About These Small Batch Peach Crumb Bars
These peach crumb bars are a cross between many desserts: crisps, crumbles, pie, and shortbread bars! The recipe starts with an easy, brown butter shortbread base. You then top this shortbread cookie base with a layer of fresh peaches and buttery streusel. All these different layers provide contrasting crispy and crumbly textures in the bars.
The best part? The recipe is small batch! The recipe instructs you to bake the peach crumb bars in a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan, resulting in 8 petite squares enough for 2 hungry folks to 4 more reasonable people.
Why You Should Make The Recipe
In addition to being extremely delicious, here are all the reasons why you should make this peach crumb bars recipe:
The recipe is very small batch.
Most peach crumb bar recipes instruct you to bake them in either a 9 x 13-inch cake pan, or a 8-inch square cake pan. However, since many of us are still avoiding large gatherings, I decided to make a very small batch version of a traditional peach crumb bars recipe. What does that mean? These peach crumb bars are made in a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan, resulting in a serving size approximately a quarter of the size of other recipes. That means 8 petite servings (or 2 generous ones). It’s the perfect amount for a small household!
The recipe is perfect for the indecisive dessert lover.
Can’t decide between shortbread cookies or a peach crisp, crumble, or pie? Well, why not have all FOUR in one dessert? These peach crumb bars have all the different qualities of crisps, crumbles, pie, AND shortbread cookies. Each of the layers have different textures to satisfy everybody!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Now that I’ve convinced you to make small batch peach crumb bars, here’s everything you need for the recipe:
Shopping List for Small Batch Peach Crumb Bars
- all-purpose flour
- confectioners’ sugar
- unsalted butter
- kosher salt
- brown sugar
- ground cinnamon
- fresh medium peaches
And let’s talk about some key ingredients and potential substitutions:
Common Ingredient Substitutions For The Recipe
Here are common substitutions for the ingredients in the yellow sheet cake recipe:
- All-Purpose Flour. Substitute the all-purpose flour with your favorite 1-1 Gluten Free All Purpose Flour (I like the ones by Bob’s Red Mill and King Arthur Baking Company) to make the cake gluten-free!
- Unsalted Butter. You can substitute the unsalted butter with salted butter without any noticeable difference in taste. You can also use vegan butter sticks to make it dairy-free (though you’ll need to swap the milk out for a plant-based option too).
- Kosher Salt. Replace the kosher salt in the recipe with a pinch of table salt.
- Brown Sugar. Either light or dark brown sugar works in the recipe.
- Peaches. Although I used fresh peaches for this recipe, you can also use frozen peaches. There’s no need to thaw the frozen peaches beforehand; however, you may want to bake the bars for a few extra minutes.
In a pinch, you can also substitute the peaches with other fruit of your choice. Just make sure the total volume of your substitution equals around 2 cups of fresh or frozen fruit.
How To Make The Recipe
Here are the basic steps to make these peach crumb bars from scratch:
- Prep the ingredients. (Prep Time: 10 minutes)
- Make the brown butter shortbread crust. (Work Time: 10 minutes)
- Bake the crust. (Bake Time: 30 minutes)
- Make and chill the streusel while the crust bakes. (Work Time: 10 minutes)
- Prep the peaches while the crust bakes. (Prep Time: 5 minutes)
- Assemble the bars. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
- Bake the bars. (Bake Time: 30 minutes)
Best Recipe Tips
Ingredient Tip
- The brown butter shortbread cookie crust requires 2 ½ Tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar. Unfortunately, a 1 ½-Tablespoon measure isn’t typically available with most measuring spoon sets. However, you can use a ½-teaspoon and 1-teaspoon measure to measure out the equivalent of 1 ½ Tablespoons. Specifically, 2 ½ Tablespoons equals 7 ½ teaspoons. I recommend using a digital scale instead, or investing in a 1 ½ Tablespoon measure on Amazon if you’re planning on baking more small batch recipes!
Tool Tip
- No pie weights? No problem! Although you can buy ceramic pie weights online like I did, you can also use coins from your spare change jar, dried beans, or uncooked rice for the same results.
Technique Tip
- The recipe instructs you to mold the shortbread dough into the cake pan by patting it in place with your hands. It’s much easier if you start with patting dough in the corners of the pan. Doing so holds the parchment paper in place and makes the task much easier!
More Small Batch Recipes
- Banana Nut Muffins
- Blueberry Cornflake Muffins
- Cheesy Garlic Bread
- Flourless Chocolate Cookies
- Funfetti Sheet Cake
- Magic Cookie Bars
- Pecan Sticky Buns
- Strawberry Sheet Cake
More Peach Recipes
- Black Tea and Peach Creamsicles
- Blueberry, Peach, and Lavender Perfect Pie
- Bourbon and Brown Sugar Peach Pie
- Matcha Cream Fruit Tart
- Pineapple and Peach Pie
- Rustic Blackberry and Peach Pie
- Summer Fruit Pies
- The Hummingbird Bakery’s Peaches and Cream Cupcakes
Get the Recipe: Small Batch Peach Crumb Bars Recipe
Ingredients
For The Brown Butter Shortbread Crust
- ½ cup plus 1 Tablespoon (2.5 ounces or 71 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ Tablespoons (0.65 ounces or 18 grams) confectioners’ sugar, sifted if necessary
- 4 Tablespoons 4 Tablespoons (2 ounces or 57 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- pinch kosher salt
For The Streusel
- ½ cup (2.25 ounces or 64 grams) all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup (1.85 ounces or 52 grams) light OR dark brown sugar
- pinch ground cinnamon
- pinch kosher salt
- 4 Tablespoons (2 ounces or 57 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
Assembly
- 2 to 3 medium peaches
Equipment
- pie weights
Instructions
- Prep your pan and oven. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the pan’s two long sides. Lightly spray the parchment, too.
- Make the brown butter shortbread crust. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Beat on low until combined. Add the butter and beat on low until the dough clumps around the paddle and/or the sides of the bowl, 2 to 3 minutes.Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and use a tart tamper or your hands to press it evenly over the bottom of the pan, all the way to the edges. Place a sheet of parchment over the dough and fill it with pie weights.
- Bake the crust. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.
- Meanwhile, make the streusel. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and sal. Add the melted butter and use a rubber spatula to stir until a crumbly mixture forms with some large pieces still intact. Do not overmix. Use two butter knives to cut the dough in a criss cross motion until small crumbs form. Place the bowl in the refrigerator, uncovered, while you prep the peaches.
- Prep the peaches. Peel and core the peaches. Finely chop the peaches into ¼ and ½ inch chunks. You should have around 2 cups (10 ounces or 284 grams) of prepped peaches.
- Assemble the bars. At this point, the shortbread crust should be ready. Place the crust on a wire rack, but keep the oven on. Use the parchment to lift the pie weights out of the pan and expose the crust. Spoon the peaches evenly over the crust—there’s no need to wait for the crust to cool! Just be careful since the pan will be hot. Remove the streusel from the refrigerator and sprinkle it evenly over the fruit, breaking up any large clumps with your hands.
- Bake the bars. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the fruit is fork-tender and the streusel is golden brown. Cool the bars on a wire rack for 20 minutes, or until the streusel topping feels firm to the touch.
- Serve and store. Run a butter knife or offset spatula along the edges of the pan and use the overhanging parchment as handles to lift the bars out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Slice the bars lengthwise. Then, hold the two long slices together and slice them into quarters crosswise to create 8 petite bars. The pie bars can be stored in a zip-top bag or airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
Notes
- The brown butter shortbread cookie crust requires 2 ½ Tablespoons of confectioners’ sugar. Unfortunately, a 1 ½-Tablespoon measure isn’t typically available with most measuring spoon sets. However, you can use a ½-teaspoon and 1-teaspoon measure to measure out the equivalent of 1 ½ Tablespoons. Specifically, 2 ½ Tablespoons equals 7 ½ teaspoons. I recommend using a digital scale instead, or investing in a 1 ½ Tablespoon measure on Amazon if you’re planning on baking more small batch recipes!
- No pie weights? No problem! Although you can buy ceramic pie weights online like I did, you can also use coins from your spare change jar, dried beans, or uncooked rice for the same results.
- The recipe instructs you to mold the shortbread dough into the cake pan by patting it in place with your hands. It’s much easier if you start with patting dough in the corners of the pan. Doing so holds the parchment paper in place and makes the task much easier!
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Weeknight Baking:
Recipes to Fit your Schedule
Over the past several years of running Hummingbird High, I kept a crucial aspect of my life hidden from my readers: I had a full-time, extremely demanding job in the tech world. In my debut cookbook, Weeknight Baking, I finally reveal the secrets to baking delicious desserts on a tight schedule.
I am in the process of making these crumble bars. Everything is going well, but the streusel topping is very wet, not at all crumbly. I am an experienced baker, so I hope my finished product turns out. There is nothing worse than a waste of expensive ingredients, and time. I have made a few of your other recipes, all of which turned out well. Thank you for your consideration.