Dutch Peach Pie Bars: June Mystery Dish

A layered peach pie bar with gorgeous, sweetened yellow fruit sandwiched between a crust and Dutch crumb layer, then topped with your choice of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream! Heaven!

It’s time for some more Mystery Dish? Did you miss it? I sure look forward to this time every month, when I get to create a one-of-a-kind tasty recipe! Seriously…it’s like Christmas for me…but twelve times a year instead of one!

This time around, our wonderful hostess, Meriem from Culinary Couture, challenged us to use three of the following ingredients:

-Peaches
-Cheddar Cheese
-Green beans
-Corn
-Chicken
-Nectarines
-Butter
-Pecans
-Heavy cream
-Pesto
-Coconut milk/cream

I was able to include four! I couldn’t wait to get started, and I knew at first glance that I would make a peach dessert of some sort.

Thus, the Dutch Peach Pie Bar was born. I love me some pie, but I’m not going to sugar coat it…pie-making can be really time consuming! So when I crave the luscious dessert, I typically whip it up in bar form or layered in a jar as with my Peach Crumb Delight. That way, I can enjoy the same flavors and textures without giving up hours of my life to do so.

I also appreciate that bars tend to be a bit more self-contained, so I can eat them without having to dirty a dish. I’m not ashamed to say that I ate three of these suckers throughout the day that I made them (I just couldn’t help myself), so keeping three extra plates clean was a bonus!

My mom used to make an incredible peach pie, which served as the inspiration for this month’s creation.

{DUTCH PEACH PIE BARS}

Crust:

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. oats (can use quick oats)

2/3 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. butter, melted

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

*1/2 c. chopped pecans (to be added in for the crumb topping)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Stir together flour, oats, brown sugar and cinnamon. Pour melted butter over, and toss until all the mixture is slightly moist. **Reserve 1 c. of the mixture and add 1/2 c. chopped pecans to it. Press remaining crust mixture into the bottom of a 9″x13″ pan and bake for 11-12 minutes.

Filling:

3 1/2 c. peaches, peeled and chopped into small pieces

1/4 c. granulated sugar

1/8 c. flour

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

While crust is baking, stir filling ingredients together. Pull baked crust out of the oven and spread peach filling evenly over. Sprinkle crumb topping over peaches. Return to the oven and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Sweet Whipped Cream:

1 c. heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla

2 Tbsp. powdered sugar

Add all ingredients to the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, and whip on highest speed until mixture forms peaks and is fluffy.

I’m a huge fan of crumb topping…that’s where the “Dutch comes in”. It adds such a fun and tasty element to these bars. The juicy peach filling adds a perfect touch of moistness to the otherwise dry crust and topping. The pecans lend a tasty crunch. These characteristics work together to make a summer-y treat that is out-of-this world!