By Erin Walgamuth
Something miraculous happened on Wednesday morning when I woke up; it felt like fall! And, to make things even more unusual, it was the first official day of fall! How refreshing to have the windows open and feel the cool breeze blowing through the house. I loved the ever changing lighting as the clouds whisked across the sky. This was the weather I had been waiting for. It was time to make something that would fill the house with the comforting smell of cinnamon and nutmeg, but what to make? I had four peaches in a paper bag on the counter that I was hoping would ripen soon. Well so much for hoping, they still weren’t very ripe…dang it. I decided to throw caution to the wind and make Peach Crumble anyway.
If you are fortunate enough to have sweet ripe peaches, the sugar amount called for in the recipe should be enough. If your peaches are not very sweet, add extra sugar to the fruit as it is sautéing; one teaspoon at a time until you are happy with the taste.
The crumble is great on its own, but extra special if served with good quality vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream.
Peach Crumble
Serves 4
You will need-
1 ½ quart baking dish
11-12” sauté pan
Medium glass bowl
Work time 30 minutes
Cook time 20-25 minutes
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Butter bottom and sides of baking dish, set aside.
For the peaches:
4 medium peaches – about 8oz total
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
Granulated sugar if necessary
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 pinches salt or to taste
Peel peaches, cut in half from stem end and discard seed. Slice halves into 5-7 slices each, set aside. Put the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, vanilla and salt in an 11-12” sauté pan. Heat the butter mixture on medium-low, stirring often until all ingredients are well combined. Add peaches to sauté pan, toss and stir gently with a wooden spoon until fruit is covered with the butter mixture. Taste peaches after they have cooked for a few minutes to see if you want to add granulated sugar or more salt. Cook peaches stirring often for about 6 minutes or until peaches are tender, but not mushy.
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For the Crumble
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
¼ cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ cup almond flour
4 tablespoons room temperature butter
Put all ingredients in a medium glass bowl and stir well to combine. Use your fingers to mix the butter into the dry ingredients until mixture is lumpy and crumbly, set aside.
Pour peaches into the buttered baking dish. Spoon the crumble mixture over the peaches and distribute until evenly covered
Bake in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown and juices bubble up around the edges. Remove from oven and let rest for 15 minutes. Spoon warm crumble onto a plate or into a bowl and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Enjoy!
Erin Walgamuth has been an assistant Food Stylist for television and print for the past 26 years and writes this column using her own recipes. Check out her other creations in our Hometown Recipe section.