Vegan Orange Squares

Vegan orange squares are a delicious combination of shortbread cookies, orange flavored bars, and candied oranges. These were inspired by my Lemon Squares recipe, and a bowl full of oranges. I started by making the candied orange slices. You can purchase candied orange peel at the store if you want to skip this step, or skip the candied oranges all together and just sprinkle the tops of the squares with icing sugar, much like I did with the lemon squares. If you do decide to make your own candied orange slices, be sure to make them well ahead of time so they are ready to go by he time the squares have cooled. For time reference: I prepared the candied oranges the night before.

Once you have all of the ingredients prepped and ready to go, you’re ready to start baking! Preheat the oven to 350’F and mix together the dough for the shortbread crust. This bakes for about 15 minutes while you prepare the orange batter. The orange batter gets spread onto the shortbread layer and returned to the oven for another 25 minutes. Let the pan cool completely before slicing into squares and topping with candied orange slices.

Ingredients:

Shortbread layer:

1 Cup Vegetable Shortening

1/2 Cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Icing Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour

Orange Layer:

1/2 Cup Vegan Butter

3/4 Cup Soy Milk

1/2 Cup Orange Juice

2 tsp Orange Zest

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 tsp Lemon Extract

1 Cup Sugar

1 3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour

24 Candied Orange Slices / or Icing Sugar – For topping

Yield: 24 Squares

Vegan Orange Squares

Print

These vegan orange squares are packed with orange flavor, made with a shortbread crust and topped with candied orange slices.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

Shortbread Layer

• 1 Cup Vegetable Shortening
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Icing Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour

Orange Layer

• 1/2 Cup Vegan Butter
• 3/4 Cup Soy Milk
• 1/2 Cup Orange Juice
• 2 tsp Orange Zest
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp Lemon Extract
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1 3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour

Topping

• 24 Candied Orange Slices / or 1 Tbsp Icing Sugar

Instructions

1. Pre heat the oven to 350°F
2. Prepare the shortbread layer: In a mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the shortening and sugar. Add the vanilla, icing sugar and flour, and beat until a smooth dough is formed.
3. Press the dough into a 9"x13" cake pan, and bake for 15 minutes. While the shortbread bakes, prepare the orange layer:
4. In a clean mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and vegan butter.
5. Mix in the soy milk, orange juice, vanilla extract, lemon extract, and orange zest.
6. Add the flour ad beat until smooth.
7. Spread the batter on top of the shortbread layer once it has finished baking. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 23-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
8. Remove from the oven and let cool. Slice into 24 equal sized squares, and either dust with icing sugar, or top with candied orange slices.

Notes

Candied orange slices recipe: Candied Oranges – The Home Baked Vegan

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 250Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 5mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 1gSugar: 18gProtein: 2g