A must try for poppy seed lovers

This afternoon I went book shopping. I picked up a couple books at Value Village. One of them is Company’s Coming 150 Delicious Squares, by Jean Pare. I decided to give one of them a try this evening. I made poppy seed squares (recipe on page 150). I morphed the recipe hugely.

The original recipe seems to be missing one key ingredient. Milk. It says to add 2 tbsp to the poppy seed mixture. However the other liquid ingredient (eggs, margarine, honey, and vanilla extract) do not combine to make enough liquid to create a nice, thick blended dough. I added ¼-½ cup milk on top of the 2 tbsp in the poppy seed mixture. Here is my version of poppy seed squares.

Poppy Seed Squares

½-¾ cup poppy seeds

Skim milk 2 tbsp

Skim milk ¼-½ cup

2 cups all purpose flour

1-1 ¼ cups white sugar

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ cup olive oil margarine (melted)

¼ cup honey

2 large eggs (beaten)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp rum extract

½-1 cup medium unsweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Measure poppy seeds, place in a bowl. Add 2 tbsp milk, stir and set aside.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Add the margarine, vanilla extract, rum extract, eggs (preheated), and ¼-½ cup skim milk. Stir until smooth. Add the poppy seed mixture and continue to stir. If the dough is too dry (you can’t combine all the flour) add more milk. The dough should be thick and blended well. Now place in a prepared 9X13 inch pan. The dough should look like the photo below.

Bake in your preheated oven for 20-30 minutes (or until golden and a tooth pick comes out clean). Enjoy.

This square was a hit with everyone in the house. It is a nice and light snack.