Chocolate Raspberry Pie Bars

Today I found that I had half a tin of sweetened condensed milk languishing in the refrigerator. I also had a punnet of raspberries that needed using up.

I did what any good cook and baker would do. I went on a search for some ideas of what I could do with them. 

I came up with this tasty recipe which I found.  It was too large for just the two of us, however and I didn't have enough of the milk to make the full recip.

So I used my noggin' and cut the recipe successfully in half.  I also managed to convert it to British measurements, so that was also a win!

 

(Before Baking)

I find recipes are very easy to cut in half when you weigh instead of measure things.  It works very well.  That is why baking by weight is much more precise.  There is no guess work involved.

 

Do you love chocolate?  Fresh Raspberries?  Buttery cookie crusts?  Then this is the bar/slice for you!  

(After Baking)

I cut all of the ingredients in half. I was able to bake them in an 8 inch square pan.  Easy peasy.

 

 I made sure to line the pan with a good overhang of baking parchment. I always do this when making squares.  This helps to make them really easy to lift out after they hve cooled. 

 

Its also very easy to cut squares if you have the out of the pan. You get a much neater finish.

 

With these squares, you end up with a crisp and buttery brown sugar, almost shortbread-like crust. That is topped with a sweet milk chocolate filling, cookie dough crumbles, semi sweet chocolate chips and fresh raspberries. 

 

What's not to like about that! Not a heck of a lot I say!  Not a heck of a lot!

 

I got16 small bars by initially cutting the 8 inch square into an "X" going from one corner to the opposite corner in two directions.  

 

So what I ended up with was 4 large triangles. 

 

Then I did a cut straight down from the middle going from both sides, which gave me 8 medium size triangles, then I cut each triangle in half, giving me 16.  

Truth be told, however, no matter which way you cut them, if you bake these, you are in for a very, VERY moreish treat that will have everyone scrambling for seconds! 

These are truly irresitably deliciously impossible to put down!

Because they contain fresh fruit and milk products, you will want to keep them in the refrigerator. 

 

I am guessing that for those very same reasons they probably won't freeze all that well, but I could be wrong.  ☺  Just so you know.

 

 

*Chocolate Raspberry Pie Bars*

Maes 10 to 20 bars

(Depending on how large you cut them)

Printable Recipe 

 

A buttery crumble cookie crust topped with a sweet milk chocolate cream, more buttery crumble, fresh raspberries and semi sweet chocolate chips and baked.  Totally scrumptious. 

 (half measures in {} ) The baking time remains the same.

For the buttery crumble/crust:

250g butter, softened (1 cup) {125g or 1/2 cup}

280g plain flour (2 cups) {140g or 1 cup}

110g soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup, packed) {55g or 1/4 cup}

1/4 tsp salt {pinch salt}

For the topping:

180g milk chocolate chips (1 cup) {90g or 1/2 cup}

180g semi sweet chocolate chips (1 cup) {90g or 1/2 cup}

397g sweetened condensed milk (10 ounces) (not evaporated) {197g or 5 ounces}

250g fresh raspberries (2 1/2 cups) {125g or 1 1/4 cups} 

 

 

Preheat the oven to 180*C350*F/ gas mark 4.  Butter a 9 by 13 inch baking tin. {8 inch square pan} Line with baking paper, leaving an overhang for lifting out.  butter the paper. 

Cream togethr the butter and brown sugar until light and creamy.  Stir in the flour and salt until crumbly.  Press 500g of this into the prepared baking tin evenly. (1 3/4 cup) Set the remaining crumbs aside. Bake the cookie base in the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown. Tip the condensed milk into a small saucepan while the base is baking. Add the milk chocolate chips. Cook and stir over low heat until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.  Pour this mixture over the partially baked base.  Sprinkle the reserved crumbs on top. Scatter the raspberries over top of the crumbs and sprinkle on the semi sweet chocolate chips.
 

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.  The mixure should be cooked through and the crumbs set.  Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

I did dust them with some icing sugar because I thought

they would be prettier, but it wasn't

really necessary!

If you only bake one thing this weekend, let it be these!!  

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