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, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple – 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 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. You’re 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 streusel muffins, peach cobbler, peach crumble pie, peach crisp, strawberry peach galette, and peach quick bread.
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Peaches ‘n’ Cream Bars
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 bars
- Category: Bars
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
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.
Ingredients
Crust & Topping
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
- 1/2 cup (43g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats (or quick oats)
- 1/3 cup (67g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 10 Tablespoons (150g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- optional: 1/2 cup (70g) chopped pecans
Peach Filling
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon (8g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 medium peaches, peeled and chopped (about 1.5 cups)
Vanilla Icing
- 1/2 cup (60g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) milk
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C) degrees. Line the bottom and sides of an 8 or 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment, leaving an overhang on all sides to easily lift the bars out of the pan before cutting. Spray with nonstick spray or grease with butter. Set aside.
- Make the crust/topping: In a large bowl, whisk the flour, oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon together until combined. Cut in the cold butter using a pastry blender or two forks until it reaches coarse, pea-sized crumbs. See photo above. Remove 3/4 cup of the mixture, put in a small bowl and mix with pecans. This will be set aside for the topping.
- Evenly press the remaining oat mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes as you prepare the filling.
- Make the filling: Whisk the egg and sugar together until smooth and creamy. Add the flour and salt. Whisk until combined. Fold in the peaches. Remove crust from the oven after 15 minutes and pour the filling over hot crust. Sprinkle with reserved oat/pecan mixture.
- Bake for 30-32 minutes or until golden brown on top. Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Transfer to the refrigerator and allow to chill for 2 hours.
- Once chilled, lift the foil out of the pan using the overhang on the sides and cut into squares. For neat squares, I use a very sharp knife and wipe it clean with a paper towel after each cut.
- Make the vanilla icing: Using a fork or spoon, whisk/stir the confectioners’ sugar, cream, and vanilla extract together until smooth. Add another Tablespoon of milk to thin out if needed. Drizzle over each square. Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare the bars 1-3 days in advance and store covered tightly in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Bars can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
- Double Batch: Recipe can easily be doubled to fit in a 9×13 pan, baking time will increase to 35 minutes.
Keywords: peaches n cream bars, peach streusel bars
Could I leave the egg out? I was thinking of maybe just using peaches and sugar in the filling. Or is there a substitute you might recommend? Thanks.
Hi J, the egg plays an important role in binding the filling, so we don’t recommend leaving it out. We haven’t tried any replacements, but let us know if you do.
Very tasty. Love to try all your recipes and adapt them to our vegan diet 🙂 Used 1tbsp vanilla pudding powder + 2tbsp water for the egg and it turned out great 🙂 Thanks 🙂
★★★★★
I went peach picking a few weeks ago, and accidentally might have picked too many peaches, so I have been making this on repeat since then. It’s absolutely delicious. My favorite peach recipe from all the different recipes I’ve tried this few weeks.
Sally- You’ve done it again! I made these yesterday and the whole pan is nearly gone (I live alone)! These are absolutely fabulous! My kids are coming for dinner later this week and I’ll be making them again. I still have a couple of peaches in the fridge and plan to make a separate pan with blueberries so they’ll have a choice (and I’ll have leftovers for the weekend)! Thanks again for a great recipe! So SO good!
★★★★★
Easy to make and utterly delicious!
★★★★★
This recipe is very unique with the addition of the egg to the peaches creating a bit of a custard filling. I doubled the amount of peaches to make them the star of the show since they are from my tree & are sweet & delicious.. I had issues with the crust though. It was not a course crumbly mixture. It was very wet, more like a cookie dough. I used it as is for the base & crossed my fingers. I added more oats to the remainder to create the crumble, which was perfect. I weighed all my ingredients for accuracy. Wondering if there is a misprint in the recipe. Should the oat content be higher? Would appreciate your comments.
★★★★
Thank you so much for trying these! The crust/topping definitely shouldn’t become a paste or like cookie dough. I wonder if the butter wasn’t cold enough to form those crumbles? Or perhaps over-mixed which then moistened the dry ingredients too much? The recipe is written as it should be and how I usually make them. If you try them again, make sure the butter is very cold.
The butter was cold but perhaps my kitchen was too hot. Can’t win some days. I will definitely make again. I have had great success with all of your recipes so far especially your scones. Fantastic. Thank you for your input. Appreciate the comment.
Hi Sally! I am preparing to make this recipe today but my peaches are still fairly unripe. Do you recommend waiting until they are fully recipe to make it? Thanks!
Hi Paige, the bars will taste much better if you wait until those peaches are a bit riper. Worth it!