Lemon Poppy Seed Bars

This last weekend I threw my baby sister a baby shower. The theme was “What Will Baby Bee?” Her and my brother in law are not finding out the gender and so we thought this theme was perfect. It turned out so cute. Between the “bee” balloon arch and the little “bee” details everywhere, it was perfect. My sister requested Lemon Bars and Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting. I already have an amazing brownie recipe, you can find the base for it here but I didn’t have a simple Lemon Bar recipe. I have an incredible Lilikoi Bar recipe but she specifically requested Lemon Bars. So I went to the drawing board and ultimately came up with these Lemon Poppy Seed Bars.

These bars start with a basic shortbread crust with the addition of a little salt and of course, poppy seeds! I love the slight little twist the poppy seeds bring to this traditional dessert. It takes it from basic to amazing. Next, the filling is made up of eggs, sugar, flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, and my secret ingredient, passion fruit juice. Now, I know what you’re thinking, lay off the passion fruit stuff Shae, but just trust me, adding a little bit of passion fruit juice to these lemon bars just takes them to the next level.

If you are new here, I order my passion fruit juice from Tastes of Aloha, I order 4-5 bottles at a time so that I always have some on hand when I am wanting to make something with passion fruit. You can use my code: shaemakes for free shipping on your entire order! If you don’t have passion fruit juice, you can replace it with more lemon juice and still have incredibly delicious results so don’t stress if you don’t want to order passion fruit juice!

Tips & Tricks:

• If you don’t have passion fruit juice, replace it with more lemon juice. Be sure to use FRESH lemon juice, not lemon juice from a squeeze bottle.
• I prefer these bars cold and they are much easier to cut once they have chilled in the fridge for a couple hours.
• These bars freeze beautifully! Just wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and stick them in a Ziploc bag and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months!

Lemon Poppy Seed Bars

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• Author: shaemakes
• Prep Time: 15
• Cook Time: 45
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 18–24 1x

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Description

Lemon bars with a poppy seed twist! These lemon bars are sweet, tart, gooey and oh so delicious. The perfect treat for any occasion!

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For the crust:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup salted butter, softened
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp poppy seeds

For the Filling:

• 2/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1/3 cup passion fruit juice, or an additional 1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 6 large eggs, beaten
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1 cup flour
• 2 3/4 cup sugar

Topping:

• 1/3–1/2 cup powdered sugar

 

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Instructions

For the crust:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a food processor or stand mixer add butter, flour, sugar and salt. Mix on low if using a hand mixer until incorporated or pulse a few times until incorporated if using a food processor.
3. Stir in the poppy seeds.
4. Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper and then spray liberally with cooking spray.
5. Press the dough into the parchment lined pan and bake for 15 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven.

For the filling:

1. Whisk together all filling ingredients until smooth.
2. Slowly pour the filling onto the crust and return to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until set. The mixture should still be somewhat jiggly but not liquid still.
3. Remove and let cool completely before transferring to the fridge for a couple hours to set up completely.
4. Once cool, remove from the fridge and dust the top with the powdered sugar.
5. Cut into squares and serve.
6. Store leftovers in the fridge.

• Category: Dessert

Keywords: lemon bars, lemon dessert, citrus dessert, dessert idea, lemon poppyseed, poppyseed, lemon poppyseed bars