Peach Bars
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Have you ever wished you could eat a slice of peach pie with your hands without making a mess and drawin’ weird looks? No, just me? Well, if you have, these peach bars are your answer! The Buttery shortbread, sweet spiced peaches, and a crumbly golden top come together for a dessert that has that pure peachy goodness in every bite, no fork required!
What Makes These Dessert Bars So Special
It’s such a treasure when you come across those one-of-a-kind recipes that have been passed down through countless generations. I like to think of this recipe for peach crumb bars sort of like a collaborative effort between my great-grandmother, Lela, and me. This simple bar has all of the textures and flavors I love in Lela’s fried peach pies and brings to mind sweet memories of that kind of baking only a grandmother can achieve. The fact that it happens to have a lot less fuss involved is just the icing on the cake (or pie, in this case).
If you’re a fan of peach desserts like a good ol’ peach cobbler, you’re going to love this recipe. The three different textures (shortbread, dried peaches, and crumble) taste SO good when combined!
Let’s dive in and let me show you how to make these sweet babies!
Ingredients for the Peach Bars
- All-purpose flour
- Unsalted butter
- Confectioner’s sugar
- Dried peaches
- Granulated sugar
- Butter
- Bottled or fresh lemon juice
- Ground cinnamon
- Butter
- All-purpose flour
- Confectioner’s sugar
Recipe Notes
- If you want to add a bit more flavor to the peaches, opt for 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg for spice and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or almond extract for sweetness.
- For something different, use brown sugar in the topping (or a combination of both).
- If peach season is over or you just don’t have the time to dry fresh peaches, you can use canned dried peaches.
How to Make Peach Bars
1. Make the Shortbread Crust
Place all crust ingredients in a medium bowl and cut together with a fork or pastry cutter until well combined and form a crumbly dough. Press into the bottom of a prepared 9×13 baking dish (preferably a square baking pan if possible).
Bake until just lightly brown around the very edges so you get that shortbread-like crust (about 20-25 minutes).
2. Make the Peach Filling
Place all of the fruit filling ingredients in a medium saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often at the start, until it comes to a boil.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally and breaking up large pieces of the peaches, until the mixture is thick and reduced by about half (15-25 minutes).
Spread this peach mixture over the prepared crust.
3. Make the Streusel Topping
Combine all streusel ingredients in a mixing bowl and cut together well with a fork or pastry cutter until well mixed and crumbly. Sprinkle the crumble mixture all over the top of the peach mixture.
Return the pan to the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the top is lightly golden.
Allow the bars to cool on a wire rack before cutting (but they are wonderful warm). This is just a personal preference, but you can also pair them with a nice cold scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Merciful Maude! I’m about to eat my computer screen right now!
Storage
You can store leftover bars in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week and freeze any leftovers for up to 3 months. Double wrap them for the best results. Thaw at room temperature or in the fridge before serving.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature (2 sticks)
- ½ cup confectioner’s sugar
- 6 –7 ounces dried peaches
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup butter ½ stick
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup butter at room temperature (1 stick)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup confectioner’s sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease or spray a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, butter, and confectioner’s sugar. Cut together with a fork or pastry cutter until the mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until lightly golden around the edges.
- In a saucepan, combine dried peaches, granulated sugar, butter, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15–25 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking up large peach pieces, until thickened and reduced by about half. Spread the peach filling evenly over the baked crust.
- In a small bowl, mix flour, confectioner’s sugar, and butter. Cut together with a fork or pastry cutter until the mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over the peach filling. Bake again for 15–20 minutes, or until the top is lightly golden. Let cool before slicing into bars.
Did you add water to the peaches
If I were to try to use fresh peaches how many would I need?
Oh, my. I will be making these this weekend. In fact, may try with dried apricots instead. Thanks for just being who you are and such a blessing to all of us.
Dried apricots would be wonderful as would dried cherries! Thank you for being such an encourager, sweet Dorothy!
My grandmother dried apple sliced in similar fashion.
My Grandmother had a sun room and it smelled like an orchard all summer, every fruit you can imagine would be drying on screen racks with cheesecloth over them… Also, she dried beans she called leather britches in strings across the top of the room… We would play in the winter in that room but we only looked in during the summer..
Where do you find dried peaches? I would love to try this!
At my grocery stores they are near the raisins and such 🙂
I am really enjoying your posts and recipes. How did your grandmother sun dry her peaches?
Hey Cindy, thank you! Lela had pieces of tin that she would sit out in the son in her yard and she laid the peaches over them. Mama said if flies were a problem she would lay old pieces of screen on top of the peaches 🙂
That’s exactly how my grandmother and great aunt dried theirs.
How did she store her dried peaches then?
Usually in glass mason jars. That is my preferred way to store them,too. It’s also safer because after a few days if there is still moisture left you can see it form on the inside of the jar so you know to take them out and let them dry more.