Raspberry Squares

Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 24
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups oats
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup toasted almond, finely chopped (pecans or walnuts are good too)
• 12 tablespoons butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened but still cool
• 1 cup raspberry preserves (or what ever flavor strikes your fancy, see note)

Recipe

• 1 pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, spray a 9x13" pan with nonstick cooking spray, you may also line the pan with foil with extra hanging over for easier removal, spray foil.
• 2 in mixer bowl, mix flour, oats, sugars, extract, baking soda, salt, and nuts at low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. with mixer running at low speed, add butter pieces; continue to beat until mixture is well-blended and resembles wet sand, about 2 minutes.
• 3 transfer 2/3 of mixture to prepared pan and use hands to press crumbs evenly into bottom, bake until starting to brown, about 20 minutes.
• 4 using rubber spatula spread preserves evenly over hot bottom crust; sprinkle remaining oat/nut mixture evenly over preserves; bake until preserves bubble around edges and top is golden brown, about 30 minutes, turn pan halfway through baking time.
• 5 cool on wire rack then remove from pan using foil handles, cut into squares.
• 6 note:.
• 7 after reading the first reviews for this, i realized the jam i used is lower sugar than many jams (9 gms per tbls) it would be worth it to find a type that isn't overly sweet or try adding a little lemon juice to cut the sweetness.