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 (15 degrees Saturday night!) 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. 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 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 it very much until I met BeeBop and, of course, my whole life changed. He’s a keeper, that one, and I hope he knows all year round just how much I adore him :-).
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.
Enjoy!
]Adapted from Hershey's Classic Recipes All text and photographs on Never Enough Thyme are copyright protected. Please do not use any material from this site without obtaining prior permission. If you'd like to post this recipe on your site, please create your own original photographs and either re-write the recipe in your own words or link to this post.
Chocolate Raspberry Bar Cookies
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 24 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 167 Total Fat: 6g Saturated Fat: 4g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 2g Cholesterol: 20mg Sodium: 102mg Carbohydrates: 26g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 18g Protein: 2g
More bar cookie recipes you might enjoy from around the internet:
- Cinnamon Roll Cookie Bars from Cookies and Cups
- Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Bars from Baking Bites
- Twix Caramel Cookie Bars from Two Peas and Their Pod
- Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Bars from My Baking Addiction
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars from A Family Feast
What I was up to…
- One Year Ago: Bacon and Pecan Topped Toffee
- Two Years Ago: Southwestern Style Chicken
- Three Years Ago: Chocolate Walnut Pound Cake
- Four Years Ago: Peas with Lettuce
- Five Years Ago: NeeNa’s Company Chicken
- Six Years Ago: Overnight Sweet Rolls
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.
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!
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 :-)
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!
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!
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.
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 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!
hubby loves raspberries and chocolate so looks like the perfect treat for a very thoughtful husband. Thank you for recipie
I love these bars! Two of my favorite things all in one place!
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!
These cookie bars are the perfect way to end a romantic Valentines Day date! Yum!
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!
Lana these bars look delicious. I’m all about chocolate and raspberries!
Your raspberry bar cookies look delicious. Could you use chocolate morsels instead of the chocolate chunks> Thank you.
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.