Imported from the web

Lemon Poppy Seed Bars

Name: Lemon Poppy Seed Bars
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 135 min
Total time: 150 min
Yield: 16 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter (At room temperature; plus more for buttering the pan); 0.667 cup granulated sugar; 0.75 tsp fine sea salt; 2 lemon zest (Finely grated zest of 2 lemons); 2 tsp pure vanilla extract (Or substitute ¼ teaspoon almond extract); 2.25 cups all-purpose flour; 2 tbsp poppy seeds; 1 cup lemon curd (Homemade or store-bought; thick fruit jam or marmalade may also be substituted)

Recipe by Melissa Clark

Imported by Niki Su on SeeMeCook

Curd-filled lemon bars that combine a shortbread-like crust with a crumbly poppy-seed streusel topping. Store-bought lemon curd works well, and thick fruit jam or marmalade can be substituted.

16 servings150 minAmerican

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Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter (At room temperature; plus more for buttering the pan)
0.667 cup granulated sugar
0.75 tsp fine sea salt
2 lemon zest (Finely grated zest of 2 lemons)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract (Or substitute ¼ teaspoon almond extract)
2.25 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp poppy seeds
1 cup lemon curd (Homemade or store-bought; thick fruit jam or marmalade may also be substituted)

Steps

1
Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch square metal baking pan, then line the bottom and sides with parchment paper, leaving 1 inch of overhang on all sides.
2
Add the sugar and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the lemon zest and mix with the paddle until the sugar is moist and fragrant, about 1 minute.
3
Add the room-temperature butter and beat on medium speed until smooth, 1 to 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract, or the almond extract if using that substitution.
4
Turn off the mixer and add the flour. Mix on low speed until combined, about 1 minute.
5
Add the poppy seeds and continue mixing on low until they are incorporated and the dough remains crumbly, about 1 minute. Do not overmix.
6
Transfer 1 cup of the crumbled dough to a small bowl for the topping.
7
Transfer the remaining dough to the prepared pan. Flatten it into an even layer using the flat bottom of a glass or your hands.
8
Spread the lemon curd evenly over the crust.
9
Sprinkle the reserved dough over the curd, crumbling it into pieces as you distribute it.
10
Bake for 40 to 48 minutes, rotating the pan after 20 minutes, until the crumb topping is golden brown and the curd bubbles at the edges.
11
Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the bars cool completely in the pan for at least 1½ hours.
12
Use the parchment overhang to lift the bars from the pan onto a cutting board. Trim away the parchment from the edges and cut into 16 squares.

Notes

The structured recipe data is authoritative. The source notes that store-bought lemon curd works well; thick fruit jam or marmalade may be substituted. A commenter recommends using good-quality butter because its flavor is prominent. Nutrition is an estimate for the full listed ingredient quantities and may vary, especially for the lemon curd.