Julia loves to make delicious baked treats. She enjoys sharing recipes with others.

What in the World Is an Orange Chocolate Square?

The answer is quite simple, really. It is a lemon square. Without the lemon. And with orange instead of the lemon. And with cocoa in the crust.

Because chocolate and orange are delicious. And because everyone makes lemon squares (which are also delicious). But I don't want to do what everyone else does.

Therefore, I switched the lemon juice with orange juice, and dubbed my new creation the orange chocolate square.

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Orange Chocolate Squares

Recipe Development

The first time I made these, I simply replaced the amount of lemon juice with orange juice. But since it does not have exactly the same consistency as lemon juice, they took extra long to bake, and the filling did not quite set up as much as I expected.

My very wise mother suggested I use frozen orange juice instead, because it was more concentrated. When I tried that, they baked right on time, and had a much stronger orange flavor, like I wanted. Thank you, mama.

She also suggested that I decrease the amount of sugar because the orange juice was so concentrated. Thus, these are healthier than our usual lemon squares. Definitely.

Ingredients and Instructions

Cook Time

Crust Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/8 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder, (regular chocolate works too)

Filling Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
2. Using a pastry blender, blend together the butter, flour, powdered sugar and cocoa powder until the mixture is fine and crumbly.
3. Press the crust mixture evenly into a 9x13 pan (it does not need to be greased) and bake for about 15 minutes.
4. Defrost the orange juice and whisk it together with the eggs, flour, and sugar.
5. You can pour the filling onto the hot crust, tilt the pan to make sure it is evenly coated, and put it back in the oven to bake for another 25-30 minutes.
6. After it has cooled, coat the top with powdered sugar. Mini chocolate chips are also a fun and decorative topping.

Mmm...Tasty.

Comments

Julia Rexford (author) on November 10, 2015:

@Rachel: Thank you! You too :)

Rachel L Alba from Every Day Cooking and Baking on November 10, 2015:

Hi Julia, what a great recipe you came up with. I love chocolate and orange together and this sounds divine. Thanks for sharing.

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving.

Julia Rexford (author) on November 09, 2015:

@Rochelle: It is really good! And easy to make.

Rochelle Frank from California Gold Country on November 08, 2015:

Gotta try this-- or get someone to make it for me. Sounds really good.