Brown Butter Peach Crumble Bars
These peach crumble bars are made with juicy sliced peaches layered between a buttery, chewy brown butter shortbread crust and a golden brown sugar oat crumble. They can be served cold, or slightly warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Servings: 24
Calories: 268kcal
Equipment
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment, or handheld mixer
- Mixing bowls
Ingredients
Butter for Browning
- 1 ¾ cups or 3 ½ sticks unsalted butter
Shortbread Base
- 1 cup browned butter room temperature
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Peach Layer
- 4-5 medium peaches halved, pitted, and sliced ⅛" thick (see notes)
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Crumble Topping
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup tablespoon browned butter melted
Instructions
Browning the Butter
- Cut the unsalted butter into tablespoon pieces and add to a large pan over medium heat. Allow it to melt, bubble, and foam until the milk solids turn quite brown (but don’t let them burn!). Stir the butter with a rubber spatula every so often to prevent sticking and get nice amber colored brown on the butter.1 ¾ cups or 3 ½ sticks unsalted butter
- Remove the butter to a bowl (scrape all the bits out from the pan!) and place in the fridge to cool off more quickly. Stir the butter every 10 minutes until it’s the consistency of stiff peanut butter. You can also add the bowl into a larger bowl full of ice cubes.
Shortbread Base
- Preheat the oven to 300℉ and line bottom and sides of a 13 x 9" baking pan with a parchment paper sling so you can easily pull the bars out after baked.
- Add 1 cup room temperature brown butter into a stand mixer (with paddle attachment, or use a hand mixer) and turn on high speed for 4 minutes until it turns pale and slightly whipped. Scrape down the sides.1 cup browned butter
- Add in the sugar, vanilla, and salt and mix on medium speed for one minute. Scrape down the sides again.½ cup light brown sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Add in the flour and mix on low until combined. The dough will look crumbly at first, then will come together and look slightly sticky (this is normal).2 cups all-purpose flour
- Scatter pieces of the dough all around the pan and press it (with fingertips) into the edges and middle until all the dough comes together to cover the pan.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. Turn the oven up to 350℉.
Peach Layer
- While the crust is baking, core and slice the peaches (⅛ inch thick). In a large bowl, combine the peaches, flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and lightly toss until the apples are fully coated.4-5 medium peaches , ¼ cup all-purpose flour, ¼ cup granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Crumble Topping
- Mix the flour, brown sugar, oats, salt, and melted brown butter with a fork until just combined and crumbly.1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 ½ cup light brown sugar, 1 cup rolled oats, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ cup tablespoon browned butter
- Sprinkle one third of the topping over the shortbread, then layer the peach slices over the crumble in slightly overlapping horizontal lines. Gently press down on the apples with your hands.
- Once the peaches are arranged, sprinkle the remainder of the topping evenly on top and bake for 30 minutes.
- Let cool completely on a wire rack, then refrigerate for 2 hours. Using the parchment slings, remove the full slab of bars to a cutting board and cut into 12 or more pieces and serve.
Video
Notes
The butter can be browned up to 3 days in advance and stored in the fridge. Let it come to room temperature before using it to make the bars.
Look for peaches that are relatively firm with a slight give so they can stand up to the baking process. Peaches that are too ripe will turn to mush.
If desired, you can peel the peaches, but I chose to keep the skins on for ease.
Store the bars covered in the fridge for 3-4 days. Enjoy cold or slightly warm with vanilla ice cream.
Nutrition
Calories: 268kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 149mg | Potassium: 85mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 442IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg
