Apple and Peach Crumb Squares

We have company coming in from California tomorrow, and I have been busy baking up some treats for all of us to enjoy.  My friend Leslie, whom I have also know since 7th grade is like family, and her husband Tim, are coming to stay with us while en route to their final destination of Yellowstone.  I have a special dinner planned for tomorrow, but I am getting other things prepared too, such as some apple and peach crumb squares.   We are going to take Leslie and Tim to the Cave of the Winds, down in Manitou Springs, on Saturday, and I figured we needed some goodies that could travel along with us as well, just in case we get hungry along the way.

Larry does not like peaches, otherwise, I would have only made a batch of peach squares.  So I divided my squares.  Half are peach and half are apple.  I LOVE peaches, and our Palisade peaches are the BEST.  Palisade Peach Salsa  Hopefully everyone will be happy.

These squares are layered.  First there is the crust, then the filling and then they are finished with the streussel crumb topping.

 

Preheat the oven to 375* F.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, then spray the foil with cooking spray.

 

The Crust

3 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cubed

 

You can either make the crust by hand or in a food processor.  Mix everything together until it resembles a fine sand.  Then firmly press onto the foil, making sure to spread it out evenly and covering the whole pan.  Bake the crust for about 25-30 minutes or until lightly golden.  It may crack a bit.  That’s OK.

The Filling

You can use any kind of fruit you like.  I made 1/2 apple and 1/2 peach this time.  I am only going to give you the full recipe for one type of fruit, but if you split them like I did, just divide the portions in 1/2 and evenly divide them.

4 lbs peaches or apples, peeled and diced

4 TBSP butter

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 tsp cinnamon if using apples and 1 tsp ground ginger if using peaches

1 TBSP cornstarch

3 TBSP lemon juice

 

Mix the cornstarch and lemon juice together and set aside.  Then mix the rest of the ingredients together and place them in a skillet to cook over a medium heat for about 25 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated and the fruit is soft.  Stir occasionally.

Add the cornstarch mixture and mix in thoroughly, stirring constantly until it thickens.

Evenly spread the filling mixture out on top of the cooked crust.

While the filling is cooking, make your streussel topping.

 

Streussel Topping

1 cup flour

1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped coarse

1/2 cup soft butter

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 TBSP vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

 

Mix everything together by hand until it forms into a ball.

Scatter the topping evenly over the fruit filling and bake again for about 40-45 minutes or until the topping browns.

Once the topping browns up and forms a light crust, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.  You should get 24 squares.  You can refrigerate the squares for about 1 week or you can freeze them for about 3 months.  Personally, I don’t think they are going to be around long enough to freeze.  They will disappear very quickly, especially when you serve them with ice cream, as Larry likes to eat them.  You can have them for breakfast or dessert or a perfect anytime snack without the ice cream too.

Stay well and stay safe Everyone.  ‘Til next time.