Peach Cobbler Bars

 

I happen to have a special place in my heart for dessert items made in bar form. Of course I love brownies and blondies, desserts that come in bar form by nature. But I also love taking classic desserts and transforming them into easy-to-bake, portable, adorable bars.  I almost always do it with cheesecake. I had never thought to do it with cobbler until I saw it on Alison's blog, Ingredient, Inc. Immediately I saved this recipe to my favorites since peaches are so beautiful right now and lure you into buying them with their sweet aroma alone. I made a few changes (lowering the sugar amount and substituting whole-wheat flour for some of the all-purpose flour) to create a somewhat less guilty but still tasty indulgence.

Recipe Rundown
Taste: Fruity, fresh, sweet, warm.
Texture: The soft peaches are surrounded by a gooey filling while the crust and topping are crumbly and crunchy. 
Ease: There is only one dough that is used for both the bottom crust and crumbly topping. Simple ingredients.  
Appearance: Oh so colorful and scrumptious.

Pros: These bars smell better than any candle while baking. Plus I substituted some whole-wheat flour so they wouldn't be totally indulgent.
Cons: Not one that I could think of.
Would I make this again? Yes.

Peach Cobbler Bars
Makes 9 large bars
Adapted from Ingredients, Inc.

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (or whole-wheat flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup (1 stick, 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 4 medium peaches, peeled, pitted, and chopped
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray an 8x8-inch baking dish with non-stick spray.

In a medium bowl combine 1/4 cup brown sugar, all-purpose flour, whole-wheat pastry flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and lemon zest. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or fork until the butter is the size of peas and the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the egg and mix just until blended and moistened. Press two-thirds of dough into prepared pan, reserving remaining dough, and bake for 5 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.

In another medium bowl combine 1/4 cup brown sugar, chopped peaches, and 1 tablespoon flour. Pour peach mixture evenly over cooled crust. Crumble reserved dough mixture over peaches. Bake for 30 minutes, or until top is lightly browned. Cool before cutting into 9 large squares.