Is there anything sweeter than a Georgia Peach? Since Chatter and Chitter were born in Gainesville, Georgia I’ve always told them they’re my Georgia Peaches.
This is the time of the year for fresh peaches in my neck of the woods. And appropriately enough both girls love peaches in any shape, form, or fashion.
There is one downside to fresh peaches. Sometimes they go bad before you can gobble them all up. Our favorite way to eat peaches is out of hand, but not wanting any to go to waste, Chatter and I recently looked for a dessert recipe that used peaches as its star player.
We found Peach Crumb Bars over on the Brown Eyed Baker blog.
There’s a dough part of the recipe for which you will need:
- 3 cups plain flour (all purpose)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup cold butter (2 sticks)
- 1 egg
Then there’s the peach filling part for which you will need:
- 5 cups peeled diced or sliced peaches (about 7 peaches-we diced ours)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 cup plain flour (all purpose)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (if you’re not a fan of nutmeg you could leave this out)
I let Chatter make the dough while I made the filling. Makes me wish I had a kitchen helper to order around for all my cooking endeavors!
For the dough-mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Then cut the butter in using a pastry knife. Add egg and also cut it into the dough. Divide dough in half.
Pat half of the dough into a 9 X 13 baking pan. Place un-used dough as well as the dough in the pan in the frig until you have the filling ready.
Place peaches in a large bowl and gently mix in the lemon juice. In a separate bowl mix flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour over the peaches and gently mix.
Spread peach filling over chilled dough. Sprinkle remaining dough over peaches.
Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. Mine took a little longer than 45 minutes. Cool completely before eating. I forced myself to wait till the bars cooled and I’m glad I did-I think it gives the crust time to crisp up.
So very tasty! A really delicate crisp crust and the peaches aren’t overly sweet. Perfect with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk.
I believe this recipe would work great with other fruit too-I’m planning on making it with apples or blueberries soon. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Tipper
Can you use frozen peaches for these ?
Elizabeth I do believe they would work fine đŸ™‚
This sounds luscious. I’m going to have to figure out a way to try it with diabetic ingredients cause it sounds too good to miss.
Bet it would be good with a scoop of vanilla ice cream too. Yum!!!
God bless.
RB
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Tipper–B. Ruth mentioned pickled peaches and I’m certainly familiar with them. Grandma Minnie always put by a bunch of jars of them every summer, and one of my favorite treats after being out in the field with Grandpa Joe was to come in, get a fork, and spear one of those pickled delights. spicy sweet with just a hint of vinegar, from an open jar of them she always kept in the refrigerator. She used small peaches so they would fit into the jar easily and that was just the right size for a snack.
Jim Casada
Tipper,
Tell SSBluRidge that when I have a bushel of peaches to can, I always used the blanching method to peel peaches. Put on a big pot of water bring to a boil, cut down to just simmer hot, drop in a few peaches at a time, blanch in the hot water a few minutes, dip out and either put in cold water or lay in a large bowl to cool…Peel then slips off easily!
Still putting by peaches can be slippery and a bit messy when slicing for the jars…
PS…Have you ever made/canned those spiced whole or halved peaches? I betcha Jim and his wife have put those by! I haven’t had any in years….
Thanks Tipper,
Peeling peaches is like peeling tomatoes. If they are really ripe, they almost peel themselves. Drop them in boiling water for 30 seconds then into cold water til they are cool enough to handle. The peel slips right off and goes in the pan with the bruised spots to make peach butter. If the peaches have bad places you need a paring knife to remove them but bruising is not a bad thing if you love peach butter as much I do.
Jim-Thank you for the comments! I have never tried drying peaches but Id like too : ) I bet drying them gives the peaches a richer flavor sort of like it does apples,
Tipper
Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com
Tipper,
It’s good to know that Chitter and Chatter are Georgia Peach Girls. I got my training career at Lockheed and worked in North Atlanta for a few years. I loved it!
Peaches are my favorite fruit. I
love ’em in peach cobblers and just plain raw. Apples come in a strong second though…Ken
Those objects just above the Twin Peaches’ heads were identified earlier as aspirators. My former employer sold those things to stores six and twelve at a time, but we knew them only by their technical name-snot suckers.
Those are the handiest things to have around the house. What do you do when you put too much brake fluid or power steering fluid in the reservoir? Or, when you overfill a jar? You could bend the handle on a teaspoon and stand there dipping. Or if you happen to have a straw that works too but who needs mouth full of brake fluid or scalding hot tomatoes. So, you take the babies’ “aspirator!” “I’ll get a new one the next time I go to the store!”
Ever been to Gaffney, South Carolina? That is where they have a huge peach stuck up on top of an equally huge golfing tee. Actually it’s a 1,000,000 gallon water tank made to look like a peach. It stands 135 feet tall. It used to be the biggest peach in the world. Might still be. Gaffney is in Cherokee County, South Carolina. At one time that one county produced more peaches than the entire state of Georgia.
We used run down to Gaffney every year for some fresh peaches. As we got older we took to driving ‘stead a runnin. We actually went for fireworks too because SC sells the goodins that are illegal in NC.
Google -Peachoid- if you’ve never seen the peach. Some people think it looks like a naked butt but kids know it is a peach and I think like a kid!
Is there a secret to peeling peaches?
I loved the picture – your GA peaches! What a great memory! I do enjoy the peaches and the recipe sounds easy and delicious. A must try!
Oh, those pickles are really getting perfect!
Tipper,
These old eyes thought how cute! Someone placed a peach near the top of each of the baby Georgia peaches little heads….until I enlarged the photo and realized that the ball shapes were those infant aspirators…busted my bubble doggone it! Still very cute mountain peaches…
This recipe sounds very good. I bought a few peaches the other day. We love peaches. My friend and I used to get together with our husbands and can peaches. Fresh quart jars of canned peaches cooling on the counter are just beautiful. Just waiting for winter cobblers, ambrosias, etc. or just served out of the jar with breakfast or supper.
Makes for quick work with four sets of helping hands working to-gather. We always had a run of peach ice cream a’goin’ so we could celebrate after the canning was done.
Guess, we need to make a run to SC for some peaches. I’m craving them after reading your post today! Why shucks, I could eat a big bowl over cottage cheese for lunch…yummmm!
In hawaii for sixteen years papayas were at most $.25 apiece when they weren’t given away. Usta eat em every day but now having tasted fresh local and S.C. peaches but no Georgia peach yet i will take a fresh peach from here abouts any day over papaya for sure. Uuuhhh uuuummmm. Onolicious as they say in da islands. Oh and when you do get a peach ovah deah – ugh…picked way green and rock hard! Am going to Cleveland, Ga. next week and am gonna have a fresh peach ice cream sunday for sure with m’ first Georgia peach!
I’ve got a bowl of peaches in the kitchen that I’ve been wondering what to do with. Now I know!!
It’s tough to get good peaches here, the ones in the grocery are hard and never do have much taste. We get them from a farm market or roadside stand when we can. But the harder ones can be cut in half and grilled, which is really good. I like almost every fruit I have ever had, but a real tree ripened peach is about as good as it gets. Only a tree ripened mango is on that level.
Mmmm-Mmmm, there is nothing better than a big-ole sweet, juicy, ripe peach! This recipe looks wonderful, and another keeper! Thank you for sharing it with us.
Pam
scrap-n-sewgranny.blogspot.com
Three things to note: Now I know why Chatter and Chitter are such winners: Georgia Peaches, no less! I did not know until today that they were born in Gainesville, GA! Wonderful!
Note 2: Your peach bars look so delectable that I plan to save and try this recipe soon. Peaches are one of my favorite fruts, too, and they’re available fresh for such a short time!
Note 3: I can remember when I made 14-day pickles that I thought: Tomorrow they go into the jars! Almost the end of a long but productive journey for those fresh cucumbers from the garden. And something good to enjoy all through the winter and to give as treats to friends!
Wonderful! Wish I could make it.
BUT “The Sedonas” are playing at the LONGBRANCH on Cumberland Avenue near the UT CAMPUS. This is their SECOND time – which might be a good sign!!
Eva Nell
Oh, that sounds delicious — and I love the sweet picture of your dearest Georgia Peaches!
The peaches from around Fredericksburg, Texas, are as good (but not as famous and not quite as large) as Georgia peaches. This year in Roswell, the peach trees were LOADED, and there were many broken branches.
Oddly enough, the best-tasting ones were only as big as small lemons.
The picture of the girls….so sweet!! đŸ™‚
Yum, those peaches look good
Tipper–Have you ever dried peaches? Grandma used to dry a couple of bushels every summer. She and Momma had some kind of deal with a local fruit stand whereby they arranged to acquire bruised fruit that was going bad at a greatly reduced price. Momma would make peach preserves and can peach halves but Grandma Minnie mostly dried the peaches. She did that by peeling them, slicing them thin, and putting them on carefully cleaned window screens to dry in the hot sun of Dog Days.
Come wintertime, she would turn those dried peaches into fried pies, and occasionally a stack cake, that were indescribably delicious.
I’ve got my own salivary glands in involuntary overdrive just thinking about those delights, and rest assured no store-bought fried pie, mostly pastry and filler with mighty little peach, can in any way compare.
Jim Casada