I’m back with another simple summer recipe! Summer is coming to a close and peaches are at their best, so let’s make theses last days of freedom even better with some humble homemade crisp.
I feel like crisps are so underrated. They’re classic and simple, but so good. I feel like the simplicity is key here. And don’t forget the scoop of vanilla ice cream with this one, it’s such a simple addition but makes all the difference.
I love peaches, and I used them recently in a trifle , and in a quick bread last year. Every summer, we get loads and loads of peaches from our local market and I just love experimenting with what I can make with them. I am so pumped about this recipe in particular because of its simplicity and appeal to everyone.
Describe this Crisp to Me
Taste: This is sort of like a cross between summer and fall flavors. The main flavor is fresh summer peaches, but there’s also warming cardamom, nutty brown butter, and toasty oats. It all goes so well together, especially with a little vanilla ice cream!
Texture: If you know my baking, then you know I love some texture variety. So we’ve got a gooey and almost sauce-like filling, with soft and juicy peaches. To contrast that, the crumble topping is crunchy and buttery, with toasty oats. And to provide that creaminess, (I know I’ve said this like four times by now but I’ll say it again) you HAVE to eat this with vanilla ice cream.
Ease: Something I love about crisps is that they are one of the easiest things to bake. They don’t usually take a lot of ingredients and very little active time. This one is no different. Start off by browning the butter, which should only take a few minutes. Let that solidify to room temperature (I like to put it in the refrigerator to speed it up a little). Next toss the peaches with some butter, sugar, cardamom, and vanilla. Throw that in a pan. Before you bake it, quickly make a crumble by tossing some flour, oats, brown sugar, and cardamom together. Add in that brown butter and sprinkle this over the peaches. Now you can throw that in the over for about 40 minutes. Perhaps the best part, is that this is made to be eaten warm so you can enjoy it almost immediately!
What Even is a Crisp?
A crisp is a truly wonderful summer staple. It’s made with fresh summery fruits, roasted with some sugar and spices, and topped with a simple oat crumble. It’s served warm, and is absolutely amazing with a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream. It’s a perfect thing to make on these summer days with all of this fresh fruit. The most classic crisp (and probably my favorite) is apple. It’s more of a cozy fall thing, so I guess that peach crisp is sort of a summer counterpart.
The Filling
I wanted to keep this filling pretty simple and highlight the summer peaches. It’s just sliced peaches, brown sugar, butter, and a little cardamom and salt. The peaches will soften in the oven and release a lot of juice giving you an almost
jam-like end result. It’s gooey and warm, which pairs amazingly well with the crunchy topping.
The Topping
I love a good streusel topping. It goes so well with fresh fruit, and it’s so easy to make. This one is extra special because it’s made with brown butter, oats, and cardamom. To start it off, brown some butter. Then let that cool down to a softened state. I put it in the fridge to speed this up. Toss together some oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom. Add in that softened brown butter and smush it all together until some nice crumbles form. Sprinkle that all over the peaches and bake it up. The topping gets a little brown on top and the oats add a nice toasty flavor. That brown butter gives it some nuttiness and the cardamom ties it together with the peaches.
Peaches and Cardamom
People often ask me how I come up with my recipes. The answer is less genius then they might be hoping for, but I choose flavor combos by what sounds good. And when I say “sounds good” I don’t mean like it sounds like it would taste good. I mean these two words sound nice together. This sounds like a bad strategy, but about 90% of the time it turns out well. And yes, I do consider how flavors work together but the words themselves have a big impact. I thought peach, cardamom, and brown butter all sounded nice together and the flavors ended up working really well. The warming brown butter mixes with the sweet juicy peaches, and the cardamom adds a nice spiciness.
Also, school starts tomorrow which is a little crazy to think about. It all feels really overwhelming and unclear, but I have been finding my sanity in baking and reading. I realized I had been falling into a habit of mindlessly scrolling on my phone, and the addition of TikTok made it a lot worse. So I have cast my phone aside for the last few days and have done a lot of reading. And I highly recommend it! I had forgotten how much I love reading and I always feel a lot better at the end of the day when I’ve had my head in a book instead of a phone.
I’m doing all of this writing about summer recipes, but really all I can think about is pumpkin and apple and spices. I try to test and work on my recipes a month in advance so they are ready to be posted and I don’t have to scramble to get them finished. As you could imagine, I get pretty far ahead in the summer because I don’t have anything else to do. So right now, I’m starting to finish off my September recipes and start my October ones. The house smells like pumpkin 24/7 now and I am not complaining. It may be 90 degrees outside, but I am fully in the fall feels!
Peach Cardamom and Brown Butter Crisp
Ingredients
Method
- Place the butter in a medium saucepan or frying pan over and melt over medium heat, stirring constantly. Once it melts, it will begin to sizzle and foam. Keep stirring for 3-4 minutes and you will start to see brown specks appear. Keep stirring until the butter becomes an amber brown color and has a nutty aroma. Be careful, it can go from brown to burned very quickly!
- Remove from heat immediately, and pour into a bowl. Set the bowl in the fridge and allow the butter to firm up to softened butter, about 15-20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Grease a 7×11 inch rectangular baking pan with butter and set aside.
- In a large bowl toss the sliced peaches with the melted butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and cardamom. Pour this mixture into the prepared pan and spread/pat it into an even layer. Make sure you get all the peach juice in the pan as well! Set aside while we make the topping.
- In a medium bowl, toss together the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt. Add with softened brown butter from earlier (it's ok if it still has some melty bits) and use your hands to massage it into the oat mixture until crumbles form. Sprinkle this evenly over the peaches.
- Bake the crisp for 40-45 minutes, or until topping is browned. When you lift the pan and move it around, the filling should mostly stay in place and not slide around. Mine usually takes closer to 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 15-20 minutes before eating.
- Serve warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!