Circle B Kitchen
These cookie bars are so good I don't even know where to start. I got the original recipe for raspberry bars from Fine Cooking and they would have been amazing without the Nutella layer, but with hazelnuts in the cookie dough and chocolate/raspberry being one of my favorite combinations, I couldn't resist adding in that Nutella. I toasted the hazelnuts on a sheet pan in my toaster oven, and then placed them on a clean towel and then rubbed the towel over the hazelnuts which took off most of the loose skins. It's OK if you can't get them all off. I let them cool and then chopped them in the food processor. As for the Nutella/chocolate mixture, this makes enough to make a fairly thick layer of chocolate, but I didn't want to overwhelm the raspberry flavors, and ended up only using about 3/4 of it. You can use all of it or just a little, depending on how much chocolate you would like in your cookie bars.
Recipe adapted from Fine Cooking
3 sticks (3/4 lb) + 2 tablespoons room temperature butter
1-2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
3-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups chopped, toasted hazelnuts
2 cups raspberry preserves
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup Nutella chocolate spread
Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9x13-inch pan. Line the pan with parchment paper and then spray with nonstick cooking spray.
In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour and mix just enough to incorporate. Add the nuts and mix a little longer until just blended.
Press about two-thirds of the mixture into the prepared pan.
Place the chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave, 30-45 seconds at a time, stirring until melted. Stir the Nutella spread into the melted chocolate. Set aside.
Spread the Nutella chocolate mixture over the dough on the bottom of the pan and then spread the raspberry jam over the chocolate. Crumble the remaining dough on top. Bake for about an hour, until the top is lightly browned.
Let cool completely. As the cookies are cooling, use a knife to loosen the edges of the cookie bars. When completely cool, grab the edges of the parchment paper, lift it out of the pan and slice into bars.