These poppy seed blood orange bars were a real labor of love…or probably more accurately, a testament to my stubbornness. What you see above is a bar comprised of juicy, tangy orange curd and a buttery crust replete with tiny pop(py seed)s of crunch, whose vibrant color is cheery enough to brighten any cold, dreary winter day.
This was not the case with batches one and two. The filling of batch one had a liquid ratio of two parts orange juice to one part milk, and sadly, the opaqueness of the milk all but negated the beautiful color of the blood oranges. To compare, batch one is on the left and batch three is on the right:
The bigger problem, however, was the taste: it was a major disappointment. I had adapted the filling recipe from a recipe for lemon bars, replacing the lemon juice with orange juice, but I had failed to take into account that oranges are not merely sweeter versions of lemons. Lemons pack a much more powerful flavor punch, which meant that my orange bars were just kind of faintly citrus-flavored.
For batch two, I replaced the milk with lemon juice, using a liquid ratio of two parts orange juice to one part lemon juice. The transparency of lemon juice relative to milk solved the color problem, and the flavor was much improved! But unfortunately, I poured the filling into the crust a bit too quickly/carelessly, and the force from the stream of liquid caused little pieces of the crust to break free and swim around in the filling. It tasted great, but looked like some kind of petri dish experiment gone disgustingly wrong. I also found the amount of filling a little on the skimpy side for the amount of crust, so in batch three, I increased the filling by 50% and poured it into the crust very carefully…and at last: success!
So here you have it: a recipe for poppy seed blood orange bars whose bright appearance and flavor will dazzle your eyes and taste buds alike!
On a completely unrelated note, Happy Chinese New Year! May the year of the monkey be happy, healthy, and prosperous for you! Do you know the animal of the year in which you were born?
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 4 1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon blood orange zest
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup + 3 tablespoons sugar (= 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoons blood orange zest
- 1/2 cup blood orange juice (about 2 oranges)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- powdered sugar
- Grease or spray an 8x8 baking pan with baking spray. Optional: line with parchment paper in addition, for even easier removal.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and light. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, poppy seeds, and orange zest, and then add them to the butter and sugar mixture. Mix until a crumbly dough forms. After coating your hands with flour, press the dough into the baking pan. Refrigerate the pan for 20 minutes.
- While the dough is in the refrigerator, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the dough for 15-20 minutes (or until very lightly browned).
- While the crust is baking in the oven, prepare the filling: whisk together the eggs, sugar, and flour. Stir in the blood orange zest and juice. As soon as the crust is out of the oven, lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees, carefully pour the filling over the crust, and bake for 20 minutes (or until the filling is just set).
- Cool completely before cutting into squares. Optional: dust with powdered sugar before serving.
- The color of the bars can fade over time, so I recommend eating them within 3 days of baking.
- I have tried this recipe with dairy-free margarine and with butter in the crust. I slightly prefer the taste of the one made with butter, but you can easily make the bars dairy-free by using dairy-free margarine.
- Filling recipe adapted from Cook's Illustrated.
- Crust recipe adapted from Foxes Love Lemons.
I’m sharing this post at the following link parties: The Wednesday Showcase, Foodie FriDIY, Fiesta Friday, and Recipe of the Week.
Glad you stuck it out! These look incredibly delish!
Thanks, Mary Ann! Delish, indeed 🙂
Good for you for being stubborn! Hah! Seriously, though, I’ve been there with recipes in the kitchen and it’s like “doh!” I’m glad you stuck with it though as poppy seed bars are such a fun and unique dessert idea. 🙂
That might be the first time someone has commended me for stubbornness! I knew I couldn’t be the only one who goes through multiple iterations of a recipe, but it’s still nice to hear it from someone like you 🙂
Looks delicious! I can see baking this for Halloween, given the orange color!
Thanks! These would be fun for Halloween, but unfortunately, I’ve never seen blood oranges for sale at that time of year…
LOVE the pop of color! What a labor of love and I’m sure glad you didn’t give up!
Thanks! I’m glad, too, but I nearly threw in the towel after batch two, when the price of blood oranges went up at the store…
I feel your pain on the recipe adapting!! I think I made 7 different versions of a cinnamon roll recipe I have coming up. It really does get to the point where stubbornness kicks in, and you’re going to perfect that stupid recipe if it kills you!
These are gorgeous. I love blood oranges and poppy seeds so I’m definitely going to have to give these a try. I’m glad you stuck it out, they look like they were worth all the suffering! 😉
Wow, I applaud you for your perseverance! I’ll have to keep an eye out for those cinnamon rolls. Let me know if you give these orange bars a try!
Really lovely results! All that testing paid off in the end! I was born in the year of the dragon. Happy Lunar New Year to you!
Thanks so much! I was also born in the year of the dragon 🙂
But a different decade most likely. I’ve got my 20 year college reunion coming up next year. 🙂
We’ve all been there: having to make multiple batches of something to get it just right. Glad you finally figured it out. 🙂 These poppy seed blood orange bars turned out beautifully!
It’s reassuring to hear that! Thanks, and thanks for stopping by 🙂
These are so gorgeous! I’m so glad you tried so many times – they look perfect 🙂 And sound ahhhhmaaazing.
Thanks so much, Cristina! And thank you for hosting such a fun link party 🙂
Those sound like a great use for fresh blood orange! I love your photos here, so colorful. The bars have a nice color themselves too 🙂
Thanks, June! I’m so glad to hear that you like the photos 🙂
I love anything blood orange! You made me want to go buy more ASAP. These bars are such a different combination of flavors, but I want to give them a try. Thanks for sharing them at the Wednesday Showcase!
Thanks, Jenna, and thanks for hosting! I hope you get a chance to try these 🙂
Wow. You’re so talented! Those took a lot of patience!
Thanks! I may be patient (or just stubborn…could be either, actually!), but not as much as Tracy (above)!
Love these! Happy Chinese New Year to you too 😀
Thanks! I hope you had a nice celebration 🙂
These look delicious! Your pictures are gorgeous! I LOVE all things poppy seed and citrus! 🙂 <3
Thanks so much, Laura! I hope you get a chance to try these 🙂
These bars look lovely! I love the delicate orange color. I am glad you experimented until you found the right combination–we can benefit from your hard work! Thanks for sharing the successful recipe. 🙂
Thanks, Jenny! Blood oranges have such a lovely color that I kind of felt like it owed it to them to figure out a bar that would showcase their color.
These look beautiful. You have encouraged me as I have a couple of recipes I’m persevering with. You have encouraged me to stick with it, and perhaps like you I can draw lessons from my mistakes. Mistake # 1 for me was not turning off the computer while I had something on the go.
Oh no! I’ve made that mistake before. I’m glad I could provide some encouragement, and good luck with your recipes!
Oh my god! I love blood orange and these look sooo amazing. Happy FF!
Thanks, Andrea, and thanks for being a host this week! I hope you get a chance to try these sometime.
Good for you trying a few times as the end result is fantastic-looking! I want to dive in…
I’m with you on wanting to dive in! There is something so bright and rejuvenating about citrus. Thanks for stopping by!
Persverance always gives good results! The bars look gorgeous! Happy Valentine’s Day!
Thanks, Suchitra! Happy Valentine’s Day to you as well!
They look absolutely mouth-watering! Thank you for bringing them along to Fiesta Friday and for making my day!
Ginger x
Thanks so much! And thank you for being a host this week 🙂
These bars look absolutely terrific! Kudos to you for getting it right!
Thanks! I was pretty relieved when they finally came out the way I wanted.
Yummy yummy! These look absolutely delicious! The colour of the blood orange is so pretty too 🙂
Thanks, Beth! Truth be told, blood oranges aren’t my top pick when it comes to flavor (I slightly prefer Cara caras), but they’re certainly my top pick when it comes to color!
I am glad that these turned put success at the end. These bars look stunning and delicious. 🙂
Me too! Thanks so much!
These look awesome! Love, love LOVE blood orange. Definitely need to try these
Thanks, Michelle! I hope you enjoy these as much as we do 🙂
Blood orange is my absolutely favourite fruit. These sound delicious! #recipeoftheweek
It sounds like these are right up your alley, then! Thanks for stopping by!
These are so cute! That was my first thought, and my second thought was, these look so delicious! 😀 I loved reading about your trial and errors and all the work that went into putting together the recipe. Such great thinking on the lemon juice instead of milk for flavour and colour. I’m so glad you persevered!
I’m glad you enjoyed reading about the process! I was a little wary about adding milk in the first place…I guess I should have gone with my gut instinct. Thanks so much for stopping by!
These look amazing – what a combo of flavors. I think I might eat the blood orange topping first and then the bottom last!
Thanks! I hope you get a chance to try these sometime!
Ummm how did I JUST see these?! These look insanely delicious.
Better late than never, right?! And thanks 🙂
Your resilience through the R&D totally paid off, look at these beauties!
My favorite part of a bar is always the crust and I LOVE the crust ratio you’ve got goin’ on here.
Gorgeous!
-Lauren-
Thanks, Lauren! The crust-to-filling ratio can be a contentious matter…I’m glad we’re on the same page 🙂
These are gorgeous!
Thanks, Jessica! I’m glad they caught your eye.
Are you kidding me?!? These look incredible! I probably would have given up! Thank goodness for stubborness, right? I need to remind myself that when I’m dealing with stubborn kids!! haha.
Thanks so much! Although I don’t know…it’s much harder to find the silver lining in dealing with stubborn kids! I’m glad my blog name made you laugh 🙂
oh and I love your blog name! made me chuckle!
These are just beautiful! So creative to add poppy seeds!
Thanks! I’m all about texture, so I love adding things like poppy seeds to recipes.