Fresh Peach Oatmeal Bars
When it’s peach season, you gotta make these. I promise you’ll knock everyone’s socks off! I’ve shared them with various groups of family and friends and they all beg for the recipe. I’ve told them I’ll put it on the blog and so I’m doing just that. FINALLY! I’ve been enjoying my summer with various projects and traveling; I apologize for making you wait, but I know you ALL will love them.
Summer is all about fresh vegetables and fruits. No other time of the year is so plentiful. And we all love fresh peaches. They’re soft, juicy, sweet, loaded with vitamin C and pair beautifully with this crumbly oat mixture that forms the crust and the topping which cuts down on bowls (yep, I see you!). It’s a mixture of five things I bet you have in your pantry right now: whole wheat pastry flour, rolled oats, brown sugar and cinnamon. Butter is cut in with a pastry blender, forks or your food processor to form a crumble. A little more than half of this is pressed into an 8 x 8-inch pan to form the crust and then baked. For the rest of the crumble, you’ll want to take it to the next level by adding chopped pecans. Definitely!
For the filling the peaches are simply combined with an egg, sugar, flour and some salt. This is poured over the baked crust and the remaining crumble is sprinkled over top. The whole thing bakes for about 30 minutes until golden brown and of course as you can imagine your entire house will smell wondrous.
After cooking and cooling, it’s best to chill for about an hour or more to set the filling. They cut up into perfect little bites for everyone to taste and enjoy. Try them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a summer treat everyone will love.
- Cooking Spray
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup old fashioned or quick rolled oats
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup butter, cold and cubed
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 medium peaches, peeled and chopped (about 2 cups)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat an 8 or 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- For the Crust/Topping: Whisk the flour, oats, brown sugar and cinnamon together in a large bowl until well combined. Cut in the cold butter using a pastry blender or two forks until it reaches coarse, pea-sized crumbs. (This can also be done in a food processor). Remove 3/4 cup of the mixture and put in a small bowl; stir in pecans if desired. 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.
- For the filling: Whisk the egg and sugar together in a small bowl until smooth and creamy. Add the flour and salt; whisking 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 cut into squares and enjoy!
Notes
Recipe can easily be doubled to fit in a 9 x13-inch pan; increase baking time to 35 minutes. Prepare the bars 1-3 days in advance and store covered tightly in the refrigerator until ready to serve.