Peachy KeenBars (with cream cheese)

I've got some serious recipe posting catchup to do! Morphing into a "weekend blogger" means that I have a backup of recipes to share. Like this one, from a month ago.

 Fresh peach season is quickly fizzling out.  Thank goodness I've made my year's supply of  Spiced Peach-Ginger jam.  I had a few peaches left and I debated on what to make with them.  I always love a good peach cobbler.   Buuuuuuuuuuut, Pinterest reeled me in to make this recipe.

Peach and cream cheese? Um, yeah! In an unusual twist, for me, this recipe uses a boxed Yellow Cake Mix.  (Do I hear hissing?)  I know, I know... I'm usually  a big fan of making scratch cakes.  Once in a while, though, I'll reach for a box of Duncan Hines Cake mixes.  Gotta love 'em for their convenience-- like when you're going to a dinner-- and you offer to bring dessert and realize that work has drained most of your energy.

The recipe also used canned peaches. I didn't have any, so I improvised and lightly poached some peeled, fresh sliced peaches in some water.  Since I had a jar of Vanilla Bean Paste, I decided to add a teaspoon to the mix, and then tossed in a cinnamon stick.  Why not? It sort of made up for my cake mix short cut, right?

 After poaching them for a few minutes, I drained them and reserved the liquid.

One box of yellow cake mix goes into a bowl. Add some melted butter and an egg and mix with a fork.

Press half the mixture into a prepared baking pan, and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. In the meantime,   blend one brick of cream cheese, vanilla, sugar and egg.

Blend, until creamy.  I gotta tell you about this OXO Good Grips Egg Beater. I love it, especially when I don't feel like setting up my stand mixer.  It's great for mixing up small batches of whipped cream, too.

I thought that the cream cheese mixture was a wee bit thick, so I added about 1/4 cup of the reserved peach water (plus, I hoped to add a little more peach flavor).

Layer the peaches, and then evenly pour the cream cheese on top and spread out to the edges.

Add the reserved crumbs and sprinkle on top: Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Our friends are used to my bring desserts with one slice missing.  This is all for photography purposes (and quality control)!

Other than my taking the time to peel and poach the peaches, this comes together super fast.

TASTING NOTES:   My own opinion-- this is super sweet.   The rest of my guests liked this dessert, but it is also very rich.  A little goes a long way.  I think some lightly sweetened whipped cream would be perfect on top.  I would make this again, and I'll try using some cherry pie filling-- however, I'm going to try making this Yellow Cake Mix, from scratch.

For a potluck, it's an easy dessert to make.   It'll definitely scratch that sweet tooth itch, too.

So, is it too late in the season to post a Strawberry-Rhubarb crisp recipe that I made?  I can't believe that Fall is almost here!