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Glazed Orange Poppy Seed Bars Recipe

A cross between a blondie and cake, these simple glazed orange poppy seed bars are packed with white chocolate, vanilla, and fresh orange flavor.

I made today’s bars after falling in love with my glazed orange pound cake. I picked my brain and archives for inspiration on a variation of said pound cake and came up with today’s bars. Or blondies. Or cake bars. They’re a cross between cake and a dense blondie. A blake. Or a clondie…?

Whatever we call them, today’s glazed orange poppy seed bars are good. Really, really good.

To throw you completely off, this recipe doesn’t begin like a blondie or even a citrus cake recipe. Rather, it starts like a brownie recipe. Butter is melted down with pure white chocolate to create one rich, flavorful base. This is the same way I begin my favorite chewy fudgy frosted brownies, only using white chocolate instead of semi-sweet. Since we’re using melted butter, there is no need to pull out that mixer. Everything is mixed by hand.

White chocolate is already quite sweet, so I don’t use quite as much sugar as I do with brownies, blondies, or cakes. Two eggs create a wonderfully moist, dense bite while the baking powder lifts everything up to create a cakey blondie texture. I like to compare their texture to these snickerdoodle blondies. So if you’ve had the pleasure of those, you know what to expect here.

For supreme taste, make sure you’re using pure white chocolate. ↓ ↓

For a little texture and crunch, I add poppy seeds. Not too many, but just enough to keep my texture loving tastebuds satisfied. Vanilla extract adds a layer of goodness and and and let’s not forget all that orange flavor! I make the bars with Sunkist navel oranges. Fresh and flavorful, these oranges always fit the bill when I’m looking for high quality taste. Especially when it comes to my baked goods. Fresh orange juice goes right into the batter, along with a hefty amount of orange zest.

The combination of vanilla, white chocolate, and orange is insane. It’s like a creamsicle meets a white chocolate bar. And yes! You can absolutely use lemon instead of orange today. Even grapefruit for an interesting twist.

And this is the kind of glaze that “sets” after a few minutes and slightly cracks when you take every bite. In other words, the BEST GLAZE IN THE WORLD. You know the kind. To achieve this texture, you simply have to warm the glaze ingredients on the stovetop and pour over the cooled orange poppy seed bars. Or you can dip each bar individually.

The glaze is also flavored with fresh orange juice.

These wonderfully zesty, sweet, buttery, glazed, truly incredible and unique dessert bars that taste much more fancy than they actually are to make. And one bite will leave everyone begging for the recipe.

Right this way for more brownies/bar recipes.

Prep Time 30 mins
Cook Time 40 mins
Total Time 1 hr 10 mins
Cuisine:
Courses:
Servings: 12
Description

A cross between a blondie and cake, these simple glazed orange poppy seed bars are packed with white chocolate, vanilla, and fresh orange flavor.

Ingredients You’ll Need
  • 6 Tablespoons (85g)
  • 8 ounces (226g)
  • 1/2 cup (100g)
  • 1 and juice zest from orange*
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 and 1 3/4 cups (219g)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
  • 3 Tablespoons (45ml)
  • 2 Tablespoons (30ml)
  • 2 cups (240g)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • optional garnish: orange slices
Instructions
  1. 1
    Melt the butter and white chocolate together in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes. Or melt in a medium microwave safe bowl in 20 second increments, stirring after each, in the microwave. Remove from the heat, pour into a large mixing bowl, and allow to slightly cool for 10 minutes.
  2. 2
    Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square baking pan* with aluminum foil or parchment, leaving an overhang on all sides. Set aside.
  3. 3
    Whisk the granulated sugar into the cooled butter mixture. Whisk in the orange juice and zest, then the eggs. Whisk until the batter is completely smooth, then whisk in the vanilla. In a separate medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds together. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
  4. 4
    Pour batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the bars are lightly browned around the sides and on top. If you find they are browning too quickly on top, loosely cover the bars with aluminum foil. A toothpick inserted into the center of the bars should come out with very few moist crumbs when the bars are done. All ovens are different, so keep an eye on them after 30 minutes and use the toothpick test to see when yours are finished. Allow the bars to cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack.
  5. 5
    Combine the glaze ingredients, except for the fresh orange slices, in a medium saucepan over low heat. Whisk until the glaze is smooth. Remove saucepan from heat and either (1) pour glaze over the cooled pan of orange bars, then cut the bars into squares or (2) keep the saucepan of glaze over low heat, cut the orange bars into squares, and dip each individually into the glaze. Garnish each square with orange. The glaze will set after about 10 minutes.
Keywords: all-purpose flour, butter, confectioners-sugar, eggs, granulated sugar, milk, orange juice, orange zest, oranges, poppy seeds, vanilla extract, white chocolate
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