I’ve been struggling a bit here to find something worth sharing with you lately, so I was thrilled when I made these Peaches and Cream Shortbread Bars. So, so thrilled. Like I immediately got in the car and brought some to my mom and sister and neighbor because I just couldn’t wait for someone to try them!
We’ve got a buttery, almond shortbread crust topped with fresh peaches surrounded by a creamy vanilla custard. These are a tiny taste of heaven my friends. I love these so much I think I might even be famous for them someday. And I don’t even want to be famous, but I guess I’ll just have to deal with it. Maybe someday my grandchildren will remember me fondly because I always made these Peaches and Cream Shortbread Bars when they came to visit me every summer. Would that be lovely?
I made the crust in the food processor with some almonds, flour, sugar, butter, salt and water. It took about three minutes tops to make! Then I pitted and sliced my peaches (didn’t even peel) and layer them on top of the partially baked crust.
Then I whisked together an egg with sugar, heavy cream, flour, almond extract and vanilla bean paste. Pour that over the peaches and bake until the custard is set.
Now you’ve got to let them cool! I tried so hard to be patient, but I ended up just making room in the freezer and putting the whole pan in there for about 20 minutes to hurry the process up a bit.
A little dusting of powdered sugar, and then cut them into bars. I am literally begging you to make these, and let me know what you think…
Because then you might be famous for them too!
Peaches and Cream Shortbread Bars
These Peaches and Cream Shortbread Bars have a buttery, almond shortbread crust topped with fresh peaches surrounded by a creamy vanilla custard.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 9 bars 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup finely ground almonds
- 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup salted butter, cubed and chilled
- 1 tablespoon cold water
For the Filling
- 2–3 fresh peaches, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions
For the Crust
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Prepare a 9 by 9 inch baking dish by lining it with parchment paper leaving the excess hanging over two opposite sides.
- In a food processor (or with a pastry cutter) mix sugar, ground almonds, flour, and salt together. Pulse to mix, then add cubed butter and pulse until you have pea sized crumbs of flour coated butter.
- Add water and pulse again to bring dough together.
- Press the dough into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. If it is too sticky, dust your hands with a little flour as you go.
- Bake the crust for 12-15 minutes, or until light golden brown. Turn oven down to 350 degrees.
For the Filling
- Slice peaches in half and remove the pit. Then slice each half into 1/4 inch slices. Place the peaches onto the shortbread crust, overlapping slightly.
- Whisk egg and sugar together in a small bowl until pale and thick. Add flour, heavy cream, vanilla bean paste and almond extract and whisk until smooth.
- Pour the custard mixture over the peaches. Tilt the pan gently so that the custard fills in around the peaches evenly.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, and then cool for one hour at room temperature. Cut and serve!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Bar
- Calories: 295
- Sugar: 20g
- Sodium: 188mg
- Fat: 17g
- Saturated Fat: 8.5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7.7g
- Trans Fat: 0.5g
- Carbohydrates: 32g
- Fiber: 2.1g
- Protein: 4.5g
- Cholesterol: 55mg
Made them and love them! Thanks Julie!
Thank you for making these and letting me know! I’m glad you are enjoying them.
I am 12 years old and I made these for the very first time!!! I love peaches, and these look fantastic!!!! They are in the oven right now!!! Thanks much Julie for this fantastic recipie!!!!!
Jesse, that’s so awesome that you made these! I hope you love them as much as we do. Happy baking!
I am absolutely blown away by this combination!
Just wondering if you can use frozen fruit because I can’t find fresh peaches now, with winter and living in Canada. Or can you use another fresh fruit like apples?
A canned or frozen peach may have too much moisture, but yes – do try it with apples!
Thank you for responding so quickly, I did find fresh peaches… but I found I had to bake this at least 10 minutes longer to 15 minutes. ?
Turned out amazing! The peaches were a bit too hard, but its fine!
I’ve made these a few times this peach season, and really appreciate how go the taste and how easy they are to make. I have started adding a tbsp. of lemon juice to the filling, which I think brightens up the custard a bit. Thanks for the tasty recipe!