raspberry pecan bars

These are my mother's favorite dessert from W. D. Deli. If I don't make it to Dallas/Ft. Worth to visit quite often enough, I have to mail a care package containing these precious delicious things to her. She keeps hers in the freezer and eats them a little bit at a time, with hot coffee. I'm pretty sure that we've shared the recipe with her, but if she's anything like me she believes that anything tastes better if somebody else made it. Seriously. They're pretty easy to make, and you could make them with any preserves you like. And when you make them, let me know so I can give you my mom's mailing address.

W. D. Deli Raspberry Pecan Bars

Ingredients:

3.5 cups flour
1.5 cups sugar
1.5 cups chopped pecans
3/4 lb. butter or margarine
2 small or 1 extra large egg
1 15-oz. jar raspberry preserves

Directions:

Prepare a 9 x 13 rectangular baking dish/pan by lining with parchment and/or spraying with nonstick spray.
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients EXCEPT the preserves.
Beat at slow speed, scrapping the sides of the bowl often.
Set aside about 1/4 to 1/3 of the mixture to use as topping.
Press the remaining mixture into the rectangular dish, covering the bottom evenly.
Spread the preserves over this layer, spreading almost but not quite to the edge on all four sides.
Take the set aside remainder of the dough mixture and crumble it over the preserves.
Bake at 350 for 45 to 50 minutes or until lightly browned.
Cool completely before cutting into bars.