Apricot & Cream, Pineapple & Cream, Raspberries & Cream Streusel Squares

Crust:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup powdered sugar

Filling:  

1 jar (12 ounces) seedless preserves or jam 

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Topping:

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup walnut halves, chopped

Preheat oven to 350.  For crust, place butter in microwave dish and microwave on high 1 minute or until melted.  Add flour and powdered sugar; mix until crumbly.  Reserve 1/4 cup of the crust mixture for topping.  Sprinkle remaining crust mixture evenly into bottom of bar pan; press down to an even thickness.

For filling, combine jam and flour in small bowl; mix until smooth.  Spread jam mixture evenly over crust.

For topping, place cream cheese in small microwave bowl and microwave on high at 30 second intervals until softened.  (my cream cheese was soft after the second time of doing this for me, here in Indiana)  Add powdered sugar; whisk until smooth.

Attach open star tip to decorator bag; fill with cream cheese mixture.  Pipe cream cheese mixture in diagonal rows, 1 1/2 inches apart, onto jam layer.  Chop walnuts.  Combine nuts and reserved crust mixture; sprinkle evenly over topping.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until edges re light golden brown.  Remove from oven; cool completely.  Cut into squares

Yield:  32 squares.

Tips:  I used a larger cast iron dish due to having 3 different types of preserves which I wanted to use up because I had the opened containers in the refrigerator.  I  just put the one with the most in the middle of the dish and the other two on opposite ends.  

You can put this in a 9 inch baking pan and if you feel like the crust is too much for it - use a larger pan - the crust is melt in your mouth delicious so no worries if it is thick.  I like thinner crust so I used a larger dish.