Fresh Peach, Oat & Nut Squares

One of the first things on my wish list when we bought our property here in Umbria was to plant fruit trees and for our second season here we planted two different varieties each of apples, plums, peaches, and figs. It has taken a few years, but our trees are now producing gorgeous fruit for us, and since my kitchen window over the sink overlooks my trees, I have been watching them since we arrived the end of April anxiously waiting for the fruit to ripen.

Our yellow peaches ripened a few weeks ago, but I was just able to pick our white peaches this past week. To celebrate our white peach bounty I decided to use some of them in a dessert, and put together a pan of easy squares that also includes oats and nuts. These squares are very tender but the oats and nuts add just enough texture so they are anything but boring.

I used a half cup of my peach jam from last year as well as fresh chopped peaches in the filling to hold it together and cooked the peaches briefly to soften them. You can use yellow or white peaches, or even apricots or plums in this recipe depending on what is in season.

Our peach tree in May.

Just picked white peaches.

Buon Appetito!
Deborah Mele 

Fresh Peach, Oat, & Nut Squares

Fresh Peach, Oat, & Nut Squares

Yield: Serves 10 - 12
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes

An easy to assemble square using fresh fruit, nuts, and oats.

Ingredients

For The Crust:

  • 1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter
  • 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 1 1/4 Cups All-purpose Flour
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

For The Filling:

  • 1 Pound Fresh, Ripe Peaches, Diced (About 4 Peaches)
  • 1/2 Cup Peach Jam

For The Topping:

  • 1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter
  • 3/4 Cup Rolled Oats
  • 1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts
  • 1/2 Cup Flour
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and lightly grease an 8 inch cake pan.
  2. Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy.
  3. Add the flour, salt and cinnamon and stir until mixed.
  4. Dump the mixture into the prepared pan and use your fingertips to press evenly over the bottom.
  5. In a saucepan, heat the jam with the diced peaches and cook over medium low heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring often.
  6. Remove from the heat and pour over the crust.
  7. In a separate bowl mix together the toppings ingredients with your fingertips until crumbly.
  8. Drop the topping evenly over the fruit filling, then bake for about 40 to 45 minutes or until the topping is golden brown.
  9. Cool completely before cutting into squares and cover and store in the refrigerator.

Did you make this recipe?

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One Comment

  1. Oh these look delicious! I Love chewy, gooey bars like this and I can see trying this recipe with all sorts of harvested fruit. Raspberries, apricots, plums, cherries, apples, huckleberries, blackberries! Yummy!

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