These delicious baby carrots are made enticing with honey, butter, and brown sugar. You won’t care if the recipe isn’t the healthiest because the carrots are so delicious!
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 35 mins |
| Servings: | 16 |
| Yield: | 16 bars |
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup butter or margarine, chilled
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- ½ teaspoon chipotle chile powder
- ⅓ cup apricot preserves, or preserves of your choice
- ½ teaspoon chipotle chile powder
- 4 eggs
- 1 ¾ cups white sugar
- ⅜ cup lemon juice
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup confectioners’ sugar for dusting
- ½ teaspoon chipotle chile powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch square pan.
- Combine 2 cups flour, butter, 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder in a food processor; pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press the mixture into the prepared pan.
- Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until firm and golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool at least 20 minutes in the pan.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
- In a small bowl, whisk together the preserves and 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder; spread over the cooled crust. Whip eggs with a wire whisk until foamy. Beat in sugar, lemon juice, and salt until the sugar has dissolved. Sift together 1/3 cup flour and baking powder; whisk into eggs until smooth. Pour onto the preserve-topped crust.
- Bake in preheated oven an additional 35 to 40 minutes, until the center of the egg mixture has set. Sift together 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar with 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder, and sprinkle over hot lemon bars. Cool completely before cutting into bars.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 314 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 47 g |
| Cholesterol | 77 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 169 mg |
| Sugars | 31 g |
| Fat | 13 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
At the suggestion of previous comments I reduced the crust ingredients by half and ended up with a perfect crust to lemon ratio. I also reduced the amount of chili powder in the recipe (I used cayenne) by half and thought it was an okay amount of heat, although I might use a little more in the crust next time. I also reduced the amount of sugar in the custard to 1 1/4 cups and thought it was a nice level of sweetness without being overpowering or unnatural. I think I may have over-beaten the custard, as it came out very light and fluffy rather than thick and smooth. It was still really good, but not the texture I was expecting. Be gentle mixing the custard ingredients together!
I made these for a southwest themed potluck at work and I love a bit of heat with my sweets, but these just didn’t come together. The crust was very thick and the lemon and chipotle just didn’t find the harmony that would have elevated this lemon bar to something special.
I used chili powder in the crust and cayenne everywhere else and I increased the preserves to 1/2 cup (I used peach) and OMG!
I’ve made these 3 or 4 times, and this year my husband requested them for his birthday, which is the true test for sweets! We love the flavors so I added some extra lemon and chipotle. The ratio of crust to custard is a little too high for my taste, so I’m working on scaling the recipe up but I’m no expert and haven’t quite gotten it right. No one will complain if I practice a few more times.
Loved these bars, wonderful change of pace from the regular lemon bar. This is a new favorite!
My family loves lemon bars and chipotle but we just couldn’t finish one of these. The texture was great so maybe I will just use it as a lemon bar recipe without the chipotle pepper.
The crust is enough for two 9″ pans so I doubled the rest of the recipe. The only substitution I made was mango for the apricot preserves. That’s a really nice touch, and the custard is good. However, the chipotle is overpowering. I LIKE chipotle and was tempted to add more after reading the other reviews but didn’t for a first try. Very harsh tasting. I’ll save the crust (but halve it) and I’ll save the custard (but tweak it). I have tons of leftovers and that never happens with my crowd.
These rule — I made them with cayenne and upped the volume of pepper and they were fantastic.
I really liked the surprising kick from the chipotle. It is not overwhelming either. I used the entire baking time, because at 35 minutes I could tell it hadn’t set. A few more and it was perfect. The last step of the recipe can be reduced though. The 1/3 cup powdered sugar and the 1/2 tsp of the chipotle can be halved. I used it all and it makes the bar harder to eat as a bar. It requires a fork and a plate. When I make it next I will only use a dusting of that part. It’s more fun to eat with your hands!
i was a little skeptical at first… but wow, these were really good! I almost reduced the amount of chipotle, but I am glad I didn’t. Highly recommended!
This recipe is excellent!! This is the first time I ever made lemon squares and my husband went crazy over these. The chili powder gives it something extra special. I had to substitue some orange marmalade because I didn’t have enough of the apricot and it was still excellent!