GUEST: Nancy Coco SHORTBREAD LEMON RASPBERRY BARS #recipe @vmburns #giveaway

 VMBURNS: Today, I'm thrilled to have Nancy Coco in the kitchen ALL THE WAY FROM SCOTLAND!!!!. She's sharing information about her new book, a lovely recipe, and a fantastic giveaway! Welcome, Nancy!

Some Like It Fudgy, Others Like It Tangy

Hi all! Allie McMurphy is known for her chocolate treats but sometimes in life you find yourself with a restricted diet. One that limits lovely things like chocolate. It’s hard to come up with new recipes for a fudge book when you can’t eat chocolate. So, I started adding non-chocolate desserts.

Shortbread Lemon Raspberry Bars are a tasty tangy sweet dessert or anytime snack that is a wonderful treat for spring.

Welcome from Glasgow, Scotland. Sometime last year I decided to take 2026 and travel various places spending a month at a time to see if I want to retire there. (Don’t worry, I doubt I’ll ever retire from books.) The plan was to spend a month in each country in areas not known for tourist attractions and see if I feel at home.

So far Scotland is the winner.

Here are two pictures from Downton Glasgow and one of the inside of the train station.

Of course, it snowed the day I arrived as if to welcome me to true Scottish Spring. I loved it.

When I happily agreed to do this blog, I had no idea I would be in Scotland. I had a devil of a time finding the ingredients. I had to make some last-minute adjustments but, in the end, I think it came out just as lovely and delicious.

SHORTBREAD LEMON RASPBERRY BARS

INGREDIENTS

Shortbread Crust

(I thought it only reasonable to make shortbread while I’m in Scotland.)

1¾ cups + 3 tablespoons of flour

7 tablespoons of corn starch

7 tablespoons of sugar

1/8 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of melted butter

Toppings

¾ cup of seedless raspberry preserves (if using preserves with seeds, run it through a sieve to remove most of the seeds)

2 cups of canned lemon pie filling

Optional: 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and fresh raspberries for garnish

Figuring out where the ingredients are and what was the Scottish version was tough. In the supermarkets there are rows and rows of bread, pastries, candy and more. But when it comes to baking supplies, there are only a few small portions scattered about. My biggest trouble was finding the canned lemon pie mix. I ended up buying the box kind and making it myself. It did fine but was not very convenient. The ingredients seen here are the best match (that’s real melted butter in the one cup measure cup.

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350^oF. Or in my case 180 ^o C. If you can figure out how to use the stove. LOL No really, I watched three videos to figure it out. In the end I merely moved the big knob to 180 and everything worked perfectly.
   
   
   
2. Line 13x9-inch cake pan with parchment paper. All I had was a single round spring form cake tin. I figured it would do in a pinch.
3. Next, sift the dry ingredients into a medium-size bowl. Add melted butter. Use a rubber spatula to gently stir and press dough until no dry ingredients remain. Don’t over-stir!
   
   
   
4. Then I use the spatula to gently pat the short bread into the cake pan and create a smooth surface. (Don’t overwork the dough or it will get tough.)
5. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown.  
6. As I said, wasn’t able to find a canned lemon pie filling here. So, I chose a cooked filling in a box that you had to cook yourself. While the base was cooking, I made the filling.
7. 
8. Mine included adding water and egg yolk. You can use a box kind, too, or if you’re ambitious, you can make your own lemon curd. Be sure to read the box and have the necessary ingredients on hand to make the pie filling. Make the filling using the directions on the box.
9. Remove the short bread from the oven. While it’s still warm, spread the raspberry preserves over it, making sure to cover all the shortbread.
   
   
   
10. Gently so as not to mix the two, spoon the lemon filling over the top of the raspberry preserves. Place the dessert back in the oven for 20 minutes. Pull it out and while it’s warm, use a hot knife to score the bars to keep from crumbling later.

 

Cool. If desired, lightly dust bars with ¼ cup of powdered sugar—beware: mine melted fast-- and decorate with fresh raspberries and lemon peel. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. Once set, gently cut along scored lines, and serve.

FYI – sometimes things aren’t always picture perfect. I don’t know if it was the boxed filling or the moisture in the air here, but when I removed the side ring of the spring form pan, the fillings shifted to the right, and some dripped off the short bread. It didn’t look pretty but it sure did taste yummy!

It makes around 24 bars.

READERS: What do you do when you can’t find all the ingredients for a recipe? Do you improvise? If it doesn’t look picture-perfect, do you serve it anyway? What other kinds of flavors do you think Allie should use? There will be a giveaway of one new book for the best answers.

SOME LIKE IT FUDGY

Allie McMurphy lives the sweet life running her world-famous fudge shop on Mackinac Island—but when a killer strikes, she has to turn from creating confections to extracting confessions . . .

TAKING A BITE OUT OF CRIME

As a gesture of goodwill, Allie is bringing a tray of assorted fudge to her new husband’s ex-wife, Melonie. But she finds Melonie’s body on the floor of her photography studio—where a remote-controlled camera keeps snapping picture after picture. In one, she’s alive, and in the next, she’s dead.

While Rowan Giles, another visitor to the shop, chatters nervously—and incessantly—Allie dials the police, though she encourages her husband to leave the case to another officer. Several unidentified people were leaving when she arrived on the scene. Nevertheless, Rowan is the top suspect, thanks to one thing she didn’t talk about: her bitter relationship with Melonie. Was Rowan just stirring the pot with all her gossipy gabbing?

Allie’s not so sure. She’s learning about some dark secrets in Melonie’s past. And identifying an obvious suspect is one thing, but finding the truth is a whole other kettle of fudge . . .

Don’t miss out. Pre-order Allie McMurphy’s newest mystery, Some Like It Fudgy, today, The book releases April 28^th, 2026

NANCY COCO

USA Today bestselling author of Fudge Bites, Nancy Coco—also known as Nell Hampton and Nancy Parra—has written 35+ novels and counting! Her cozy mystery lineup includes six deliciously fun series: Oregon Honey-comb Mysteries, Candy-Coated Mysteries, Kensington Palace Mysteries, Wine Country Tours Mysteries, Gluten-Free Baker’s Treat Mysteries, and Perfect Proposal Mysteries. A proud member of Sisters in Crime, Nancy always loves hearing from readers!