Peach Crumb Bars

Our recent obsession with peaches started not long after crossing the Georgia state line en route to Florida on our vacation. Our husband mentioned how we should stop to get a slice of peach pie since we were, in fact, in Georgia (the Peach State). We think our face lit up like a Christmas tree and then that was it – we had peach pie on the brain. We never stopped for pie since we were in the middle of a 16-hour road trip, but our craving was fulfilled a couple of days later when we couldn’t stop talking about peach pie and finally went and bought peaches and made a pie. It absolutely hit the spot and was probably a standby peach pie we've ever eaten. And so our peach spree began.

We went to Sam’s Club the day after getting back from vacation and found one case of reliable-looking peaches. Every single one of them – reliable. How often does that happen?

We had to snatch them up, but then we had too many to eat in a reasonable amount of time before they would go bad. So we set off to make something fabulous with them.

These crumb bars combine a standby of a peach pie and a standby of a crumb cake into one memorable dessert. Since we loved the peach pie that we made so much, we used the same filling recipe for these crumb bars.

We chose to dice the peaches figuring that it would make biting into the bars easier and less messy, but if you prefer slices you could definitely do that as well. Just make sure you add these to your “to do” list and enjoy every bite!

More fruit-filled baked goods:
Apple Hand Pies
Fresh Blueberry Pie
Russian Grandmothers’ Apple Pie-Cake
Fresh Strawberry Tart

Watch How to Make Peach Crumb Bars:

[photos by The Almond Eater]

• Yield: 24 bars
• Prep: 30 minutes
• Cook: 45 minutes
• Total: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the Dough

• 3 cups ( 426 g ) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup ( 198 g ) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon ( 0.25 teaspoon ) salt
• 1 cup ( 227 g ) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

For the Filling

• 5 cups ( 770 g ) diced or sliced peaches, about 7 peaches, peeled
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ½ cup ( 71 g ) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup ( 198 g ) granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon ( 0.25 teaspoon ) salt
• ½ teaspoon ( 0.5 teaspoon ) ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ( 0.25 teaspoon ) ground nutmeg

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9×13-inch baking pan.
2. Make the Dough: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter, and then the egg. The dough will be crumbly. Pat half of the dough into the prepared pan. Place the pan and the remainder of the dough in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
3. Make the Filling: Place the diced (or sliced) peaches in a large bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice. Mix gently. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour over the peaches and mix gently.
4. Spread the peach mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble the remaining dough over the peach layer.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. You can also freeze them for up to 2 months.