Lemon Poppy Seed Bars
Description: These curd-filled treats split the difference between lemon bars and lemon poppy seed cake, with a shortbread-like crust and crumbly streusel topping studded with poppy seeds. If you don’t feel like making homemade lemon curd, store-bought works perfectly, or substitute thick fruit jam or marmalade.
Ingredients
- 1 cup/228 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan
- 2/3 cup/130 grams granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (or ¼ teaspoon almond extract)
- 2 1/4 cups/270 grams all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1 cup/240 grams lemon curd, homemade or store-bought
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square metal baking pan and line the bottom sides with parchment, leaving 1 inch of overhang all around.
- Add sugar and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add lemon zest and mix with the paddle attachment until the sugar is moist and fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the butter and beat on medium speed until smooth, 1 to 3 minutes. Beat in the extract.
- Turn off the mixer, add flour, then mix on low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Add poppy seeds and continue to mix on low until incorporated but still crumbly, about 1 minute (do not overmix the dough).
- Transfer 1 cup of the crumbled dough to a small bowl. Transfer the remaining dough to the prepared pan and flatten into an even layer using the flat bottom of a glass or your hands. Spread the curd in an even layer over the surface of the crust and sprinkle with reserved dough, crumbling into pieces as you sprinkle.
- Bake, rotating after 20 minutes, until the crumb topping is golden brown and the curd bubbles at the edges, 40 to 48 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely in the pan, at least 1½ hours.
- Use the parchment to lift the bars out of the pan onto a cutting board. Trim parchment off the edges and cut into 16 squares.