Peach Crumb Bars

Peach crumb bars use modern conveniences to craft the perfect balance of texture and old-school flavor so good it just may bring tears to your eyes.

When it comes to cookie bars, few recipes rival my Grandma’s peach crumb bars. They’re sweet, supple, and altogether irresistible. When you cross the deliciousness of fruit cookies with the convenience of bar cookies, you get something really special and it shows in this recipe.

This delicious and delicate crumb crust and topping with a peach filling takes me right back to Grammy’s kitchen!

If it’s peach season, I hope you try more of my fresh peach recipes. Let me tell you, these recipes are seriously near and dear to my heart because they happen to be some of the all-time best recipes on this whole site:

• Southern peach cobbler
• Peach pound cake
• Peach crisp
• Peach bread

Ingredients

Crumble And Crust:

• All-Purpose Flour
• Sugar
• Baking Powder
• Salt
• Unsalted Butter
• Egg
• Vanilla Extract

Filling:

• Granulated Sugar
• Cornstarch
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Peaches
• Lemon Juice

Tips For Easy Peach Bars

• Frozen Peaches: I make them with fresh or frozen peaches. Hence, the large amount of sugar. If using frozen, be sure to let them thaw completely and drain them well.
• Canned Peaches: I don’t use canned peaches in the recipe because they would just be too sweet. Even when you drain them, they’ve already absorbed a good amount of cling syrup.
• Tools to Make: Really you can make these crumb bars with something as simple as two knives, but it really helps to have a pastry cutter to cut in the butter. This is the pastry cutter I use. I like it because it’s inexpensive and has thick stainless blades cut the butter in easily. If you have a food processor, it works beautifully.
• Butter – You’ll want to keep your butter really cold. If the butter gets too soft, then the water in the butter will react with the gluten in the flour making your dough chewy instead of flakey.

Picking The Best Peaches

Select peaches that are unblemished, firm, not hard, softened slightly, and have a strong peach fragrance.

How To Peel Peaches

1. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.
2. Using a sharp paring knife make an X on the bottom of the peach just through the skin.
3. Drop the peaches into the boiling water one or two at a time (not all at once because you don’t want the water temperature to drop too low) for 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon.
4. Plunge peaches into a bowl filled with ice and water.
5. Using your thumb or the tip of the paring knife, grab the edge of the skin at the X and peel.

Storing + Freezing + Make-Ahead

• How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? You can store these easy peach bars in a covered container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
• Can You Freeze This? Yep! It’s important to let them cool completely before freezing them. I cut them into bars, hotel wrap (yes, it does indeed make a big difference how they’re wrapped in a plastic wrap!), and then store them in a resealable plastic bag. You can keep these in the freezer for up to 3 months before slow thawing in the fridge and nobody will be none the wiser! Here’s an article on how to hotel wrap
• Make-Ahead Tips: It only takes 15 minutes to get these peach shortbread bars ready to slide into the oven, so there really isn’t a ton of prep to speak of. If you want to do some of the prep work ahead of time I would keep the dry ingredients combined and ready to go – along with prepping the peaches in a separate container Peaches will begin to oxidize after cutting so sprinkle the cut peaches with a little lemon juice before refrigerating. Of course, you can always go the freezer route too.

How To Make Peach Crumb Bars

1. Make crumble and crust: Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
2. Add the cold butter and toss with the flour mixture. Use a pastry blender or two knives to cut the butter.
3. Cut until it’s the size of peas.
4. Whisk together egg and vanilla then stir into the crumb mixture. The dough will be crumbly.
5. Press half of the dough into the prepared baking pan. Reserve the other half.
6. Make Filling: In another bowl, stir together sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cornstarch. Add the sliced peaches and gently mix.
7. Spoon the peaches over the crust.
8. Crumble the remaining dough over the peach mixture.
9. Bake. Cool and slice.

More Peach Dessert Recipes

• Peach Bourbon Upside Down Cake
• Peach Dump Cake
• Peaches And Cream Pie
• Bisquick Peach Cobbler (Best year ’round peach cobbler, EVER!)
• Roasted Peach Halves with Crumb Topping
• Peach Blueberry Crisp
• Peach Heaven On Earth Cake
• Peach Cobbler Pound Cake

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Peach Crumb Bars

Peach crumb bars use modern conveniences to craft the perfect balance of texture and old-school flavor so good it just may bring tears to your eyes.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time55 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings: 16 crumb bars

Author: Kathleen

Ingredients

Crumble and Crust:

• ▢ 3 cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 cup sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 cup unsalted butter, very cold and cut into chunks
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:

• ▢ 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• ▢ 4 cups (about 4 large) peaches, peeled and sliced
• ▢ 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 °F (185 °C). Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. 
• Make crumble and Crust: In a medium bowl, combine 3 cups of flour, 1 cup of sugar, baking powder (1 teaspoon), and salt (1/4 teaspoon). Add the cold butter (1 cup) and toss with the flour mixture. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture, until it's the size of peas.
• In a small mixing bowl whisk together egg (1) and vanilla (1 teaspoon) then stir into the crumb mixture. The dough will be crumbly. Press half of the dough into the prepared baking pan. Reserve the other half.
• Make Filling: In another bowl, stir together 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon (1/2 teaspoon), nutmeg (1/4 teaspoon), lemon juice (1 tablespoon), and cornstarch (4 teaspoons). Add the sliced peaches and gently mix. Spoon the peaches (4 cups) over the crust. Crumble the remaining dough over the peach mixture.
• Bake for 45-55 minutes, until the top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares. Stores really well in the fridge.

Fans Also Made:

• 
  Blackberry Pie Bars
• 
  Cherry Custard Pie Bars
• 
  Peach Blueberry Crisp
• 
  Peach Bourbon Upside Down Cake

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Notes

1. Frozen Peaches: I make them with fresh or frozen peaches. Hence, the large amount of sugar. If using frozen, be sure to let them thaw completely and drain them well.
2. Canned Peaches: I don’t use canned peaches in the recipe because they would just be too sweet. Even when you drain them, they’ve already absorbed a good amount of cling syrup.
3. Tools to Make: Really you can make these crumb bars with something as simple as two knives, but it really helps to have a pastry cutter to cut in the butter. This is the pastry cutter I use. I like it because it’s inexpensive and has thick stainless blades cut the butter in easily. If you have a food processor, it works beautifully.
4. Butter - You’ll want to keep your butter really cold. If the butter gets too soft, then the water in the butter will react with the gluten in the flour making your dough chewy instead of flakey. For a flakey pie-like crust – cold butter.

Nutrition

Serving: 1crumb bar | Calories: 282kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 42mg | Sodium: 43mg | Potassium: 131mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 497IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg

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