Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Bars

I've often said that my feelings towards Valentine's Day are like drinking a couple ice-cold, ultra-hopped beers:
They'd be pretty bitter if I weren't so numb.

However! Don't let that stop the rest of you from enjoying some delicious Valentine's Day treats! And what says Valentine's Day better than a decadent dessert with tart raspberry against nature's greatest aphrodisiac, chocolate? A crunchy cookie with a truffle-like layer of chocolate is just what the love doctor ordered.

I first found a recipe for Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Bars in the Nestle Classic Recipes cookbook (which is a surprisingly delicious collection of recipes and worth the buy, considering how cheap you can find it.) I made some for a house concert with the Vulgar Bulgars and they went over well. However, I cannot leave well enough alone and made an attempt to mod the recipe, because that's what hardcore gourmets do.
So, without further ado:

Chocolate Raspberry Cookie Bars

Crust:
1 cup softened butter or margarine
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup light brown sugar, divided
1/4 tsp. salt

Topping:
3 cups chocolate chips, divided
2 14oz. cans sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease up a 9x9 baking dish.

Now, in a large mixing bowl, whip up that butter until it's light and creamy.



Beat in flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt until crumbly.


Reserve 3/4 cup of the crumb mixture, mix it with the remaining brown sugar, and set it aside.
Take the rest of the crumb mixture and press it into the bottom of the pan. You might want to flour up the hands for this part!

Now, go ahead and bake that crust until it's brown around the edges and the middle seems reasonably firm, but don't overbake! You don't want it to burn during the second bake cycle! It's best to just eyeball this, as it's hard to give a time; but if pressed, I'd say it'll be about 10-15 minutes.

Now to make some luscious chocolate topping. Put 2 cups of the chocolate chips (I used half dark chocolate, half semi-sweet) and the sweetened condensed milk into a large microwave safe bowl. Heat it in the microwave in 30 seconds intervals, stirring at every interval. You do NOT want burnt chocolate, it will not get you the lovin' you crave.

When the chocolate/milk mixture is fully blended, go ahead and spread it on the newly-baked crust.

My GOD, that is delicious looking. But it gets better! Take your reserved crumb mixture and sprinkle over the the fudge topping. Now, spoon... spoonfuls... of raspberry jam over the whole delicious looking layer. And lastly, sprinkle that remaining cup of chocolate chips all over the whole thing.


Now stick that whole kit and kaboodle back into the oven for another 20 minutes or so. The top layer of crumbs should be browned. Take it out and let it cool. Then cut and serve to your sweetie for some guaranteed ROWR.


And let this be Chef Z's V-day gift to you.

Post-Post Notes:
While this dish came out fully edible, even decadently delicious, there are some changes I'll be making when I make this next.
* I had issues with the bars being too chewy for comfort around the edge. Next time, I'd probably mold a crust up the sides of the pan to protect the raspberry/fudge layer.
* The chocolate layer seemed a bit too thick and too creamy for what I imagined for this dessert. Next time, I'd use all dark chocolate for a little extra bite. I'd also decrease the chocolate layer to 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips and 1 can of sweetened condensed milk.
* I love the raspberry/chocolate combination and I longed for more from this dessert. Next time, I'd probably refrigerate the fudge topping after being poured into the crust. Hopefully, it would harden enough to spread a thin layer of raspberry jam over the entirety of the layer before adding the crumbs and additional chocolate chips before baking for the final time.

~Chef Z