This has been the most fruit-filled summer I can remember. I’ve had access to some absolutely lovely fruit through our CSA, farmers markets, and even our local markets. The best blueberry days are behind us, but now we have peaches!
I confess that I’ve not done much baking with peaches. I was looking through the archives here at BoB and was a bit surprised to find that category lacking. I’m on it, though. My first round of peaches yielded this amazing cobbler. And, now, these simple bars.
Next confession. I threw together these bars as kind of a last minute thing. We had plans to go to Shakespeare in the Park with friends last week. One of the best things about going (other than the play, of course) is that you can take food and drinks into the theatre. I was in charge of dessert and wasn’t entirely sure what to make that would be nicely portable and not too messy.
I had just gotten fresh peaches, so that seemed the obvious place to start. I made a simple buttery crust and tossed a bunch of peaches with some Amaretto. Then, I topped it all off with a bit of crumb and some sliced almonds. I was very pleased with how they turned out, and we all happily devoured them.
These bars really let the sweet flavor of the peaches shine. That little splash of Amaretto gives them a bit of a kick that I just love. Of course, all that buttery crust and crumble are always a winner.
Peach Crumble Bars
Peach Crumble Bars combine a buttery crust and crumble with fresh peaches for an irresistible sweet treat.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 & 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 4 medium peaches, peeled and sliced thinly
- 1 tablespoon Amaretto*
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9"x 13"x 2" baking pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, and salt. Add the cold butter and mix with a pastry blender, a fork, or your fingers until the butter is the size of small peas. The dough will be crumbly but will hold together when pinched.
- Set aside about 1 cup of crust mixture.
- Press the remaining crust mixture evenly into the bottom of prepared pan. Bake 10 minutes.
- Place the sliced peaces in a medium bowl. Add the Amaretto, and toss to coat.
- After the crust has baked, arrange the peaches over the crust.** Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture over the peaches. Scatter the almonds over the top of crumb.
- Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until the edges are browned and the topping is lightly browned.
- Cool in the pan before cutting into bars.
Notes
*You can substitute almond extract for Amaretto, although I'd use 1&1/2 to 2 teaspoons instead of a tablespoon. Unless you're a big almond extract fan, then just go for it. **Arrange the peaches however you'd like. I made three long rows and overlapped them slightly.
21 Comments on “Peach Crumble Bars”
I’ve been on such a peach kick! These bars look so delicious, and I love that they’re packed with oats, too.
I am sure I will enjoy every bite! 🙂
I love how many of your recipes include the crunch of some kind of nut…always a plus in my book.
These look scrumptious! Sometimes the “last minute & thrown together” recipes turn out the best! Made my mouth water on this one!
Yum yum! Peaches are really expensive in the UK unfortunately, but if I see some on offer I’ll have to give this a whirl
I love peaches baked in anything and this is lovely!!
Looks heavenly, and it’s raining, perfect day for baking. Mahalo for the recipe.
I really havent done much peach baking either and have no idea why. Weird. I could definitely use a batch of these bars in my life though!!
these sound delish!
We don’t get peaches until Christmas time in Australia – I’ll give these a go when they are in season!
I canned my own peaches. Can I use them instead of fresh? The fresh ones are imported and don’t have the best flavor
Hi, Jody. That should be just fine. If your canned peaches have extra sugar in them, just keep that in mind and adjust the sugar in the recipe if necessary.
Jennifer,
I’m getting some peaches from a small tree in my back yard now. I’m hoping I can get enough to make some desserts before the wood chucks (they’ve already eaten all the peaches from the smaller of the two trees we have) and deer eat them all. You might think that I live in the boonies but I’m in the northern suburbs of NYC. Hope I can make this soon.
Annamaria
Is it possible to use frozen peaches? Thawed and drained well? These look amazing and would be nice to make them year around
Hi, Cassie. I’ve not tried making these with frozen peaches, but I think it would be fine.
I made these but the crust turned out really hard & it was hard to cut through. Also it was very crumbly and crumbs from top & crust were very loose. I followed the recipe exactly. Why do you think it was not a success?
Hi, Sunny. Shortbread crusts are a bit fickle. They don’t really leave room for error in measuring ingredients, so I’d first check that everything (especially the flour) was measured correctly. If that’s not the issue, then I’d check that it wasn’t overmixed or overbaked. A dark baking pan can cause the bottom to overbake. As for the crumbs, you can try pressing the topping down on top of the filling before baking or try using a little less topping.
Hi Jennifer: Your recipes are always great and this was no exception – delicious and the perfect use for lovely fresh peaches. These bars won’t last long around here!
I’m glad you liked them, Becky!
This is not sweet enough. I even added a little sugar to the peaches. My husband even said not sweet enough and he’s not a sweet liked. It was a fail for us.
These turned out very good but need to be a little sweeter. Â Not much flavor. Â I also only baked mine 28 minutes and am sure glad I did. Â Probably should have only baked 25-26 minutes. Â I will make them again and maybe add a little frosting drizzle on the top.Â