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If you love the flavor of oranges and the texture and crust of lemon bars then you’re in luck: Orange Bars are the perfect combination of both! Orange Squares have a shortbread crust with an orange curd filling – with a bright citrus flavor and crumbly crust, creamy orange bars are the most delicious recipe.

Three lemon bars stacked on a light blue plate, dusted with powdered sugar. In the background, there are sliced oranges, striped straws, and a small bowl of sugar on a white surface.

Our old neighbors had an orange tree and every December or January they’d deliver a huge bag of fresh oranges. Now, we love the flavor of orange, but not necessarily the fruit itself, so it was always a rush to find delicious orange recipes to use the fruit in before they went bad.

These Orange Dream Bars were my invention several years ago! It’s the perfect orange recipe: a thick buttery shortbread crust with a filling like classic lemon bars – sweet and tart and creamy and perfect! Whether you call this orange slice or orange brownies, they’re one of then best orange desserts ever.

Top-down view of baking ingredients for Orange Dream Bars on a marble surface, labeled: flour, powdered sugar, extract, eggs, sugar, butter, salt, and oranges. Each item is placed in a bowl or container, neatly arranged.

How to make Orange Bars

  1. First you’ll want to make the buttery crust by mixing all the ingredients together in a large bowl with an electric mixer (or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment). The mixture will be moist crumbs. Press the crust into the bottom of the pan (this recipe is written for a 9×13-inch baking pan).
  2. The simple ingredients in the orange filling either can be combined in a blender or you can whisked by hand in a large bowl.
  3. The orange batter has orange juice, orange zest, granulated sugar, and eggs. I add orange extract for more orange flavor because oranges aren’t as strong a flavor as lemon.
  4. When zesting an orange, be sure to just get the orange peel, not the white pith. The orange zest is where a majority of the orange flavor comes from.
  5. You can use any kind of oranges – I’ve made these with naval oranges and fresh mandarin oranges. Blood Orange bars would also be delicious.
  6. Do yourself a favor and use actual oranges – not bottled orange juice.
Three lemon bars stacked on a light blue plate, dusted with powdered sugar. In the background, there are sliced oranges, striped straws, and a small bowl of sugar on a white surface.

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Storage

  • You can freeze citrus bars for several months. Thaw before eating.
  • Cool bars before cutting with a sharp knife. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Expert Tips

  • Be sure to compact the crust very well in the pan so the crust and filling don’t invert themselves. I don’t usually have this happen with shortbread-style crusts, but I have with graham cracker crusts (like my margarita bars).
  • I use unsalted butter in the crust but you can use salted butter by reducing the added salt.
  • If you want, you can add an orange citrus glaze made with juice and powdered sugar, or drizzle the tops with white chocolate. Personally we like these dusted with powdered sugar like traditional lemon bars.
Three lemon bars stacked on a light blue plate, dusted with powdered sugar. In the background, there are sliced oranges, striped straws, and a small bowl of sugar on a white surface.

Orange Dream Bars Recipe

3.98 from 159 votes
Orange Dream Bars – this easy recipe is like a lemon bar but using orange! The perfect citrus recipe, tart and sweet with a shortbread crust.

Recipe Video

Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Yield 24 bars
Serving Size 1 bar
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Ingredients
 

Crust:

  • 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter
  • 2 cups (248g) all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Filling:

  • ½ cup (119ml) fresh squeezed orange juice
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • 1 teaspoon orange extract 
  • 1 ½ cups (150g) granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup (31g) all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 4 large eggs
  • Powdered sugar for topping

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9×13” pan with foil or parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
  • Beat butter with a hand or a stand mixer until creamy, then add the flour, sugar, and salt and beat until a dough forms. (If you’re using a hand mixer it will take extra time.) Press the crust into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 18 minutes.
  • A few minutes before the crust comes out of the oven, prepare the filling. Place all filling ingredients into a blender jar and blend until smooth, a few seconds to almost a minute, depending on your blender. You can also do this with a whisk in a large bowl.
  • Carefully pour filling over evenly over hot crust. Return to oven and bake until the top is no longer jiggly, about 20-23 minutes. Cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar and slicing into bars.
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Recipe Notes

  • Don’t strain the fresh squeezed juice – that pulp adds flavor!
  • The orange extract is essential here to amp up the orange flavor.
  • Use your favorite oranges! For the zest be sure to use at least 1 tablespoon (or more if your orange is larger).
  • Make sure your crust is compacted firmly. Any holes in the bottom can cause the filling to leak through, ending in upside down bars. This is not usually a problem with shortbread crusts like this one (it happens more if you’re using a cookie crust) but just in case it happens, that’s why.
  • Want a crunchier crust? Bake it for 22 minutes before topping.

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1bar | Calories: 189kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 51mg | Sodium: 38mg | Potassium: 45mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 292IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Dorothy Kern

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Step by Step Photos

A glass mixing bowl with a handle holds a mound of light, crumbly dough mixture for irresistible Orange Dream Bars, resting on a white marble surface.
Mix up the shortbread crust dough. Pre-bake the crust before adding filling.
process shot for lemon bars.
It’s easy to blend the filling or just whisk by hand.

Favorite Orange Recipes

Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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3.98 from 159 votes (146 ratings without comment)

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61 Comments

    1. Most professional bakers use unsalted butter to control the amount of salt. You can use regular butter, just reduce added salt by 1/4 tsp per 1/2 cup salted butter.

      Reply