Raspberry Almond Bars (and an award)

Waiting for me this morning, there was a lovely note from Lori, aka Recipe Girl: I was one of the blogs she named for the “Blog of Distinction” award! Aww…thanks, Lori! I’m so flattered, and really, it made my day! If you haven’t yet been over to her blog, you should make a visit: I’ve recently been really enjoying her string of Ina recipes, and she has some great suggestions for Cinco de Mayo (coming up!)

Part of the idea behind this award is that you share the love: i.e., pass it along to others. I knew right away who I wanted to pass this award along to.

Kristin over at The Kitchen Sink — Kristin began blogging around the same time I did. I eagerly await her new posts, because I know that without fail, her recipes will likely go immediately onto my “to cook” list. She’s got a wonderful writing style, tells great stories, and her pictures are always really beautiful! I also enjoy how she shares “process” pictures, not just the finished product.

Gretchen Noelle at Canela & Comino — Another one of my “regular reads.” I really enjoy how varied and interesting both her recipes and stories are about the food she makes — it’s intriguing to read about Peruvian culture through the eyes of a food-lover. Oh, and the photography is great, too! 🙂

So thanks again, Lori! And kudos to you, Kristin and Gretchen Noelle.

News like this deserves some type of food to celebrate, right? (That’s always the motto in my house.) I made these raspberry almond bars a few weeks back as an experiment, and they were pretty delicious. They have a brown sugar shortbread crust (with chopped almonds), and I used frozen raspberries and raspberry jam for the topping. Sprinkled with sliced almonds, they’re jewel-like in their little paper cups. Nice for spring!

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Raspberry Almond Bars

Ingredients
Crust:
1/2 cup whole almonds
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Filling:
1 10-ounce package frozen raspberries, thawed
1/2 cup raspberry jam
zest of 1 lemon
5 teaspoons all purpose flour

For the top:
sliced almonds (about 1/2 cup)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 9×9 inch pan with foil, then butter the foil.

Place the almonds in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until they’re coarsely chopped. Add the flour, salt, and brown sugar and pulse quickly, just a few times, to blend. Add the bits of cold butter and pulse until the mixture forms clumps.

Turn the dough out into the 9×9 pan, and use your fingers to press it down evenly to form the crust. Bake this crust for about 25 minutes, until light golden brown.

Meanwhile, mix together the thawed raspberries, raspberry jam, flour, and lemon zest in a medium bowl.

When the crust comes out of the oven, pour the raspberry mixture over it and smooth with a spatula. Sprinkle the sliced almonds evenly over the top of the pan.

Return to the oven and bake for another 25-30 minutes.

Makes 12 bars.