In all my years of baking, I’m pretty sure I’ve never baked anything with oranges. I really can’t say why, other than that I’m not a huge fan of citrus in general. Sure, I like it. But, if given the choice, I’ll usually take chocolate.
In any case, I started thinking about the ubiquitous lemon bar and began wondering why oranges don’t get their own bar. So, I decided to give it a shot.
First, I started with a sweet almond shortbread crust. My love of shortbread is well-documented. Not only do I love shortbread cookies, I also adore a shortbread crust. This one, in particular, is a favorite.
Then, I plied a custard filling with lots of orange juice and orange zest. All that orange-ness isn’t overwhelming. The citrus flavor is a bit more subtle with these than with traditional lemon bars, and I like that flavor delicacy.
To me, the beauty of these bars is the contrast of the tart orange filling with the sweet crust. If you’re looking for more orange flavor, I’d suggest adding a bit more zest to the filling.
Orange Bars
These homemade orange bars are bursting with bright citrus flavor!
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 cup ground almonds
- 3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
For the filling:
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2/3 - 3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (1-2 large oranges)
- zest of 1 large orange (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- confectioners’ sugar, for dusting top of bars
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 9”x 13” baking pan. Line with parchment paper. Lightly grease paper.
- To make the crust, whisk together flour, confectioners’ sugar, and almonds. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or a fork or your hands. Mix until mixture resembles loose meal and holds together when pinched.
- Spread crust mixture evenly in bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool slightly.
- In a large mixing bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add sugar, orange zest, and orange juice, and mix well. Mix in flour and baking powder.
- Pour filling mixture on top of partially baked crust. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until edges are browned and center is set. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.
- Sprinkle tops of bars with confectioners’ sugar before serving.
16 Comments on “Orange Bars”
They look delicious, thanks for sharing 🙂
These orange bars both sound good and look good! I think I have almost kilo of oranges at home 🙂
I think I am with you on this.
Have I made orange bars?
Maybe tangerine?
Well these look good, really good.
A large slice with hot tea.
Mmm…now you have me thinking about all the possibilities for lemon bars.
I think this sounds like a great idea. I’ve recently seen recipes for orange and mandarin curd, which I’m also ready to try. I have a ton of Cuties, those darling, easy to peel mandarins, that will get put to use in this form for sure! Why should lemons and limes get all the fun?
These look and sound absolutely stunning!! beautiful and delicious way to start the year!
Mary x
Love these! One of my favorite things in the winter is the total excuse to eat as much citrus as possible. I hope this is the start of a beautiful union of you and even more citrus baked goods 🙂
BRILLIANT! I love oranges, and it really is shocking that no one really thinks to switch them in for lemons in creamy bars. What a lovely idea – have to bookmark this for when I get back from Winter Break for sure 😀
I have no idea why they never use oranges either, lemons and limes get all the love. They look good, definitely worth a try. Thanks.
Can you substitute almond flour for the ground almonds? How finely do you ground the almonds?
Deborah, I ground the almonds pretty finely, so almond flour would likely work.
I am going to try this over the weekend, I think I am almost over my holiday sugar coma. I’m going to cut the recipe in half..I’m wondering if a drizzle of dark chocolate to “dress these up for company” would work…things to ponder..Thanks for the inspiration!
I just made these and they were delicious. I used clementines and pecans. I’m excited to try other citrus and nut combos.
Oh, and I wanted to say that most curd/shortbread bars I’ve tried were way too sweet and the shortbread too dense, but these were perfect. It’ll definitely be my new go to recipe.
Can you use regular orange juice instead of fresh???
Hi, Kathy. I think that would work if it’s just orange juice and doesn’t have any other ingredients.