Lemon Cookie Bars with Pomegranate Seeds
These cookie bars are a great interplay of soft chewy blondie-style cookie infused with lemon, sweet tangy cream cheese frosting and a burst of bright tart juice and crunch from the pomegranate seeds. The almond meal adds a nice touch of nuttiness and moisture. If you don’t have almond meal or flour, just throw 1 1/4 cup whole almonds into a food processor and pulse until you have powder. Or, if you don’t have almonds, just add an extra 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour in it’s place. Just makes sure to store the cookie bars in the fridge (because of the cream cheese frosting and pomegranate seeds) and take them out an hour before serving so they come to room temperature.
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 10 of 11 ingredients — the other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 10 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Chocolate | 1 oz (28g) semisweet | 155 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Cream Cheese | 1 oz (28g) | 99 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Pomegranate | 1/2 cup seeds (87g) | 72 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Vanilla | 1 tsp extract (4ml) | 12 |
| Almond | 1 almond (1.2g) | 7 |
| Seed | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- 11 tablespoons (150 g or 1 3/8 sticks) unsalted butter
- 2 cups (400 g) white granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (55 g) dark brown sugar
- zest from 1 medium lemon
- 2 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 2 1/4 cup (315 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (140 g) almond meal
- 3 oz white chocolate
- 8 oz (1 brick) cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 cup (120 g) confectioners’ sugar
- Zest from 1 medium lemon
- 1 teaspoon white granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds