PEACH CRUMB BARS

It is Friday...baking day for church coffee hour on Sunday....got some good ones this week!

These bars are yummy...the peaches are really ripe and yummy right now!Enjoy! hugs, peg

PEACH CRUMB BARS

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
zest of half a lemon
16 T. cold, unsalted butter cut into small pieces
1 large egg
5 cups peeled, chopped peaches (about 5 peaches)
5 tsp. cornstarch
juice of 1 lemon
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9x13" pan; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of sugar, baking powder, flour. Mix in salt, lemon zest, stir together with a fork. Cut in butter, egg with a pastry blender until largest chunks are about pea-sized. Mixture should be crumbly without much loose flour. Spread about half of dough mixture in an even layer over bottom of prepared pan, press down firmly to form bottom crust. In another bowl, stir together remaining sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, nutmeg. Gently mix in peaches with a rubber spatula until combined. Sprinkle fruit mixture evenly over crust. Crumble remaining dough over top of peaches. Bake about 45 minutes or until top is slightly golden brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares, serving.

Note: Because my peaches were overly ripe, they were floating in a bowl of juice. I used a slotted spoon to transfer fruit to baking dish, discarding most of excess juice, to prevent crust from getting soggy.

Recipe source: Exchanging Recipes yahoo group, submitted by Susie Reifenrath