Peach Crumb Bars

September 25, 2009

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My recent obsession with peaches started not long after crossing the Georgia state line en route to Florida on our vacation. My Chief Culinary Consultant mentioned how we should stop to get a slice of peach pie since we were, in fact, in Georgia (the Peach State). I think my face lit up like a Christmas tree and then that was it – I had peach pie on the brain. We never stopped for pie since we were in the middle of a 16-hour road trip, but my 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 the best peach pie I’ve ever eaten. And so my peach spree began.

peach-crumb-bars

I went to Sam’s Club the day after getting back from vacation and found one case of perfect-looking peaches. Every single one of them – perfect. How often does that happen? I had to snatch them up, but then I had too many to eat in a reasonable amount of time before they would go bad. So I set off to make something fabulous with them. These crumb bars combine the best of a peach pie and the best of a crumb cake into one amazing dessert. Since I loved the peach pie that we made so much, I used the same filling recipe for these crumb bars. I 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

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Peach Crumb Bars

Yield: 24 bars

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold
1 egg, lightly beaten

For the Filling:
5 cups diced or sliced peaches (about 7 peaches, peeled)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan.

2. For 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. For 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.

(Dough recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen; Filling recipe from Allrecipes)