What is a peach crisp? There are several desserts that are sort of similar and popular when it comes to summer fruit. There’s cobbler, crumbles and crisps. They are all a little similar and a little different. All three have a fruit base and then some sort of sweetened topping that has flour.
A cobbler, like my Perfect Strawberry Cobbler is more like a biscuit topping. A crumble and a crisp are more similar, with the crumble having a topping more like coffee cake, and a crisp has a crispier topping that includes oats (crumbles have no oats) and sometimes nuts.
A lot of people love fruit pies, and while I do love a galette (like my Balsamic Roasted Strawberry Galette) a cobbler or something like this peach crisp will always be my first choice over a fruit pie. To me, it’s more like just eating fruit with a topping. But with any or all of them, you HAVE to have it with vanilla ice cream.
Baking Tips
I baked and recipe tested this peach crisp in a cast iron skillet. I used a 10 inch, however you could use 8 or 9 inch as well. If you do not have a cast iron skillet, I would recommend using a deep cake pan or a pie pan.
Peaches at the grocery store are rarely ripe. I honestly prefer to buy unripe and then ripen them myself. The easiest way is to place the peaches in a single layer in a paper bag (with the bag being closed) and let them sit for 1-3 days depending on the ripeness when you purchase them.
Peach Crisp Key Ingredients
- Peaches – Peaches are so good in this, however I did I also test it with nectarines as well. Either tastes pretty much identical. However, if you aren’t a peach person you could easily make this with plums or even berries.
- Oats – This topping is heavy on the oats which give it a crispy crunch that is the perfect balance with the soft peaches. You want to make sure to get old fashioned rolled oats, not the quick oats.
- Browned Butter – As always, browned butter just helps give more flavor. It lends caramel and nutty flavors which go great with the oats and brown sugar and cinnamon.
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Ingredients
Topping
- 112 g Unsalted butter ½ cup
- 100 g Old fashioned rolled oats 1 cup
- 40 g AP flour ⅓ cup
- 130 g Dark brown sugar ⅔ cup
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- pinch Sea salt
Filling
- 1 tbsp Unsalted butter
- 6 Med-Lg Peaches
- 2½ tbsp Cornstarch
- 25 g Granulated sugar 2 tbsp
- 1 tsp Vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Take your half cup of butter and place it into a stainless or light bottomed saucepan/skillet
- Brown the butter: Allow the butter to melt. The butter will then begin to foam and then subside, and then bubble. After the butter is done foaming, stir the butter with a rubber spatula or swirl it around the pan. When the milk solids begin to turn a golden brown and the butter begins to have a nutty fragrance, remove from heat and pour into a heat proof bowl, making sure to scrape the toasted milk fats into the butter as well. Place in the refrigerator to cool.
- Take your other 1 tbsp of butter and grease your cast iron skillet or pan with the butter.
- Cut your peaches, removing the pits and either slice or dice. You can remove the skin if you prefer but it is not necessary.
- Place all of your cut peaches into a bowl and add cornstarch, granulated sugar and vanilla. Toss to coat the peaches.
- Add your peaches to the greased skillet or pan.
- In a medium sized bowl, add your oats, flour, cinnamon, brown sugar, and salt. Stir to mix.
- Pour in your browned butter and stir, making sure all the filling gets coated with the butter.
- Cover the top of your peaches with the crisp topping in an even layer.
- Place your skillet or pan in the oven on the center rack and bake for 30-40 minutes. If your topping starts to get too dark, cover with tinfoil for the remaining bake time.
- Remove from oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. The resting time will allow the juices from the peaches to become less runny.
- Serve with vanilla ice cream, and store any leftovers in the refrigerator covered for 1-2 days. Enjoy!
