Peaches are one of my favorite summer fruits. Actually, I don’t think I can play favorites. There are so many glorious gems to chose from this time of year… raspberries for raspberry chocolate chip jumbo muffins, mixed berries for healthy berry streusel bars, blueberries for blueberry pie bars—I love them all!!
These fruity/creamy bars are nothing short of amazing. Four layers to love: buttery, brown sugar oat crust, creamy & juicy peach filling, pecan/cinnamon crumble, and an easy vanilla icing to finish it all off. The peach filling leaves each bite ultra moist and the crumble on top maintains a slight crunch. These bars are a texture lover’s dessert dream!
The peachy filling is made from peaches, egg, flour, and sugar. The egg and flour create a thick creamy sauce to envelope the diced peaches inside. I adore the peach filling, but the crust and crumble might just be the stars of the show. They’re both made from the same dough, which makes things easy and convenient. I try to dirty as little bowls as possible when I can. I know you feel me there!
The crust/crumble = made from 5 simple ingredients. Probably things you have in your kitchen right now. Oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter. We use melted butter in blueberry pie bars, but here you want cold butter because you are going to cut the cold butter into the other ingredients. I recommend using a pastry cutter. It makes things so much easier. Cut the cold butter in until the mixture is crumbly. Reserve 3/4 cup of the oat mixture for the topping, to which you’ll add pecans. Nuts are optional, so you can definitely leave them out! The rest of the oat mixture will be pressed into your pan for the crust.
This is what the coarse crumbs of the oat mixture will look like:
Pre-bake the crust, then pour the creamy peach filling over the crust. What you will LOVE most about these bars is that the juicy filling seeps into the crust as it bakes, making the bars unbelievably moist. The tender, brown sugary crust will melt in your mouth.
The bars take about 30 minutes in the oven. Your kitchen will smell like a cross between cinnamon rolls and peach pie. Two of my favorite things in one. Allow the bars to cool before cutting and drizzling with the vanilla icing. I halved my original vanilla icing recipe since we don’t need as much. It’s made from 3 simple ingredients: heavy cream (or milk), confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla extract.
Drizzle the icing on top and prepare to be amazed. 😉
I think I found my new favorite dessert. Definitely one of the best ways to enjoy all of these fresh summer peaches! What’s your favorite way to enjoy peaches?
More peachy desserts to try: peach Bundt cake (with an incredible brown butter icing), peach muffins, peach cobbler, peach crumble pie, peach crisp, strawberry peach galette, fresh peach cake, and peach bread.
Take advantage of summer's fresh peaches with these easy bars. A four layered bar with a brown sugar and oat crust, topped with a creamy peach filling, pecan streusel, and finished off with luscious vanilla icing.
