Raspberry Cream Cheese Bars

1/2 pound butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 cup rolled oats
12 oz. cream cheese
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup raspberry jam (see NOTE below)


Cream butter and sugar in mixer until well combined.  Add flour and oatmeal and mix gently to make crumbly dough.  Pat 2/3 of dough into buttered 9X13″ pan, set aside 1/3 dough for topping.  


Combine cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk in mixer and beat until smooth – this will be a fairly thick mixture.  Drop cream cheese mixture onto crust and spread with back of metal spoon or spatula.  Soften the jam (see my NOTE) in microwave until pourable, and spread over cream cheese mixture.


Crumble remaining dough onto top of raspberry preserves.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned.


NOTE:  I do not use the raspberry jam – instead:


RASPBERRY TOPPING
2 (10 oz) pkgs frozen raspberries, thawed
2 T sugar
2 T cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water


Mix raspberries with sugar in saucepan and heat to a boil; stirring constantly.  Mix cornstarch with cold water and add to raspberries.  Cook until thickened; stirring frequently.


This sauce is also good over ice cream, crepes, cheesecake, etc.  I make this a lot!