Peach Crumb Sqaures

Ontario peaches were so good this year! I was so excited, because last year they were definitely sub-par (at least the ones I bought). This Summer they were perfectly sweet, juicy and flavourful. I ate chopped peaches with yogurt and granola for my breakfast for about three weeks straight, and it was terrific.

The only peach treat I had on my radar was one I bookmarked last Summer: peach squares with a shortbread crust, brown sugar crumble topping and vanilla almond glaze. Seriously, does anything sound as good as that for late Summer bliss?

This recipe is not necessarily quick to make, as there are four separate components, including peeling and chopping all the peaches, but I promise they are worth every minute in prep work. I ate a bunch of these, then shared some with my parents and hid the rest in the freezer. I might have to bust them out soon.

Peach Crumb Squares with Vanilla Almond Glaze

Source: My Baking Addiction

Ingredients

Crust

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup icing sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Crumb Topping

  • 6 tbsp butter
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1/8 tsp salt

Peach Filling

  • 3 cups peeled and chopped peaches
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp cornstarch
  • big pinch salt

Vanilla Almond Glaze

  • 1/2 cup icing sugar
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla
  • 1/8 tsp almond extract
  • enough milk or cream to make a drizzle-able consistency (start with 1 tbsp)

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° and line a 8×8″ pan with parchment paper.
  2. For the crust, add the butter to a big microwave safe bowl, and melt it in the microwave. Add the flour, icing sugar and salt, and stir until evenly combined. Press the crust mixture evenly into the bottom of your prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes, until just starting to brown at the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool while you work on everything else.
  3. While the crust is baking/cooling, make the topping in the same bowl (don’t even need to wash it) by melting the butter, then stirring in the flour, brown sugar, vanilla and salt. I like to use my hands to form big huge clumps, then break them up into large and medium size crumbles. Stick the bowl in the fridge to chill while you make the filling.
  4. For the peach filling, stir together the chopped peaches, brown sugar, cornstarch and salt.
  5. When the crust is baked/cooled, spread the peach filling over top. If a lot of juice has accumulated in the bottom of the bowl, take care not to add it all otherwise the crust may become soggy. Take the crumble out of the fridge and sprinkle it over top of the peaches.
  6. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the peach filling is bubbling and the crumble topping is golden brown. Let cool completely before adding the glaze.
  7. Make the glaze by whisking together the icing sugar, vanilla, almond extract and milk/cream until thin enough to drizzle over the bars. I just used a spoon to drizzle diagonally in both directions, then cut into squares.