Fresh peach and pecan bars is a favorite in the summer when peaches are in season. I just love these and because I cut a lot of the sugar and fat, I don’t feel guilty eating them.
Let me clear something up right off the bat. This is not a diet dessert. This is not a low calorie dessert. This is not sugar free, fat free or carb free. What I’ve done here, as with most of my recipes, is to lighten it up a bit. By removing a cup of sugar and using a lighter butter for half the butter in the recipe, I can cut a ton of calories and fat. That is exactly how I cook. Over the years, I’ve found my go to products, that help me swap out ingredients that don’t take away from the taste. This is an example. You may think, why bother but the fact is if you make these swaps everyday on most meals and desserts, it really adds up. It can have a positive impact on your waist line. It’s not a “diet” nor am I promoting any way of eating. As far as I’m concerned, all food is good food. I just look for balance and moderation. This is one way for me to do it. Try it and let me know what you think.
PEACHES: The easiest way to peel peaches is to drop them in boiling water for about 30 seconds. Then, remove them and plunge them into a bowl of ice water. This stops the cooking and cools them down. Then, simply pull a little piece of the skin from the stem area and you’ll be able to easily remove the skin. Slice the peach around the pit and twist off one half of the peach. Discard the pit and chop the peaches into chunks. You are ready to make your peach jam/preserves for the bars. YES, you can use frozen peaches but it is summer and the peaches look amazing so that’s what I’m using.
NUTS: You can just add the nuts to a blender and give it a whirl. Blend for less than a minute until you have a ground powder like texture. Be sure to watch this. If you go to long, you’ll get nut butter. Another tip, you need a cup of ground nuts for this recipe. That will take about 1 1/4 cup of pecan halves (ground down).
SUGAR: This recipe gets rid of a lot of sugar by substituting Swerve confectioner’s sugar. This is a great substitute with zero calories but all the sweetness you want. I did still use the Lyle’s Golden Syrup. This is a quarter cup of pure sugar deliciousness. This is a very unique syrup made in Britain. You can’t substitute corn syrup (a common mistake). If you can’t find the syrup at the grocery store, you can buy it online.
Now, make up a tray and enjoy…you won’t be sorry.
If you like this recipe, be sure to try some of my other “lightened up” desserts. They are healthier choices for different reasons and none of them skimp on flavor.
Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies
Mini Cheesecake Tarts with Fruit
Fresh Peach and Pecan Bars
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 Stick butter, cut-up into small pieces
- 8 Tbsp. Land ‘o Lakes light butter, very cold
- 5 Peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped
- 1/4 Cup Water
- 1/4 Cup Lyle’s Golden syrup
- 2 Cups All-purpose flour
- 1 Cup Finely ground pecans
- 1 Cup Swerve confectioners’ sugar
- 1 Tsp. Baking powder
- 1/2 Tsp. Salt
- Cooking Spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with tinfoil and spray the foil with cooking spray. Leave extra tin foil over the sides that you will use as handles to help remove the baked bar out of the pan.
- Cook the peaches with the water and golden syrup in a saucepan until real thick, mashing with a potato masher as needed, about 15 minutes.
- Combine the flour, pecans, Swerve sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Work in the cut-up butter and the light butter until moist clumps form.
- Press two-thirds of the dough into the prepared pan. Spread the peach preserves on top and sprinkle with the remaining dough clumps. Bake at 350˚ F 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan, then lift out of the pan using the foil handles you created and cut into bars.
