4-Layer Raspberry White Chocolate Bars

Every December the ladies at church have a special Christmas get-together. Just us - no husbands, no kids. There is usually some sort of program and always a delicious dinner that we didn't have to cook for ourselves - or wash the dishes from! Gotta love that! This year they asked a few of us to bring a dessert to share and I brought this. Holy cow. Saying they were a hit would be an understatement! I didn't think they were going to be anything that stood out from the assortment of treats that we'd all prepared but I completely underestimated the power of a non-chocolate dessert. They were gone in an instant, and then it started:

"Who brought these!!?"

"Wow! These are so good!"

"Did you try this raspberry thing!!?"

"whisper, whisper...Michelle Pedersen... whisper, whisper.... recipe!"

People got up for seconds, friends asked friends to go grab them one, people that knew I'd brought it asked for the recipe, I saw a friend picking the crumbs from the empty plate - people were even stalking the dessert table to see who picked up the snowman platter so they could ask for the recipe. People that saw me with the empty platter in hand came up and asked for the recipe. I. Was. Shocked. SHOCKED!! I felt like such a celebrity!! LOL

So - Wanna try 'em? Here's how.



Vanilla wafers, raspberry jam, pecans, butter, milk, powdered sugar, vanilla & white chips.

To be fair, I want to point out that I used a lot of Trader Joe's stuff in this recipe - their Vanilla Wafers, their white chips & their jam. I'm sure it would be just as good with Nabisco Nilla wafers, Smucker's jam & Nestle chips, but the one that got crazy rave reviews had a lot of TJ's stuff in it.


1. Melt some butter & chips in a pan over med heat, until melted & combined.
2. Use your food processor to turn the cookies into fine crumbs.
3. Stir crumbs & melted mixture together and pour into a greased 8x8 pan.

Pat it down & set aside - layer #1 is done!

Layer #2 is the easiest one here - grab your jam & spread it over the crumbs. Done!


Next up is layer #3, of course:


1. I forgot to take a picture - but aren't mustaches fun!? You're gonna throw the rest of the chips back into the pan (after giving it a wipe with a paper towel) and melt them down.
2. Put the softened butter, milk & vanilla into a bowl.
3. Using an electric mixer, mix the melted chips & powdered sugar into the bowl with the butter.
4. Spread this over the jam to create layer #3!

Final step - remember that food processor you used to destroy the cookies? Unless you bought pecan chips you'll use it to dice up your nuts. Then just sprinkle them down over the top of the white chocolate layer.

Now lightly pat it down to sink the pecans into the chocolate just a smidge then pop it into the fridge to set for at least a few hours. Cut them into small squares - about 5x5 in this pan, so it'll yield about 25 little squares. They're pretty rich so you don't need much more than that.

Would you believe I plated them up on the platter & ran out the door to my activity without taking a picture of these all cut up!!?? It's true & I apologize profusely. So I'm gonna have to borrow a picture from the amazing Leigh Anne of YourHomeBasedMom.com, who is the genius mastermind behind these beauties. Thank you for a scrumptious dessert, Leigh Anne!

4-Layer Raspberry White Chocolate Bars:

Layer 1:
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup vanilla chips
2 cups vanilla wafer cookie crumbs

Layer 2:
3/4 cup raspberry jam

Layer 3:
2 Tbsp butter, softened
2 Tbsp milk
1/4 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup vanilla chips
1 C powdered sugar

Layer 4:
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped

Spray an 8x8 baking dish with some PAM. In small pan on low heat, melt 1/2 cup butter & 1/4 cup of the chips together, stirring to combine as they melt. Remove from heat.

Using a food processor (or I suppose you could put them in a baggie & abuse them with a rolling pin!) turn your cookies into crumbs. Add crumbs to the melted mixture, stir to combine. Press evenly into the bottom of the greased pan.

Spread jam over crumb mixture.

Wipe your pot out with a paper towel & put it back on the low heat. Melt remaining 3/4 cup of chips, stirring constantly. Once melted, set aside.

In small bowl, combine 2 Tbsp. butter, milk and vanilla; mix well. Gradually beat in melted chips and powdered sugar until smooth. Spread chip mixture over jam.

Sprinkle the top with nuts. Gently press to set the nuts into the chocolate. Refrigerate a couple of hours to firm it all up. Cute into small bars - 5 rows x 5 rows, yielding 25 bars.