Raspberry Bars

These Raspberry Bars are a sweet, bright, and buttery dessert. We layer raspberry jam between two layers of shortbread. The top layer of shortbread has a couple of fun additions — granola and almonds– which add even more flavor and a fun texture to these bars!

If you’d prefer oatmeal crumble instead of shortbread, give our Oatmeal Jam Bars a try! (Use raspberry jam instead of the blackberry jam for Raspberry Oatmeal Bars.) 

The Best Raspberry Bars

These Caramel Cookie Bars are a favorite in my home — shortbread and caramel is a match made in heaven! But besides caramel, I don’t think anything pairs quite as perfectly with shortbread as a fruity filling. These raspberry Thumbprint Cookies or Lemon Curd Cookies are both prime examples.

But today, instead of cookies, we’re combining shortbread and fruit in the form of bars — Raspberry Bars to be exact.

These bars have a gooey, sweet raspberry jam filling with a buttery shortbread crust and topping. The shortbread has a touch of lemon flavor added, which pairs beautifully with the raspberries. And the top shortbread layer is encrusted with crunchy granola and sliced almonds for even more flavor and texture.

Raspberry Bars With Shortbread Crust

The star of the shortbread crust is the butter; let’s chat more about this ingredient:

Truly, any butter will work in these bars, as long as it’s not margarine or any kind of artificial butter. Not only will margarine fail to cream properly, but the flavor will really suffer. 

And while any butter will work, I do recommend good-quality butter since butter really is the star of the base and crumble. The better the butter, the better the flavor of the dough! We love and use this butter in these Raspberry Bars.

Additionally, I recommend unsalted butter. Why unsalted? We need to be able to perfectly control the amount of salt in these bars and the salt content in salted butter varies tremendously. It would be easy to end up with too much salt in the dough.

Raspberry Bars with Fresh Raspberries

If you’re feeling ambitious (or asking yourself, “what can I do with a lot of raspberries?” after a berry-picking adventure) you can make your own raspberry jam using fresh raspberries.

Try out this recipe that calls for 4 cups of fresh raspberries from Epicurious. When making your own jam, stick to fresh, sweet, ripe raspberries for the best possible jam.

Raspberry Bar Tips

• Line the pan with parchment paper. This not only keeps the clean-up to a minimum but ensures the raspberry jam doesn’t stick to the sides. Plus, the bars remove easily for cutting.
• Spread jam leaving a 1/4th inch border. When spreading the jam, don’t go all the way to the sides; it will fill in as it bakes without bubbling up and over the sides.
• Don’t melt the butter at all. Otherwise, it won’t properly cream with the sugar, affecting the texture of these bars and how well they bake.
• Use good quality jam. The better the jam, the better the flavor! We love Bonne Maman’s® jams (not sponsored).

More Delicious Desserts:

• Key Lime Pie with a graham cracker crust
• Raspberry Fluff with vanilla yogurt
• Raspberry Jello Dessert with a graham cracker crust and cheesecake filling
• Lemon Bars with a shortbread crust
• Lime Cookies with a simple glaze

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5 from 5 votes

Raspberry Bars

By Chelsea Lords

Raspberry Bars are a sweet, buttery treat with a layer of raspberry jam between shortbread. Topped with granola and almonds for extra flavor and crunch, these bars are simply irresistible!

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Servings: 24 bars; 1 (9x13-inch) pan

Equipment

• Baking dish 9 x 13-inch
• Parchment paper
• stand mixer or hand mixer
• Cooling Rack

Ingredients 

USMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1-1/2 cups cold, unsalted butter 3 sticks, see note 1
• ▢ 1 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 large lemon optional, for zest
• ▢ 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• ▢ 3 cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1-1/2 cups (15 ounces) raspberry jam see note 2
• ▢ 1-1/3 cup granola without dried fruit, see note 3
• ▢ 1/3 cup sliced almonds see note 4

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9x13-inch baking dish with parchment paper, leaving an overhang for easy removal; set aside.
• In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment (or use a hand mixer), add butter (straight from the fridge) and sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and creamy, scraping the sides as needed. Once the mixture is fully creamed together, add vanilla extract, zest of 1 lemon (optional), and salt. Beat to combine. Add flour and beat until just combined into a thick dough. Do not overmix.
• Press a little over half the dough into the prepared pan. Spread the raspberry jam over the dough into an even layer. Avoid the very edges (leave ~1/4-inch border).
• To the remaining shortbread mixture, add granola and beat to integrate. Drop small pieces of dough over the raspberry jam. Sprinkle almonds evenly on top. Bake 42–45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and almonds are nicely toasted. Remove from oven and set the pan on a wire cooling rack to cool to room temperature. (The bars need to cool to fully set up.)
• Use parchment paper overhang to pull the bars from the pan and place on a cutting board. Cut into squares and enjoy. They’re best enjoyed within 1–2 days (the jam softens the shortbread).

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: The better the butter, the better the flavor of the dough! I love and use this butter. For the proper texture and creaming, the colder the butter, the better (this is a little tricky with a hand mixer, but it creams easily in a stand mixer).

Note 2: The better the jam, the better the flavor! I love Bonne Maman's® jams. You can also swap raspberry jam for a different flavor. I’ve made these bars with wild blueberry preserves and this 4-fruit preserves and loved both iterations! Use seedless jam if seeds bother you!

Note 3: Any granola without dried fruit in it will work great. I’m partial to this easy granola recipe, but any store-bought granola you enjoy will be tasty!

Note 4: Regular sliced almonds are perfect in this recipe. I’ve also made them with these honey almonds, and that was a fun flavor addition!

Storage: Store cooled bars in an airtight container at room temperature for 3–5 days. Or freeze individually wrapped bars for up to 3 months (some loss of texture).

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 206kcal | Carbohydrates: 23.4g | Protein: 2.3g | Fat: 11.8g | Cholesterol: 30.7mg | Sodium: 103.4mg | Fiber: 1.6g | Sugar: 9.7g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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