazing meal! These bars are so perfect for V-day (but I’d eat them any day). And I used to love decorating my little bag and hanging it on my desk – I looked forward to it every year!
These cookie bars are the perfect way to end a romantic Valentines Day date! Yum!
Those look great. I love how bar cookies are less tedious than regular cookies. Now, if I could only cut them straight…
I agree. BeeBop is a keeper. So is my J. Definitely.
Miss P
Try a pizza cutter to get a straight cut!
I love these bars! Two of my favorite things all in one place!
hubby loves raspberries and chocolate so looks like the perfect treat for a very thoughtful husband. Thank you for recipie
I love these bars! I love baking, I feel like it’s the best way to sidestep all the fuss and hype about holidays – so much better to give something made with love than buying a bunch of stuff!
Love the story. I remember in grade school that some of the kids didn’t give cards to the more unpopular kids and that hurt their feelings so much. I made sure to give one to everyone and that, sometimes, got me in trouble as the boy (I didn’t like) thought maybe I might like him and then started bugging me to be his girlfriend. I guess that’s why they either don’t let the kids give them at all, or they have to give them to everyone. Great looking bars!
I guess we just didn’t even think about not giving one to some people, Lindy. Of course it was a different age back then.
I love raspberry and chocolate paired in desserts; actually working on one of my own today! I’ve never made a bar dessert with the two; evidently that will now be changing…love them.
These are equally delicious with strawberry preserves, Barb. Looking forward to seeing your chocolate-raspberry pairing.
Building a fire, rib roast with delicious potatoes followed by this yummy dessert sounds like the perfect way to spend VDay to me.
I’d much rather stay in than fight the crowds for a table at a restaurant, Bea!
Thank you so much for above recipe and perfect timing for my Garden Club Pot Luck meeting, which always expect something “special” from me. Lana D.
I hope they all enjoy it, Lana!
Valentine’s Day was never big at my school. I remember the first card I got from a boy I liked. I was 18. He folded a piece of lined paper and wrote, “I tolerate you” on it. That’s it. Isn’t that nice? :D
And these bars look incredible! I’m all for a holiday that basically requires chocolate + raspberry treats. :)
“I tolerate you?” How romantic :-)
I agree that Valentines Day can be quite exhausting if we get into the commercial aspect of it, I choose to avoid it by doing things simple at home with the hubby and even the kids. Much quieter and more enjoyable. The raspberry bars sound perfect!
We buy butter by the pound, not by the stick. So how many ounces are in a stick. This is for the raspberry chocolate bars
1 stick = 1/2 cup = 4 oz.