Peach Crumb Bars - Everyday Annie

These fruit crumb bars may just be one of my very favorite desserts. You see, I’ve now made them with blueberries (delicious), freshly picked raspberries (amazing) and now with ripe, juicy peaches. Every variation has been a delight. I already have several fall-inspired variations in mind. This particular variation reminded me of a perfect, portable version of peach pie.

They are easy as can be, and are obviously easily adapted to many different types of fruit. I had these peaches in my kitchen and I really think they had about 5 minutes left before they would have been too ripe to use for anything except water balloons, so I decided to whip these up. All the other ingredients are pantry staples so if you have the fruit on hand, you are ready to go. I love that the same mixture used for the base also serves as the crumb topping. I think it’s true of all the versions, but with peach in particular, these are really best served the same day they are made. The fruit is very juicy and the crust portion will get soggy if left to sit much longer than a day. I’m sure your friends and family will think it quite the travesty that you need help finishing them off.

Yield 1 9x13 pan

Ingredients

1½ cups sugar, divided
1 tsp. baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. salt
Zest of half a lemon
16 tbsp. cold, unsalted butter cut into small pieces
1 large egg
5 cups peeled, chopped peaches (about 5 peaches)
5 tsp. cornstarch
Juice of 1 lemon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Directions

01
Preheat the oven to 375° F. Grease a 9 x 13″ pan; set aside.
02
In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of the sugar, the baking powder and flour. Mix in the salt and the lemon zest, and stir together with a fork. Cut in the butter and egg with a pastry blender until the largest chunks are about pea-sized. The mixture should be crumbly without much loose flour. Spread about half of the dough mixture in an even layer over the bottom of the prepared pan and press down firmly to form the bottom crust.
03
In another bowl, stir together the remaining sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and nutmeg. Gently mix in the peaches with a rubber spatula until combined. Sprinkle the fruit mixture evenly over the crust. (Note: Because my peaches were overly ripe, they were floating in a bowl of juice. I used a slotted spoon to transfer the fruit to the baking dish, discarding most of the excess juice, to prevent the crust from getting soggy.) Crumble the remaining dough over the top of the peaches.
04
Bake for about 45 minutes or until the top is slightly golden brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares and serving.

Source

adapted from Smitten Kitchen