Spiced Orange Bars are What Santa Really Wants this Christmas
Spiced orange bars are a fragrant, spicy spin on lemon bars. Where oranges are reminiscent of classic stocking stuffers, clove and cinnamon are the key warming spices that perfume the best Christmas memories. Combined you have a new treat to serve at your Ugly Sweater Party.
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When I was in second grade, right before Christmas break, our teacher gave us oranges and cloves. Our craft was to stud our little oranges with the cloves in pretty designs for an aromatherapeutic decoration.
Since then, the smell of oranges with clove reminds me of Christmas. They are made for each other. Trust me on this.
Spiced Orange Bars Sound Fancy, But They’re Very Easy
Now, to make these bars you’re going to create two elements: a shortbread crust and a simple spiced orange curd. While you may think spiced orange bars sound complicated, they really are pretty easy to put together.
Perfecting the Shortbread Base
This is a simple 4 ingredient cookie crust. Start by whisking together flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Then, take two sticks of softened butter and cube them. Drop the cubes into your bowl and proceed to mush it with your hands until it all starts to hold together.
Now, if your hands are sticky from the dough, you might have some trouble pressing it down into your 9×13 pan. My workaround for this is to set another piece of parchment paper on top. Press the dough into the corners and edges through the paper. This makes it much easier!
Then, all you have to do is bake it for 20 minutes until it looks a little more golden. It needs to cool completely, so give it about 10 minutes before you start mixing your curd filling.
Gorgeous Spiced Orange Bar Filling
The filling is really easy. Now, you can, of course, use orange juice from a carton. Just make sure it’s 100% juice. You don’t want added sugar. That’s the main issue with using the kind you’d drink for breakfast.
I prefer to get fresh oranges, though. This way, you can use the zest for added fragrant flavor and know that your juice is the real deal.
So, you’ve gathered sugar, eggs, oranges, cinnamon, and cloves. Here we go! Start by whisking those eggs into the sugar. Once the egg whites are broken down and the mixture is homogeneous, you’re good to proceed.
Dump in the zest, cinnamon, and a dash of cloves, and whisk to combine. Continue whisking as you drizzle in the orange juice. It will thin out considerably.
Troubleshooting Spiced Orange Bar Issues
A lot of us have dealt with a frothy filling that bakes with semi-unattractive white lacy spots across the top. While these are harmless and easily covered by the powdered sugar dusting, you may want to avoid it altogether. Try pouring your filling through a mesh sieve as you add it to your baking tray.
Another issue is a scrambled egg texture. To prevent this, make sure you are beating your eggs and sugar very thoroughly. I mentioned above that you should continue beating until there are no longer streaks of egg white.
This is just a visual indicator. Try to whip the mixture for about 5 minutes, and if this is too much strain on your arm, use an electric mixer or stand mixer instead.
Finally, you might find the spice is either too much or not enough. My husband, for example, can taste clove in a dish where the spice jar was merely opened in the same room. He hates it. So, in that case, leave out the clove and just use cinnamon. If however, you’re really looking to taste that spice, add a little bit more!
Let the Bars Cool Completely First
When the bars come out of the oven, they’re going to look weird and puffy in some places. Don’t worry about that. As it cools, those spots will level out. But that’s only one reason to let the bars cool completely before you serve them.
The second reason to cool them completely? They will cut SO MUCH EASIER. The filling will be set when you remove them from the oven, but it will set up more as it cools. For really clean, even cuts, just wait until they come to room temperature.
For an even easier time cutting your bars, I’d recommend getting a mezzaluna pizza cutter. I have one because we make pizza every Saturday, but it makes cutting tray bakes a 100% easier. You will get straight, clean, even cuts every time because you can line up your whole cut in one shot.
The final reason to hold out is the powdered sugar. If you dust your bars while they’re warm, the powdered sugar will melt and disappear. The whole point of the dusting is decoration, so, if it melts in, they won’t have that signature citrus square look.
That’s All There is to Spiced Orange Bars
You’re going to love how easy it is to make these bars. The way they make your house smell is one thing, but the pure joy in the flavor is another. Bring a tray to a Christmas Cookie exchange, and they’ll disappear on you.
For your own holiday dessert buffet, set a plate of these next to some of my other favorite cookie recipes:
- Kolaczkis
- Peppermint Cocoa Macarons
- Gingerbread Cake
- Sprinkle Cookies
- Salted Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies
Comment below if you’re putting these on your holiday dessert buffet! And don’t forget to subscribe for updates sent right to your inbox and awesome freebies!
Spiced Orange Bars
Equipment
- 9×13 pan
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
Spiced Orange Filling
- 1½ cups pure cane sugar
- 5 large eggs room temperature
- 2 Tbsp orange zest
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- 1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Butter and line your 9×13 pan with parchment paper. Then butter the parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, powdered sugar, and salt for the shortbread crust. Cube the butter and work it into the dry mix until it all clumps together.
- Press the dough into your prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes until slightly golden.
- Cool completely.
- In a clean medium mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar for the filling until the mixture turns a paler yellow, and there are no longer streaks of egg white. You want the eggs very well incorporated.
- Whisk in the zest, cinnamon, and clove to distribute, and then stream in the orange juice.
- If your filling is frothy, pour it through a mesh strainer over your prepared shortbread crust.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until the filling is just set.
- Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes until the pan is cool enough to touch. Then, use a knife to run along the edges of the pan to make removal easier. Using the parchment edges as handles, remove the spiced orange bar to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
- Once cooled, cut your bars into 24 squares and dust thoroughly with powdered sugar.
- Keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
