Dark Chocolate Raspberry Bars

What could be better than chocolate and raspberries!  Two delicious things and combining them they make an even more delicious thing! These bars are not for the faint of heart though, the combination makes them extremely rich and decadent.  You will want to be sure to cut these into small pieces because very few people can eat a big piece.

I got the original recipe for these bars on Pinterest and altered it slightly after making them the first time in order to make them even better! I added almost double the amount of raspberries and switched to using frozen instead of fresh (its what I had on hand) and I think they turned out great! I'm not sure if you could make these with other types of fruit, I've been tempted to try using strawberries but the raspberries just pair so perfectly with the bars that I always seem to come back to the dark chocolate raspberry combination.

I also want to be sure to point out that this is not one of my healthier recipes, it contains a lot of butter and sugar but what fun is life if you don't indulge every once and awhile right? :)  For recipes that are especially bad but delicious, like these bars, I like to make them every once and awhile for large gatherings...which means that I can have one or two (if there are leftovers) but I wont be tempted to eat the whole bunch of them.  

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Bars

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup dark chocolate chips

• 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

• 2 pints fresh or frozen raspberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 inch pan with non-stick spray.  Set it aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl cream butter with an electric mixer.  Then mix in the brown sugar, flour, and salt until it is thoroughly mixed.  It will come together to look like a cookie dough mixture.  
3. Press 1 3/4 cups of the mixture into the prepared baking pan.  Set the remaining mixture aside to be used later.
4. Bake the crust for 10-14 minutes until it is golden brown on top.
5. While the crust is baking combine the sweetened condensed milk and dark chocolate chips in a small sauce pan.  Stir over low heat until the chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth.  
6. Remove the crust from the oven and pour the chocolate mixture over the warm crust.
7. Sprinkle the remaining crumbs over the chocolate layer evenly.  Then sprinkle the raspberries over the crumb layers to be followed with the mini chocolate chips.
8. Bake the pan for 20-30 minutes.  Make sure if you used frozen raspberries that you bake the bars until they are fully set.  Let the bars cool completely before cutting. 

These bars are for sure a hit with most crowds and you probably want to make them for a group of people because then you will not fall prey to eating them all yourself.  But speaking of eating them... I have one leftover from the party that's just calling my name.... Enjoy!!

Adapted from Original Recipe Found On: Deliciously Sprinkled