Chocolatey Raspberry Crumb Bars

Emma brought this recipe home along with an art project at Valentine's Day that I was loathe to complete with her. I do not like art projects. That is why I'm a nurse and not an artist. But we did complete it, over much grumbling on my part. It is a little recipe holder, and this recipe is the sample that came with it. I LOVE chocolate and raspberry stuff. I don't know where the teacher got the recipe from.

Chocolatey Raspberry Crumb Bars
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
2 cups flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups chocolate chips
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam (I used a bit more because I really like it)
1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional (I left them out)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 13x9 inch baking pan.

Beat butter in large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in flour, sugar, and salt until crumbly. With floured fingers, press 1 3/4 cups of crumb mixture onto bottom of prepared pan; reserve remaining crumb mixture. Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

Combine 1 cup chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a small saucepan. Warm over low heat, stirring until smooth. Spread over hot crust.

Stir nuts into reserved crumb mixture; sprinkle over chocolate filling. Drop teaspoonfuls of raspberry jam over crumb mixture. Sprinkle with remaining chocolate chips.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until center is set. Cool in pan on wire rack. 3 dozen bars.

We had this for home fellowship. Nathan watched me make this and was freaking out that I was putting jam on them, because he doesn't like jam. So I left a square without jam for him. I thought these were so great. Of course, I knew I would like them before I even tried them, really, because of the chocolate and raspberry combination. One of the HF husbands asked his wife, who asked me, "does Monika always put chocolate and fruit together?" The answer is: not always, sometimes it chocolate and peanut butter. But I really like chocolate and fruit. This one is definitely one I will make again.