Healthy Peach Crisp is a delicious blend of fresh peaches, cinnamon, oats, almond flour and with the indulgence of almond butter. This dessert is gluten free, dairy free and its vegan. Throw this recipe in your list to save, it will definitely become a favorite.
A Perfect Comfort Dessert
When it comes to desserts that combine simplicity, comfort, and flavor, few dishes can rival a classic peach crisp. With its nutty oat topping and juicy peach filling, peach crisp is a nostalgic treat that evokes warm family gatherings, cozy kitchens, and the pure joy of summer’s bounty. In this blog post, we’ll delve into how to make this naturally vegan and oh so healthy comfort desert.
This peach crisp has been a huge hit at gatherings along with my apple crisp, and I often get asked for the recipe. So here, I share with you all of my crisp baking secrets.
It’s All About The Peach
If you are unfamiliar to peaches, there are different kinds. Some are easier to prepare than others, with the flesh easily falling away from the pit. These are called freestone peaches. Specifically the type of peach we use is called Red Haven peaches.
In the summer, usually in August here in my local area, the orchards become abundant in these sweet and juicy fruits. We often buy 6 bushels at a time, and can them. Hopefully I will be able to share how we do that in the next season.
So for this recipe, when I make it, my peaches are already prepared which absolutely saves time (and clean up). But not everyone has the option to can peaches. Canning takes a lot of time, and a lot of space to store all of the jars.
Let’s go through some steps to prepare the peaches.
Preparing Peaches To Peel
First you will need about 20 peaches (or, only 10 if you are only wanting an 8×8 dish). then you will have to choose your method of peeling. Yes, you can peel them. However, you may take off more of the flesh than planned.
My preferred method of peeling peaches is the blanch and shock method. This method requires a boiling pot of water, and a large bowl (I wash, then fill my sink) to fill with cold ice water.
Once your pot is heating to a boil, rinse your peaches and gently slice a score mark in (an “x” mark) the peach skin near the bottom of the fruit. This will help the skin to pull away easier in the next step.
Now that your peaches are ready, carefully place them in your pot of boiling water. Let them boil for about 1 minute, or until the skin starts to separate and pull away. Then, with a slotted spoon, scoop each peach and place into the ice water for a rapid cool down.
After cooling for a minute or two, you should be able to start at the slice mark, and either use your fingers or a paring knife to pull the skins completely off. Now you can go ahead and slice your peaches into a large mixing bowl, and while removing the pits. Your peaches are now ready, so let’s move on to making the filling.
What You’ll Need For This Recipe:
- 9×13 baking dish
- large wooden spoon
- large mixing bowl
- cooking spray
- arrowroot powder
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
- vanilla
- coconut sugar
- lemon juice
- organic gluten free oats
- almond flour
- salt
- almond butter
- organic virgin coconut oil
Making The Peach Filling
You’ll want to gather arrowroot powder (or cornstarch), pure vanilla extract, lemon juice, coconut sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. These ingredients you will need for your peach filling.
If you happen to be using peaches that have already been canned, there is a good chance they have already been sweetened. If this is the case, omit the coconut sugar for the filling. If you are using fresh, you could consider precooking your peaches on the stovetop with the filling ingredients. Or depending on the size of the peaches if raw, you may have enough to fill an additional pie plate. There are so many variations here.
Get your baking dish out and spray it with non stick spray.
In your large bowl of peaches, add the filling ingredients and mix well with a spoon until there are no powder clumps and all peaches are evenly covered. You’ll now be ready to transfer your peaches to your prepared baking dish. Don’t rinse out your bowl, we will use it again for the crisp topping.
Crisp Topping
This is my favorite part! I love the crisp topping so much I have a hard time keeping my fingers out of the mix. I eat it like how people eat raw cookie dough. I just can’t help it! It’s just THAT delicious.
Go ahead and gather all of your topping ingredients. Essentially we are just going to put them all in the bowl and mix well. However I like to add the dry ingredients first, and the wet ingredients last. I’ve found that this just makes its so the topping doesn’t get clumpy.
So, add the oats, almond flour, coconut sugar, salt and cinnamon. Use your spoon to mix these well. Once fully combined, add the almond butter, melted coconut oil and vanilla. And mix until fully combined. There should be no dryness in any of the topping.
Almond Butter
My favorite ingredient in the whole recipe. The almond butter is what I have the hardest time with. It’s no secret, but almond butter separates. Depending on which brand you choose, you may have a lot of mixing to do. The last thing you want is to have the oil dumped into your crisp. So make sure you mix it as best as you can.
This might take a little elbow grease. For example. I love the almond butter at Costco. However, it settles to the bottom and turns into a solid block. This leaves the top of just oil, and it’s nearly impossible to stir without making a huge mess. I like almond butter where the only ingredient is almonds. So you’ll have to plan ahead, and make sure you wear an apron.
Coconut Oil
There are two options of coconut oil. One is refined coconut oil. This refining makes the coconut oil have no taste. It’s easy to add to basically every recipe because not every recipe you want tasting like coconut. However refined coconut oil can also lose some of its valuable nutrients in that refining process.
The second option is virgin coconut oil. And this is what I use in my crisp recipes. This way not only do you get the nutritional value, but the coconut flavor blended with the almond butter, is to die for.
Either way, you need this health fat blended with the oats, because this healthy fat is what helps the oats to crisp nicely white baking.
Ready To Bake
Preheat your oven to 350 F. Now your peach crisp should be ready to assemble. Spoon the crisp topping evenly over the peaches, and pat down to flatten. This will allow for an even crispiness. if you don’t have a deep baking dish, you’ll definitely want to put a baking sheet underneath to catch anything from bubbling over.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top is nice and golden brown.
Serve Warm
Once you remove from the oven, I suggest waiting about 15 minutes to give it a chance to cool and rest. I love serving with vanilla oat ice cream. But a good coconut whip would be delicious too.
What Makes This A Healthier Option?
Coconut Sugar. This unrefined sugar is a good alternative to the standard brown sugar. Coconut sugar is a great option as it doesn’t taste like coconut, and it has a lower glycemic index. Which means, the body absorbs the sugar at a slower rate.
Coconut Oil. This oil is used in place of dairy in this recipe and serves as a healthy fat. If you have a dairy allergy or if dairy causes inflammation for you, this is a great option.
Almond Butter. This is not only a good source of fiber, but is also loaded with other nutrients such as calcium, iron, potassium and magnesium.
Organic Rolled Oats. These are not to be compared with quick oats. Organic Rolled oats retain more of their valuable nutrients as they are processed far less than quick oats. They also have higher antioxidants than quick oats, and are produced without chemical pesticides or fertilizers, making them safer to consume than regular oats.
Healthy Peach Crisp
Ingredients
Peach Filling
- 20 Ripe Peaches Peeled and sliced
- 1/3 cup arrowroot powder
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp vanilla
Crisp Topping
- 4 cups organic rolled oats
- 2 ½ cups almond flour
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 cup almond butter
- 1 ½ cups coconut oil melted
- 1 tbsp vanilla
Instructions
Peach Filling
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and prepare a 13x9 deep baking dish with a nonstick spray.
- Prepare your peaches by the blanch and shock method (mentioned above), then peel and slice.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together all peach filling ingredients: peaches, arrowroot powder, lemon juice, coconut sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. Mix with spoon until completely combined.
- Once peach mixture is combined, pour into prepared baking dish, and set aside.
Crisp Topping
- Using the same mixing bowl, combine the crisp ingredients. Add the oats, almond flour, coconut sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, almond butter, coconut oil and vanilla. mix with spoon until completely combined.
- Sprinkle crisp topping evenly over peach mixture, and flatten with a spoon. You can also use your hands if need be.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the crisp is golden brown.
- serve warm with your favorite nondairy ice cream or whip
