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This beautiful Peach Crisp recipe features fresh sliced peaches tossed with lemon and sugar, and topped with a cozy buttered brown-sugar topping. Optional pecans and oats add to the lovely texture!
A Warm and Cozy Fruit Dessert Ideas
Do you have a sweet tooth? 🙋♀️ Me, too! And, I also have a weakness for baking! Making a sweet and wholesome dessert is one of my favorite things to do, especially when I have time for an old-fashioned from-scratch recipe like this.
Peach crisp is a really nice dessert for early fall. The cinnamon-y, strudel-y topping goes perfectly with fresh, sweet peaches—the last of the season. When the oven heats up and the whole house starts smelling like butter, sugar, warm peaches, and holiday spices, it just brightens the mood and makes life feel so festive!
What’s the difference between peach cobbler and peach crisp?
Glad you asked! Essentially, a cobbler is a dessert that uses fairly firm fruit, and some kind of dough for the topping. Biscuits, pastry, and batter are all possibilities. And some old recipes for cobbler even use a bottom crust, like a pie!
Crisps, on the other hand, usually have a streusel-like topping of crumbled butter, sugar, and flour. Sometimes oats are added to give the crisp more texture. And the fruit? Anything can be used, but soft juicy fruit is most likely to steam and bubble into the topping, which is exactly what you want.
Because peaches are both firm and juicy, they’re great for either dessert!
Recipe Ingredients
It doesn’t get simpler than this! I love serving this wholesome dessert, full of fresh fruit, real butter and sugar, and pecans.
For the Peaches
- Fresh Peaches: You’ll need two pounds or so of fresh peaches. That’s about 8 peaches.
- Lemon Juice: One or two tablespoons of lemon juice adds an extra punch of flavor (you can also use vanilla extract or almond extract, for a different twist).
- Cornstarch: To give the filling a touch and syrupy texture, a little cornstarch will do the trick.
- Sugar: A little sugar brings out the sweetness of the peaches.
For the Topping:
- Flour: I use all-purpose, but you could definitely substitute gluten-free all purpose flour here.
- Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar: You can just use just granulated sugar, but adding brown sugar adds a deep, caramel-y note to the topping.
- Cinnamon and Nutmeg: Adding these warm spices to the topping brings out so much flavor, both in the topping ingredients, and the fruit.
- Salt: Just a pinch or two so the dessert isn’t bland.
- Butter: You’ll need a stick of butter, cut into small cubes.
- Oats and Pecans: These are optional, but they do add a wonderful texture to the finished crisp!
- Vanilla Ice Cream: For serving, optional.
How to Make Homemade Peach Crisp
Because we’re using fresh peaches, the process of making the peach filling has several steps. However, don’t be intimidated! This recipe is super simple and easy to make.
Make the Peach Filling
- Prep the Oven and Baking Dish. First things first! Before you start cooking, preheat the oven to 350˚F and butter a 9×9 baking dish. Set the dish aside.
- Blanch and Peel the Peaches. Bring a large pot of water to boil. When the water is boiling, gently lower the peaches in (a ladle is helpful for this). Let the peaches boil for one minute. Remove the peaches, placing them in a big bowl of cold water with ice. Once the peaches are cool enough to handle, slip the peels off.
- Slice the Peaches and Dress with Cornstarch and Sugar. Slice the peaches, removing the pits as you go. Toss the peach slices with lemon juice, cornstarch, and sugar, and then arrange in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
Make the Topping and Bake a the Peach Crisp
- Make the Crisp Topping. Using a food processor fitted with a steel blade, pulse the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg until combined. Add in the diced butter and pulse until the mixture is coarse with pea-sized crumbs of butter throughout.
- Add the Nuts and Oats (If Using). Transfer the topping to a bowl, and use your hands to gently mix in the rolled oats and pecans.
- Top the Peaches, and Bake. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the peaches. Bake the crisp for about 45 minutes. You’ll know it’s fine when the top is golden-brown, and the fruit is bubbly.
- Enjoy! When the crisp is done, take it out of the oven, and let it stand for 8 to 10 minutes before serving with vanilla ice cream.
Tips for Success
So what else should you know about baking up a seasonal peach crisp? Well, I do have a few helpful tips to share! Read on, and bon appetit!
- Change Up the Fruit: Substitute some or all of the fruit for fresh berries, fresh apples, or fresh cherries! Keep in mind that some fruits may soften and finish baking faster than others, so adjust the time as needed.
- Add Alcohol: Just a splash of bourbon or rum can make this dish extra flavorful!
- Use Cream: Ice cream is definitely great with peach crisp, but you can also take a less sweet approach with a drizzle of heavy cream over each serving.
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
- To store, place leftovers in airtight containers, or just cover the baking dish well with plastic wrap or a lid.
- Refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- Serve cold, or warm in a toaster oven of conventional oven at 350˚F.
Can I Freeze Peach Crisp?
- Yes, you can! After baking, cool the crisp and then wrap well in several layers of plastic wrap, or two layers of plastic wrap and one of foil.
- Freeze for up to one month.
- Bake again at 350˚F until piping hot all the way through. Allow to stand 8 – 10 minutes before serving.
Peach Crisp
Ingredients
For the Peaches:
- 2 to 2.5 pounds peaches,, about 8 peaches (you can also use canned peaches, drained)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice,, you can also use vanilla extract or almond extract
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
For the Topping:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup butter,, diced (1 stick/8 tablespoons)
- ¾ cup old fashioned rolled oats or quick cooking oats
- ⅓ cup chopped pecans,, optional
- Vanilla ice cream,, for serving, optional
Instructions
To Make the Peaches:
- Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- Butter a 9×9 or 9×12 baking dish and set aside.
- To blanch the peaches, bring a large pot of water to a boil; place the peaches in the boiling water for one minutes, or just until the skins peel off easily.
- Transfer the peaches to ice cold water.
- Peel the peaches; remove the pits and cut into ½-inch thick slices.
- Transfer sliced peaches to a bowl and toss with lemon juice.
- Sprinkle with cornstarch and sugar and toss to combine.
- Arrange peaches on the bottom of previously prepared baking dish and set aside.
To Make the Topping and Bake:
- In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg.
- Pulse until everything is combined.
- Add in the diced butter and pulse until the mixture resembles peas-sized crumbs.
- Transfer to a bowl and, using your hands, mix in the rolled oats and pecans, if using.
- Sprinkle the flour mixture evenly over the peaches in one layer.
- Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top is a golden brown and the fruit is bubbly.
- Remove from oven and let stand 8 to 10 minutes.
- Serve with scoops of vanilla ice cream.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
That looks and sounds so good. I love the chopped nuts that you added to the crisp topping for even more flavor and texture. It looks like a winner!
Thank you so much! I hope you’ll enjoy it! ๐
This is my kind of treat. I love anything peach!
I hope you’ll enjoy it! Thank YOU! ๐
Looks SO good! Excited to try this!
Thank YOU! I hope you’ll enjoy it! ๐
So creamy and delicious! I am drooling over this crisp!
Thank you so much! I hope you’ll enjoy it! ๐
I did make this and it was a big hit. My grandchildren loved it, which is a good thing, because theyโre getting some fruit. I didnโt peel the peaches though, because the weather is so hot I didnโt want to deal with the pot of hot water. It was all good, but if I made it for company, I probably would peel them. Thanks for the great recipe!
That’s wonderful! I’m very glad you and your family enjoyed it! Thank YOU! ๐