Peach & Pecan Oat Crumble Bars

By dcarriger56

These bars have a firm, buttery base, heaped with peaches, whose skins were so tangerine and rosy I didn't want to peel them off. I left them on for color and didn't chop them too finely, then topped the whole thing with an oat and pecan crumble, nutty and toasted. There's plenty of butter but not a whole lot of sugar in the bars, so the final grace note is a drizzle of lemon glaze to punch up the peaches' own sweetness.

Ingredients

• Base Dough
• 1cup1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature for 1 hour
• 1/21/2 packed cup dark brown sugar
• 2teaspoons2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 1/4cups2 1/4 cups flour
• 1teaspoon1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2teaspoon1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/8teaspoon1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• Peach Filling
• 2pounds2 pounds peaches, unpeeled (about 8 peaches)
• 1tablespoon1 tablespoon sugar
• 1tablespoon1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4teaspoon1/4 teaspoon salt
• Pecan Oat Topping
• 1/2cup1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature for 1 hour, divided
• 1cup1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/2cup1/2 cup flour
• 1cup1 cup pecans, finely chopped
• 1/4teaspoon1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4teaspoon1/4 teaspoon salt
• Glaze
• Juice of 1 lemon, about 3 tablespoons
• 1/2 to 1cup1/2 to 1 cup powdered sugar

Details

Servings 9
Adapted from thekitchn.com

Preparation

Step 1

Heat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl, using a hand mixer) cream the butter with the brown sugar and vanilla until lightly and fluffy. Turn off the mixer and add in the flour, salt, ginger, and cinnamon. Press the dough firmly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan and refrigerate while preparing the filling and topping.

Wipe out the mixer bowl and mix 1/4 cup softened butter with the oats, flour, pecans, cinnamon, and salt until soft and crumbly. Melt the remaining 1/4 cup butter and set aside to cool.

Spread the chopped peaches over the chilled dough base. Evenly crumble the topping over the peaches, and drizzle with the melted butter.
Bake for 45 minutes or until the topping is lightly browned.
Whisk together the lemon juice with enough powdered sugar to make a thin glaze. Drizzle over the bars.
Cool (or chill) for at least an hour before slicing and serving. I do recommend chilling these; they will stay fresh (and slice more cleanly) for about 5 days when stored well-covered in the fridge.