Raspberry-chocolate bars - house beautiful

3 dozen

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
¼ cup Shelled whole hazelnuts
¼ cup Slivered blanched almonds
2½ cup All-purpose flour
½ teaspoon Baking powder
¼ teaspoon Salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, slightly softened
⅓ cup Plus 2 T sugar
3 larges Eggs
1 tablespoon Kirsch or orange juice
½ cup Red raspberry jelly
2 ounces Bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
½ ounce Unsweetened chocolate (or for a sweeter taste omit unsweetened chocolate and substitute another 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate)

Directions

In a shallow baking pan in a preheated 325'F oven, toast hazelnuts 16 to 18 minutes, or until hulls begin to loosen and nuts are slightly colored and fragrant. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. When nuts are cool enough to handle, remove hulls by vigorously rubbing a handful at a time between your palms or in a clean dish towel. (Some skin may remain on hazelnuts, but they should be free of hull.) Spread the almonds in a separate baking dish and toast in a preheated 325'F, oven 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely. Combine hazelnuts and almonds and chop moderately fine.

In a bowl sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl beat butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add 2 of the eggs and the kirsch, and beat until well blended. Stir in half of the dry ingredients and ⅓ C of the chopped nuts. (Reserve remaining nuts to decorate cookies.) Stir in remaining dry ingredients and mix until dough begins to hold together.

Divide dough into thirds and place each third on a large sheet of waxed paper. Using your hands, roll each dough section into a log 11 inches long. Transfer logs to greased baking sheet, spacing them as far apart from one another as possible. Use the side of your hand to form a deep, trough, about 1½ inches wide, down the center. (Be sure the trough has a rim all the way around it to keep jelly from running.) Place remaining egg in a small bowl and beat with 1 T water until well combined. Brush top and sides of each log with egg mixture.

Bake in the center pf a preheated 325'F oven 9 minutes. Remove from oven. Lightly brush logs again with egg mixture. Spoon about 2 ½ T of the jelly evenly along the indentation of each log; lightly sprinkle logs with some chopped nuts, reserving a few for decoration.

Return logs to oven and bake 11 to 13 minutes longer, or until browned and the jelly is bubbly. Remove from the oven and let stand 15 minutes. Transfer to wire racks set over waxed paper.

In top of a double boiler, combine chocolates and shortening and stir until smooth. Remove from heat. Drizzle chocolate over logs and let stand until completely cooled. Transfer logs to cutting board, and using a long, sharp knife, slice each log crosswise, on the diagonal, into 12 or 13 slices. Store in an airtight container up to 4 days, or freeze logs whole up to 1 month, then thaw and slice before serving.

Makes about 3 dozen 3-inch-long bars.

House Beautiful Holidays 1993 Scanned & fixed by Di and Gary

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