White Chocolate Razz-Ma-Tazz Bars

I was given a cookbook yesterday by a dear friend (thanks Bri!) and couldn’t wait to try it out. It’s Nestle Classic Recipes, and these bars just had to be made immediately. I love white chocolate. There aren’t nearly enough recipes out there that include it. This one paired it with two other amazing flavors. Raspberry and almond. Yuuuuuum! I was particularly interested in the “grease and sugar” instructions for the pan. I’ve never seen that before. Worked great. The sugar blended with the buttery crust and gave it a nice sweet crunch on the exterior of these bars.

Also intriguing to me was the lack of baking powder or baking soda in the recipe. I wasn’t sure how that was going to turn out, but the results were fantastic. A not-at-all-cakey, sweet and buttery almond bar with hints of jam just poking thru the top white chocolate layer. Delicious!

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 cups (12-ounce package) white chocolate chips, divided
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and sugar (yes, sugar not flour) a 9-inch square baking pan.

Melt butter in a medium, microwave-safe bowl on high power for 1 minute; stir. Add 1 cup white chocolate chips, let stand. Do not stir.

Beat eggs in large mixer bowl until foamy. Add sugar; beat until light lemon colored, about 5 minutes. Stir in chocolate/butter mixture. Add flour, salt and almond extract; mix at low speed until combined. Spread 2/3 of the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake 16-19 minutes or until light golden brown around edges. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.

Heat jam in small, microwave safe bowl on high for 30 seconds until easily spreadable. Spread jam over warm crust. Stir remaining 1 cup chocolate chips into remaining batter. Drop spoonfuls of batter over jam. Sprinkle with almonds.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until edges are browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.
Makes 16 bars.