Here are my simple raspberry streusel bars with four incredible layers: a buttery shortbread crust, thick raspberry filling, brown sugar streusel, and a drizzle of sweet vanilla icing.
Remember the raspberry bars I had at my sister’s bridal shower a few weeks ago? No? You’ve probably moved on with your life since reading me gush about said raspberry bars. I, however, have not. Those raspberry bars have been front and center on my mind and I finally got around to making them.
I realize I’m not talking about chocolate layer cake or some Oreo stuffed caramel cookie concoction and that these are just… raspberry bars… but no. No, no, no. They are so much more than “just raspberry bars.” Look at them! That crumble! That vanilla icing!
This is a wonderful dessert for the upcoming warmer weather, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, baby and bridal showers, and the like. They’re something everyone is guaranteed to love and you can easily double the recipe to make a larger batch to feed more partygoers.
The bars are so simple to make and each layer is completely different. Many raspberry bar recipes typically call for a single dough for both the top and bottom crust, but I find that the simple shortbread dough is a little lacking in the “wow” factor on top. Rather, I desire texture and brown sugar goodness that can only come from a streusel crumb topping. The answer to all of life’s problems, right?
The buttery shortbread is the perfect bottom layer for my raspberry bars. Let’s talk about the crust for a minute. This shortbread crust is one of my favorites. It makes a couple appearances in Sally’s Baking Addiction Cookbook as well as in my Apple Pie Bars. (<–Have you made those? omg.) There is nothing fancy about the crust, but that is what makes it so lovely. Just butter, sugar, vanilla, and flour mixed together to form a uniquely crumbly, yet dense crust.
I used raspberry preserves in these bars, but you could also use homemade raspberry cake filling instead. Both are tasty but I find that there is usually a pièce de résistance missing from the bars. So, I add fresh raspberries as well. This amps up the raspberry flavor making the filling the center of attention between all the layers.
The streusel on top? Well, that’s a necessary layer of indulgence of course. I use a simple brown sugar cinnamon oat streusel to layer on top of the raspberry filling. It’s my go-to streusel for these types of bars. Here is my apple pie bars and my pumpkin streusel bars, both using this exact streusel topping.
Hey. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
The vanilla icing is completely unnecessary but on this beautiful spring day, I’ve got the windows wide open, music blasting, the cool breeze blowing in, strawberry lemonade in hand, and my god I’m feeling jazzy! So, let me rephrase. The vanilla icing is completely NECESSARY.
*The ingredient list looks long, right? Don’t get nervous! A lot of the ingredients are repeated in each layer.
More Dessert Bar Recipes
I love serving brownies & bars because they’re handheld and easy to eat, plus they’re great for freezing and transporting too. I have plenty more flavors and variations:
Raspberry Streusel Bars
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 20 minutes
- Yield: 12-16 bars
- Category: Bars
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Here are my simple raspberry streusel bars with four incredible flavors: a buttery shortbread crust, thick raspberry filling, brown sugar streusel, and a drizzle of sweet vanilla icing.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
Filling
- 3/4 cup (240g) raspberry preserves*
- 12–16 fresh raspberries*
Streusel
- 1/2 cup (43g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
- 1/3 cup (70g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4Â teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup (31g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/4Â cup (60g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- optional (but encouraged!): vanilla icing for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (149°C). Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving enough overhang on all sides. Set aside.
- Make the crust:Â Stir the melted butter, granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the flour and stir until everything is combined. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove the crust from the oven, and turn the oven up to 350°F (177°C).
- Spread preserves over warm crust. Dot the preserves with raspberries on top.
- Make the streusel: Whisk the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour together in a medium bowl. Cut in the chilled butter with a pastry blender or two forks (or even with your hands) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the filling with streusel and bake for 30–35 minutes or until the streusel is golden brown. The raspberry filling should be bubbling on the edges.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes at room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (or overnight). Lift the foil or parchment out of the pan using the overhang on the sides and cut into bars. I usually cut them into 16 smaller bars, but you can cut them into 12 larger bars. Drizzle the bars with vanilla icing, if using. These raspberry bars can be enjoyed at room temperature or cold. I personally like them cold.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: The bars will stay fresh in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5 days. You can freeze the bars for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving and glazing.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 8-Inch Square Baking Pan | Parchment Paper | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Pastry Blender
- Fruit Preserves: Try these bars with other flavors! Strawberry preserves, peach preserves, orange preserves, you name it.
- Raspberries: You can use frozen raspberries instead. Thaw and pat dry before using.
- Double Batch: This recipe can easily be doubled and baked in a 9×13-inch pan. Bake for 45 minutes and cool completely as directed in this recipe.
I am about to make this recipe but I am oit of brown sugar. Will regular granulated white sugar do?
Hi Ajla, brown sugar is best here because of the added moisture and flavor it adds to the streusel topping. You *could* use granulated sugar in its place, but the results will be a bit different and the streusel will be a bit more crumbly.
Raspberry Perfection! This is so easy to make and so delicious and a beautiful addition to my Christmas treats. I doubled the recipe and used a parchment lined 9×13 inch pan.
I skipped the icing and omitted the cinnamon from the streusel topping (friend is allergic). Easy to make and buttery delicious. The fresh raspberries make them extra special in taste and appearance.
This is one of my favorite Sally’s recipes. I made them as written the first time. They were good. But the second time I made them I made a few changes and now they are one of my favorite recipes. I have made these bars all kinds of jam (I cup of jam – I have tried peach, plum, blood orange marmalade, etc). I leave out any fresh fruit. I add 3/4 cup oats and 1/2 cup almonds to the streusel. And for the glaze I add 1 tbsp of the jam to the ingredients. Excellent and versatile!
I’ve made these twice before with success. This time, they are very « we » on top — icing just melted into the raspberry topping the topping was so wet. I let the bars cool completely before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating. I used fresh raspberries. They taste good, but the texture is off putting so I won’t serve them to guests. I cannot fathom what went wrong.
Hi Jordan, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. It sounds like the streusel topping may have been overworked, causing the butter to become too warm and the topping to “melt” into the bars. You’ll want the topping to resemble coarse crumbs before adding to the top. Hope this helps for next time!
Thanks for the response. I don’t believe I overworked the streusel topping. It seemed to me that the fresh raspberries expelled too much liquid. One indication is that when I cut the bars, removed one, and then looked the next day, there was a watery liquid in the bottom of the pan, not a greasy, buttery substance.
I make.them all the time. I just use raspberry preserves. I’ve even done them with swerve instead I’d sugar and still yummy
Can I use quick oats instead of rolled oats for the topping? Thanks!
Hi Gina, although quick oats will work in a pinch, whole oats are preferred because old fashioned oats have much more texture and won’t absorb liquids as quickly as the more powdery quick oats.
These are so delicious! I’ve made them several times! And I refrigerate them because I love them cold!! The only problem I have is that they’re so wet and gooey! Should I let them cool completely before refrigerating?
Hi Cathee, I’m glad you love the taste of these bars! Yes, I think letting them cool completely at room temperature before covering and refrigerating them should help with that, so you aren’t trapping steam in with them. Hope this helps!
I trust your mad baking skills, but for some reason this one fell a tad short. The recipe was simple & easy to follow. The first inkling of a problem was when I was patting the crust into the pan. It seemed really greasy. Then when I removed the crust from the first bake. It seemed there was a lot of butter seeping out. I pressed on and the final product looked fine. I won’t say that it tasted “bad”, it was certainly edible. However, I felt that there was just too much butter in the recipe. I actually went back to recheck the recipe to see if I had made a mistake – I didn’t. The crust was also a bit like concrete. For my own curiosity, I made a similar recipe the next day. It had 1/4 lb. less butter and a tad of baking powder with much better results. My husband even noticed the difference. It won’t stop me from coming back for more recipes, just sharing my experience.
These bars were just delicious! Easy to make. I substituted Apricot preserves and added some ginger to the streusel. so yummy…
This recipe sounds delicious. I’d like to add some dark chocolate chips to the raspberry and the crumb layers. Do you have suggestions about this approach before I get started?
Hi Margaret, we haven’t tested it before, but you could start by mixing in about 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips to the raspberry and crumb layers. Then, feel free to adjust the amount of chocolate chips up/down for future batches. Let us know how it goes!
I made the streusel with melted butter because I was pressed for time. Seems to have worked. I use 1/2 raspberry preserves and 1/2 apricot, because that is what I had. I also used gluten free flour and oats. Very flexible. A great recipe.