2 ¼ cup flour½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon kosher salt (if using table salt, decrease to ½ teaspoon)
1 cup butter (2 sticks) at room temperature
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 ½ teaspoons almond extract
¾ cups raspberry preserves, homemade is best
1 tablespoon coarse turbinado or raw sugar, optional
Preheat oven
to 350 degrees. Line an 8×8 pan with a parchment sling (lay an 8″ strip
of parchment across bottom of pan so it hangs over each end, and then lay
another the opposite direction. Alternately you could just line the pan
with foil, or simply spray with non-stick spray. Lining the pan makes it
easy to remove the bars and cut.)
Combine
flour, white and brown sugars, oats, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Cut butter into chunks and add to bowl along with beaten egg and almond
extract. Turn mixer on and let mix until the mixture comes together into
a cohesive dough that looks like coarse crumbs. Remove 2 cups of dough
(about half) and set aside. Press remaining dough into the bottom of the
prepared pan. Spread preserves on top, avoiding the very edge of dough.
Take remaining dough and crumble on top of preserves in an even layer.
If desired, sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
Bake for 40-50 minutes until slightly golden brown on
top. Cool completely before cutting into squares.
The only problem with this recipe is it makes an
8x8-inch pan. I always double it and put
it in a 9x12.
