Lusciously smooth and creamy raspberry filling baked on top of a thick and buttery shortbread crust. These Raspberry Bars are simply irresistible!
Everyone’s heard of lemon bars. Those classically tart and tangy squares of luscious lemon filling and shortbread cookie crust. Well, what if we replaced the lemon with something else? Something sweeter and a little less tart.
What if we replaced the lemon with raspberries?
These Raspberry Bars give your typical lemon bar a much-needed raspberry makeover! With a smooth and creamy filling infused with fresh juicy raspberries and a shortbread cookie crust that’s irresistibly buttery, you’ll be melting deep into your chair with each and every blissful bite.
Why You’ll Love These Raspberry Bars
Lusciously Smooth Raspberry Filling: The filling is perfection. It’s thick, creamy, and just melts in your mouth. The flavor of the fresh raspberries really shines through with each and every sweet, yet slightly tangy bite. Again, it truly is the perfect filling.
Thick and Buttery Shortbread Crust: The shortbread crust is tender, buttery, and not too sweet. It’s enhanced with a little splash of vanilla along with some fragrant and aromatic lemon zest. Its subtle sweetness and soft bite blend perfectly with the raspberry filling.
Simple To Make: These might look somewhat fancy, but they’re super duper easy to make. (Shhh!!! Don’t tell anyone!) Plus, they can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. In my world, make-ahead desserts are definitely your friend!
Tips For Making Raspberry Bars
Add a Touch of Lemon: Even though we’re replacing the lemon with raspberry, we still need some lemon to round out the overall flavor of these bars. Not only is there lemon zest in the shortbread crust, but there’s also some zest and lemon juice in the filling. Just two tablespoons of freshly-squeezed lemon juice is incorporated into the filling, but it makes all the difference in enhancing the flavor of the raspberries.
Line the Pan: Lining the pan with parchment paper (and greasing it!) makes it SO MUCH easier to remove the bars from the pan. It also ensures that you’ll get those nice clean squares since you can slice the entire slab on a cutting board.
Cool and Chill COMPLETELY: This step is absolutely crucial. If you don’t allow the bars to cool for two hours and chill for another two hours, they won’t set up properly. Four hours might seem like forever, but it’ll be even longer if you prematurely cut into the bars, ruin them, and have to make another batch.
Dust with Powdered Sugar JUST Before Serving: Since the filling is rather moist, it has the tendency to quickly absorb the powdered sugar. That’s why I recommend slicing the squares, plating them, and holding off on the powdered sugar until you’re about to serve them.
Can I use frozen raspberries?
You most definitely can! In fact, I used frozen raspberries for these very bars. Just make sure that the raspberries are completely thawed before pureeing them in the food processor.
What if I don’t have a food processor?
You can crush the raspberries in a bowl with a potato masher or fork. It might require a little extra muscle, but it’s definitely possible to extract a lot of raspberry juice using this method.
Can I freeze raspberry bars?
Yes! If properly stored, raspberry bars can be frozen for up to 4 months. Once the bars have chilled completely, use a sharp knife to slice them into squares. Do not dust them with powdered sugar. Place the squares on a large plate or pan and freeze for 2-3 hours. Take them out of the freezer, wrap them individually (or 2-3 together) with plastic wrap, place them into an airtight container, and back into the freezer. When you’re ready to eat one, you can thaw it out on the counter for about 30 minutes. Dust it with powdered sugar, and enjoy!
Raspberry Bars
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust:
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 12 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Raspberry Filling:
- 1 ½ cups raspberries, fresh or frozen*
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
- Pinch of salt
- 2 Tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- Powdered Sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, and grease with nonstick cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the sugar and lemon zest together. Add the butter, and continue beating on high until creamy. Add the vanilla and salt, and continue beating until blended. Slowly mix in the flour.
- Press dough into the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges.
- While crust is baking, prepare the filling. Place raspberries into a food processor and puree until smooth. Pour raspberry puree through a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl, pushing out as much juice as possible. Discard the seeds, and measure out 1/2 cup raspberry juice.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, zest, and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk in the raspberry juice and lemon juice, and then the flour, until combined. Remove the parbaked crust from the oven. Pour the filling onto the warm crust.
- Reduce oven temperature to 325ºF, and bake for 22-26 minutes, or until the center is set. Place pan onto a wire rack to cool completely, about 2 hours. Once cool, cover bars and chill in the refrigerator for 2 more hours.
- Using a sharp knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry, cut raspberry bars into squares. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving.