Melt in Your Mouth Raspberry Crumb Bars
These raspberry crumb bars have a buttery shortbread base with an extra light and melt-in-your-mouth crumb topping. They are perfectly sweetened by the layer of raspberry filling!
Servings: 24 squares
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons corn starch
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cup (20 tablespoons) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract optional
- 2 cups raspberry jam
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar for dusting on top optional
Instructions
- Sift the all purpose flour and corn starch together into a large bowl. Add the baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine.
- In a separate large bowl, cream the butter and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, vanilla extract, and almond extract until well combined. The mixture should be very light and fluffy.
- Add about 1/4 of the flour mixture into the butter mixture and beat to combine on low speed. Continue adding the flour in small portions and beating until incorporated. If the batter becomes too stiff for the mixer, finish mixing by hand with a spatula.
- Remove 1/4 of the dough and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze for at least 2 hours or until solid. Pat the remaining 3/4 of the dough into a flat square, around 1 inch thick. Cover in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
- After chilling, preheat oven to 350ºF. Place the chilled square of dough on a large piece of parchment paper and flour lightly. Roll into a large rectangle, around 1/4 inch thick. Transfer the dough with the parchment onto a large baking sheet.
- Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the shortbread is very light brown. Remove from oven and allow the shortbread to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Then spread the raspberry jam into an even layer on top of the shortbread.
- Remove the frozen dough from the freezer and grate over the jam layer using the large holes of a box grater. The raspberry jam should be mostly covered in a layer of shredded dough. Transfer back to the oven and bake for another 20-25 minutes, or until the top is lightly golden browned. Let cool completely on the baking sheet.
- Once cooled, slice into bars of your desired size and optionally dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy at room temperature or slightly warmed!
Notes
For the best texture, I recommend sifting the flour with the cornstarch, but this step can be skipped if you are short on time or don't have a sift.
If the dough has chilled for longer than 1 hour, it may be too stiff to roll out. Simply allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 5-10 minutes and then roll.
You can also grate the frozen dough into a separate pile and then sprinkle over the raspberry jam. If you don't have a box grater, I recommend pulsing the dough in a food processor until it forms small/medium crumbs. Then sprinkle over the jam.
Make sure to let the bars cool completely before slicing. They are very delicate when warm and may fall apart if you try to cut them.