This easy Peach Bars recipe features a moist and tender almond flavored bar that’s laden with sweet, juicy peaches. Finished with a drizzle of sweet almond glaze, this is a favorite summer treat!
Eating sweet, juicy peaches each August is always bittersweet for me.
- the bitter = it’s a sure sign that summer is coming to an end
- the sweet = do I even need to explain?!
Ohhhhh…they are such a treat, juice all dripping down my forearms, sweet and sticky with finest sugar.
I prefer, without a doubt, to eat a peach simply peeled and sliced. When its golden flesh is just perfectly soft, barely able to contain its juices…it’s heaven in my hand.
But I also cannot deny slicing up a few peaches for Mom’s gorgeous lattice peach pie, my favorite peach bread, or a super easy and delicious peach cake with a thin crackly crust of cinnamon and sugar.
Peaches are great in savory and main dishes, too, and make a late summer meal extra special. This grilled pork tenderloin with peach glaze is one of our family’s favorite August meals. And a grilled peach salad with peach cumin dressing makes for a darn sweet lunch.
Our girls fell head over heels for these almond peach bars, where a simple almond flavored bar is laden with tender peaches and drizzled with a sweet almond glaze. The recipe is a modification of a favorite childhood treat of mine, my mom’s cherry square bars. I thought that old recipe would take well to fresh peaches.
And I was right.
These peach squares would be most welcome at a late summer picnic or potluck. Baked in a larger jelly roll pan, they feed a crowd. That is, if everyone takes just one. Which could be a problem. ;)
Peach Bars
Ingredients
Bars:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at softened room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon Morton kosher salt
Peach filling:
- 5 cups peeled and thinly-sliced, fresh ripe & juicy peaches (from about 4 to 5 large peaches)
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 pinch cardamom
Almond glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons cream
- ½ teaspoon pure almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 17''x13'' pan with nonstick spray and set aside.
Bars:
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time, incorporating well after each addition.
- Add vanilla and almond extracts, and mix just to combine.
- Slowly add flour and salt, and mix until just incorporated.
- Spread ¾ of the bars dough into prepared pan in an even layer.
Peach filling:
- In a medium bowl, fold together the peaches, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom.
- Add peach filling over the bars dough in an even layer.
- Using a teaspoon, drop the remaining ¼ of the bars dough over the peach layer, for a cobbler-like appearance.
- Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the edges start to turn golden brown.
Almond glaze:
- Stir together powdered sugar, cream, and almond extract until completely smooth. To thicken, add a little bit of powdered sugar. To thin, add a little bit of water. Drizzle glaze over the bars while the bars are still just slightly warm.
- Allow bars and glaze to cool completely. Then cut into squares and serve.
Just made this recipe with fresh Georgia peaches. It turned out delicious. Thank you for another fabulous recipe.
Wonderful! Wish I could have a piece!!
Can you freeze this recipe?
Yes, this freezes well.
This recipe had been sitting on one of my Pinterest boards forever and I finally decided to make it this weekend. Oh goodness, I only wish I’d tried these sooner. Because we really love fruit, my family and I spent quite a bit of time brainstorming all the different versions of this we can make–blackberry? Pear? Strawberry? Needless to say, we’re excited about the possibilities here. This is one heavenly dessert!
So happy to hear this, Madelyn! And yes, I think the varieties are pretty endless. I grew up with my mom making this with canned cherries – I’m not a huge canned cherries fan any more, but I still love those bars!
These bars are delicious ! Making them for the second time. Everyone loved them
Yay!!!! So happy to hear this, Debbie!
Just made these beautiful bars!!! I can’t wait to try them. My house smells delish! How do I store the leftovers? I’m really hoping for leftovers!!! Do they need to be refrigerated? Thank you so much!
Hi from the UK. I made your cake this evening. Wow- it’s amazing. I had to adapt it a bit as a) I only had self raising flour (all purpose flour with baking powder already added) b) I had two egg yolks left over and I added those to the other yolks. c) I was in a hurry and wanted the butter to melt quickly so I put it on defrost in the microwave, it was almost liquid by the time I remembered to get it out. I had to cook it a bit longer but the result was just fantastic. The pastry was soft and a little bit chewy and completely delicious.
I don’t know if it was supposed to be like that but I’ll be making a completely strict to the recipe version and keeping the original one as well. thanks so much. I’ve made lots of your recipes and they always worked really well.
These are delicious…it is March so I used home canned peaches…still very tasty. DH doesn’t have a huge sweet tooth so I just sprinkled the brown sugar mix over the fruit before baking and called it a day. Lots of those glass jars still in the pantry…I’ll make this again!
That’s awesome, Rob. Hope you enjoy many more pans of these peach squares!
I’m sure I would like this with the special flavors in it like the cardamom and the almond extract. Can you believe I’m still getting peaches from Costco? I love that. Call it seasonal denial, but I don’t stop buying them until they are gone.
I wouldn’t be able to stop buying them, either!! :)
What is Cardamom? Can I substitute with something else or is it needed.
I love peaches so much, I look forward to the season all year but it’s just never long enough!
It was so great to see you last night Brenda! Thank you for saying hello! These bars look so great, I love almond as an addition to anything!
Ooh! These look so good! They remind me of my Aunt’s Cherry Squares! You have such great recipes!
These look absolutely delicious! I love all the almond in it.
I baked these last night with apricots because I had no peaches and it was WONDERFUL! my family loved it! Will definitely save this recipe and make it with all different fruits through the year! Thank you for sharing!
Yay!! So glad you liked this recipe!
There are no peaches where I live now, and it’s one of the things I miss most this time of year. I just love those sweet August peaches – I always make sure to get my fill before they disapear. These looks so pretty though, I may have to try them with mango, Brenda!
OOh, I love peaches and I love almond flavor, so I can only imagine these are amazingly delicious!!
Oh what perfectly gorgeous photos and that recipe sounds fabulous. my peaches are all over and I am waiting for the apples and pears that will be pouring in from the orchard in a few weeks. The gardens are full of county at this time of year. lovely pages, so glad I found you.. c
Thank you so much, Cecilia – nice to meet you!
I can’t wait to try these – my sister should be coming home from holidays with a flat of peaches for me next week and these are at the top of my baking list!
A flat of peaches, what a gift! Please let me know what you think of these bars!
I made 3 huge pans with minor variations, and these are amazing! I’m featuring my version on my blog on Saturday with credit to you for the inspiration – thank you!
I’m so glad you liked this recipe, Anna! :)
These look amazing, I absolutely love peaches…put them in a dessert and almost nothing can top it! I wonder, can you sub in canned or jarred peaches or peach filling when in a jam?
Hello Jenn – I think you’d be fine, but I have not experimented with it at all, to be able to tell you any kind of measurements. Please let know if you try it!
Thanks for. Reply! I may just have to try, and will definitely let you know!