Brown Butter Peach Shortbread

As Fall approaches (not soon enough for me) I must come to turns with the end of peach season. I loooove peaches! Just look at my recipes page for goodness sake! Hopefully like me you still have a couple peaches left in your fridge you are dying to use.

 

I had been eating a peach a day for weeks until I read a recipe from Smitten Kitchen for Peach Shortbread bars.

Immediately I stopped right before I ate my third-to-last peach and then waited for an opportunity to make them. That came a day before a sinus infection hit my world. No worries, the peach bars were still sooooo delicious.

This is an adaption of an adaption of a recipe. The amazing Deb from Smitten Kitchen wisely determined that the original recipe was one of those ah-doesn’t-that-look-good-too-bad-I’ll-never-make-it recipes. Instead the recipe she made is a lot easier with the gratification. I love this recipe because these bars are not heavy or overly sweet rather the perfect complement to a cup of coffee or tea and an instant favorite with everyone who tries them.

 

Why are these bars so good you ask? Two words: brown butter.

Someone said to me on Wednesday, I keep seeing brown butter in things on food blogs but I haven’t tried it much yet. That’s a shame because it is amazing. Growing up (after the casserole-debacle years) my mother always made sautéed spinach in brown butter as a side to every meal. I always had brown butter in savory things until some genius thought about putting it in sweets! I love the flavor you get from brown butter, reminiscent of crème brulee or caramel. About six months ago I had homemade brown butter gelato on top of a skillet brownie from one of our favorite Italian restaurants. I was in heaven. Ever since I’ve been thinking of ways to make the delicious yet subtle (therefore easily overpowered) flavor work in a sweet creation. If you choose not to brown the butter that’s fine (and sad too) but look at her recipe for alternate instructions.

Voila! Now my recipe is also identical to Smitten Kitchen’s except for two things:

First, I had some leftover fresh blueberries so I sprinkled them over top. I think it just added something extra. You could definitely use frozen blueberries for this one as well.

Second, her recipe calls for freshly grated nutmeg. For myself and most others I think this can be considered a specialty item. While so delicious, for the average person on a budget looking for a great dessert to share with family and friends, this might not be doable. Instead of adding dried nutmeg which I think most of us have leftover from Thanksgiving, I used a tablespoon of vanilla. If you have fresh nutmeg, go for it! If not the vanilla goes so well for a more mild taste so you won’t even miss it. Though, I haven’t tried these babies with nutmeg so who knows!

So without further ado my final recipe of summer.

Brown Butter Peach Shortbread Bars:

Makes roughly 20-24 bars depending on size

(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen adapted from the Big Sur Bakery cookbook)

Ingredients:

3 fresh peaches, pitted and thinly sliced (cut about 1/4-inch thick)

1/3-1/2 cup of fresh blueberries

2 3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour (or you can measure 3 cups and remove 2 tbsp flour)

1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter

1 large egg

1 cup white sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

Equipment: 9 x 13 inch rectangular baking dish, metal or glass.

Directions:

First to brown the butter, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. The butter will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and soon after turn brown and have a nutty smell. Stir frequently, scraping any bits from the bottom. Be careful not to leave butter unattended as it burns very quickly after it browns. Set it in the freezer until solid (about 30-45 minutes).

 Preheat the oven to 375° F degrees. Butter a 9×13 inch glass or metal baking pan. In a medium-large bowl, mix together sugar, baking powder, flour, salt and cinnamon with a whisk. With a fork or your fingertips, blend the solidified brown butter and egg into the flour mixture. Don’t worry, it will be crumbly.

Transfer 3/4 of the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan, pressing firmly until a solid, even crust forms. Lay peach slices over the crust as close to a single layer as you can (there might be a couple extra slices you can lay over bare spots.) Scatter blueberries overtop making an even pattern.

Evenly scatter (DO NOT PRESS!) remaining crumbs over peaches creating a strudel topping and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until top is slightly brown and you can see a little color around the edges. Cool completely in pan before cutting into squares.

 

Tip: I found the squares are actually better cold. You can definitely eat them cooled but refrigerated (and the next day if you can hold off!) makes the bars even better!

I keep these bars in the fridge for four days and they were still great. They should freeze well in a container, just be careful of stacking the bars as it crushes the strudel topping and makes then less pretty.

 

If you’d like to make these bars after peach season try 1- 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries and 2 tbsp lemon zest! Or even something else! Let me know what you come up with!

Love,

The College Cuisiner

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my create-your-own-chocolate contest from Greater Philadelphia Area Chocolatier, Designs by Francine Artisan Chocolate! You have until September 25^th to enter to win 12 pieces of your own fair trade tea-infused chocolate creation!!