Chocolate Raspberry Squares

I made these delicious bars with my older sister one evening when she came home from college. If you're a person who likes a chocolate and raspberry flavor combination, you will love these! They are pretty easy to make, which is a plus. My mom got this recipe from Beth Fish.

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cups all purpose flour

1-1/4 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter, chilled and cut into pieces

1/4 cup chopped almonds, optional

3/4 cup raspberry preserves

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (we used Ghirardelli)

1/2 cup (3 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips for drizzling (again, Ghirardelli)

Directions:

1.) Heat oven to 350 F. In large bowl, combine flour, oats, sugars, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter with pastry blender or two knives until mixture is crumbly. Reserves 1 cup oat mixture for topping, set aside. Press remaining mixture onto bottom of ungreased 8-inch square pan. Bake 10 minutes. Meanwhile, stir almonds into reserved oat mixture.

2.) Spread preserves evenly over partially baked crust to within 1/4 inch of edges; sprinkle evenly with 1 cup of chocolate chips and then sprinkle the reserved oat mixture on top. Pat topping gently. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely.

3.) Melt the chocolate chips and drizzle over the top. Let bars stand until set. Cut into bars and store tightly covered.

Notes:

Instead of almonds, we used walnuts.