These raspberry and white chocolate cookie bars combine a buttery, vanilla-rich cookie base with creamy white chocolate and bursts of tart raspberry. Finished with a delicate white chocolate drizzle, pistachios and freeze-dried raspberries, they feel refined enough for dessert while keeping to classic flavours everyone loves.

Spring is upon us, and these bars are such a delicious way to welcome the season. They’re an elevated take on the classic cookie — simple enough for a relaxed brunch or an informal dessert, but pretty enough to feel a little special.

They’re also perfect for wrapping in brown paper and taking along to a spring picnic, afternoon tea or gathering with friends. I love recipes like this that are wonderfully simple to make, yet always disappear quickly thanks to that much-loved combination of buttery vanilla, creamy white chocolate and tart raspberry.

The bars can be baked ahead and frozen, making them especially handy to have on hand. Simply thaw, then add the white chocolate drizzle, pistachios and freeze-dried raspberries just before serving for that freshly finished look.

I buy my freeze-dried raspberries online, but they’re becoming much easier to find and are now stocked by many mainstream supermarkets and wholefood stores.

What's in this recipe?

Cookie bars

Butter
Butter provides the fat needed to bring the cookie dough together while giving the bars their rich, buttery flavour and soft texture. Use good-quality unsalted butter for the best flavour.
Brown sugar & caster sugar
The combination of both sugars gives these bars their ideal texture. A higher ratio of brown sugar brings moisture and that classic soft, gooey cookie texture we all know and love, while caster sugar adds just enough sweetness and helps the edges caramelise.
Vanilla extract
We’re very generous with the vanilla here! It enhances the creamy sweetness of the white chocolate and adds a beautiful depth of flavour to the buttery cookie base.
Egg
A large egg helps bind the ingredients together while adding moisture and richness to the cookie dough. It also helps give the bars their soft, chewy texture.
Flour
Plain flour provides the structure needed to turn the cookie dough into thick, sliceable bars while keeping them soft and chewy rather than cakey.
Baking powder
Just a touch of baking powder gives the bars enough lift to keep them light and tender. We still want plenty of gooeyness without them becoming dense or stodgy.
Salt
A small amount of salt balances the sweetness and helps all of the buttery, vanilla, white chocolate and raspberry flavours really shine.
White chocolate
Roughly chopping good-quality white chocolate gives you a lovely mix of smaller pieces and generous chunks throughout the dough, allowing the flavour to disperse while still giving you those irresistible pockets of melted chocolate. I personally love big chunks of white chocolate in my cookies, but you can chop them smaller if you prefer.
Freeze-dried raspberries
Freeze-dried raspberries give these bars plenty of tart raspberry flavour without adding the extra moisture of fresh berries, which can make cookie dough soggy. They’re now available in many mainstream supermarkets, although I personally like to buy mine online.

To finish

White chocolate
Melted and drizzled over the cooled bars for a pretty finish. It also gives the pistachios and freeze-dried raspberries something to cling to.
Pistachios
Add a lovely nutty crunch that pairs beautifully with the tart raspberries and creamy white chocolate. They also give the bars a beautiful pop of colour.
Freeze-dried raspberries
A final scattering of freeze-dried raspberries intensifies the raspberry flavour and adds a beautiful touch of colour to the finished bars.
Salt
A very light sprinkle helps balance the richness of the white chocolate while bringing out the flavour of the raspberries.

Step-by-step photos

Creaming butter & sugars

Folding through raspberries & white chocolate

Pressing dough into tin

Baked cookie fresh from the oven!

Cutting chilled cookie into bars

Melting white chocolate in microwave