Ginger Curd Bars

A while ago, I made cookies with ginger curd. The original recipe had called for lemon curd, and I wanted to try something different. I had seen raspberry curd online, but at the British shop we go to I found ginger curd. It was absolutely perfect in those cookies. So good, that I picked up another jar of the curd when I was there. I knew I wanted to use the ginger curd for other recipes.

I knew that the curd would work well in a bar cookie, so I looked at the list of recipes that I had saved in Pinterest, and I found a recipe that I could adapt. The original recipe called for orange marmalade and was topped with sliced almonds. You could certainly use those ingredients instead, as I know that ginger curd isn’t going to be something that you can find at the store with much ease.

I love any bar with a soft filling on top of a crunchy shortbread crust. Theses cookies are very thin, so don’t worry about that. I knew I was going to use ginger curd for the bars, but I wasn’t sure what type of nuts I should use. Are there natural pairings for ginger? Almonds would have worked, but I used pistachios. I love that I can buy shelled pistachios now! I love the combination of soft, sweet, and crunchy in these bars, and the ginger can’t be beat!

Ginger Curd Bars
1 ½ cups flour
¾ cup powdered sugar
¾ cup butter, room temperature

1 egg
½ cup sugar
10 ounces ginger curd
1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup chopped pistachios

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9” x 13” pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large mixer bowl, combine the flour, powdered sugar, and butter. Beat on medium until the dough is crumbly. Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.

Bake for 15 minutes.

While the crust is baking, make the topping. In the same mixer bowl, beat the egg, sugar, ginger curd, butter, and vanilla on medium until smooth. Once the crust comes out of the oven, top with the ginger curd filling. Sprinkle with chopped pistachios.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until set. Allow to cool, and then refrigerate before cutting into bars.

Recipe adapted from Can’t Stay Out of the Kitchen