Is there some unspoken rule that cookie bars have to be heavy and gooey? Two weeks ago we were getting coffee on the way to the park so the little monkey could continue his rampage outside our apartment and I fell for something at the bakery that was peach shortbread cut into bars. But instead of thick and intense it was delicate light and barely sweet—a thin layer of shortbread even thinner slices of peach and a tiny bit of streusel on top. I knew I had to share it.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
 Audrey's Cooking Kitchen | 2016-10-16 02:12:59 |  288 Views |
Peach Shortbread – courtesy of Smitten Kitchen
And it wasn’t until I added “peach streusel bar” to my to-do list that I remembered a recipe for brown butter peach bars I found in a New York Times preview of The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook nearly three years ago and have been lusting after ever since. (That recipe didn’t make it into the cookbook but a rhubarb version — which looked almost as time-consuming and delicious — did.) Every summer I vow to muster up the energy to make them. First you make peach jam from fresh peaches. You’ll need a candy thermometer. It takes an hour to cook. Then you brown butter and freeze it until firm. Then you make a crumb crust with that butter bake it for 20 minutes and let it cool. Then you make a custard filling with fresh vanilla bean and brown more butter. You spread the filling over the baked crust spoon the peach jam over it and bake it for another 30 minutes. I have no doubt that nirvana is coming a reader recently told me she tried them and they were totally worth it. But I got tired of typing this paragraph and I realized it was time to admit that maybe it wasn’t worth it for me especially since so much time is spent on these things now.
Plus the easiest fruit cookie bar on the planet is already in these archives. I did a little experimenting with them: I browned the butter in homage to that recipe I’ll never make added a dash of spices and messed with the proportions a bit by putting more crumble on the bottom and only a little on top. You won’t believe how thin and fluffy a shortbread bar can be and still pack more flavor than something twice as thick and gooey. And you won’t believe how little time these take—even with the browning-the-butter step—and how fitting they are for a weekend you’d rather spend soaking up the last vestiges of summer.
One year ago: Granola Bars (Psst I like these better.) Two years ago: Sour Cherry Compote Cold-Brewed Iced Coffee Bourbon Peach Hand Pies and Raspberry Breakfast Bars Three years ago: Spicy Soba Noodles with Shiitakes Four years ago: 44 Cloves of Garlic Soup
