Raspberry Jam White Chocolate Almond Bars

It's a ridiculously long name for these bar cookies but when you taste them, they will Knock. Your. Socks. Off.  These are my favorite holiday cookie and one of my favorite Things To Do with a Jar of Jam.

This year Lily wanted them for her birthday cake.   Her birthday [which was on the 23rd] is the official kick-off of our holidays.  Our holiday baking starts that day and goes through New Year's Day, which is why I'm posting so many recipes lately.  

I hope you can find a moment to make even a half batch of these.   You'll love them. 

I used some of my own black raspberry jam for these.   You could substitute out a different kind if you like.   I was thinking about how good it would be with cherry jam.  Or apricot jam.  Or a chunky apple jam.   Mmmmm.  [Or marmalade...?]


Raspberry Jam White Chocolate Almond Bars
www.rurification.com

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups butter
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
2 eggs
1 pint red or black raspberry jam [Or cherry jam, or apricot, or chunky apple jam.]
1 cup white chocolate chips [vanilla chips]
4 oz slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine sugar, butter, salt and vanilla.  Cream together.   Add flour one cup at a time and beat until crumbly.   Remove 1 cup of this mixture and set aside.   Add eggs, one at a time to the rest of the mixture and beat well into a dough.   Press the dough evenly into a 13 x 9 pan.   Bake for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.   Remove from oven.

Spread jam evenly over hot crust.  Sprinkle white chocolate chips evenly over the jam.  Sprinkle the almonds evenly on top.    Evenly crumble the rest of the crust mix that you had set aside on top of everything.   Return to oven and bake for another 25 minutes until lightly golden.  Cool completely, then cut into bars. 

Lulu's Cookies

I mentioned before that the girls had been working on recipes for the Nancy Drew HER interactive recipe contest.    They had time for just one more entry last week, so they whipped up a small batch of these chocolate wonders.

They are a very nice variation of Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies, with the addition of craisins and pecans.   These were fantastic and they disappeared fast.



The name comes from one of the Nancy Drew games.  Lulu is a rather obnoxious parrot who loves snacks.


Lulu's Cookies
www.rurification.com

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cups sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa
3/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped pecans
2 Tablespoons white chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour, baking soda, and cocoa. Fold in the chocolate chips, cranberries, and nuts.  Using a spoon or melon baller, drop 1-inch balls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

No-Bake Kapu Cave Coconut Clusters

My girls love the Nancy Drew video [computer] games.   They've played them all and love them all and love the HER Interactive website and blog.  Earlier this month, HER Interactive hosted a cookie recipe contest.   They came up with a recipe that would go with one of the mysteries, made a batch [yum!], we photo-ed them and then they submitted them to the website for a chance to win some Nancy Drew swag.  [Good luck, Girls!!]

They had a lot of fun coming up with these cookies and they are darn good, too!

No-Bake Kapu Cave Coconut Clusters
www.rurification.com

Ingredients:
1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)
1 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 chopped pistachios

Melt the butter and the chocolate chips in a small sauce pan on low. Stir to try to combine. If the butter and chocolate refuse to combine, don't worry. The cookies will be fine.  Mix in the rest of the ingredients and stir until well combined. (It will look dry and crumbly.) Take off the heat and let cool for a minute while you line a cookie sheet with wax paper. When cookie mixture is cool enough to handle, roll into 1 inch balls. Let them finish cooling and setting up. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Note:  You can use sweetened coconut, but that makes them super sweet.   They were plenty sweet without the extra sugar.

Honey Almond Butter Cookies

Here's another great recipe using honey instead of sugar.  It's a classic peanut butter cookie recipe only made with almond butter instead.  Mmmmm.

If you haven't tried making your own almond butter, now's the time to try it.  It's easy.  

Really.   Mmmmm.

These cookies are quick and delicious and the dough can be made ahead and refrigerated for later.




Honey Almond Butter Cookies
www.rurification.com

• 1/2 cup butter, soft
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1 egg
• 2 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt

Heat oven to 375 degrees.   Grease a baking pan.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.   Mix other ingredients in a mixer.  Beat well.   Stir in dry ingredients.    Form dough into balls.  Flatten with a fork or the bottom of a glass.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until blonde, but not brown. 

If you don't have almond butter, these would be good with peanut butter instead.