Perfect Peach Crisp

Well guys, it's summer in Texas, and you know what that means... temperatures so hot they can melt your faces off, mosquitoes the size of your head, and..oh yeah, PEACHES!

Yep, summer has officially arrived, and with it have come the peaches. Sweet, juicy, cool relief from all that aforementioned heat. In my part of the world, peach season is a big deal. All year we wait. Every late freeze fills us with fear that the peaches will be taken from us. Every rain brings dread that the peaches will drown. But all the worry and fret is well worth it, when the stands go up on the side of the road offering those perfect fruits.

So, enough rambling. You have your basket full of peaches, and you've snacked on as many as you can stand. What else can you do with them? Well, bake with them of course! (Bet you didn't see that one coming.) Peel them, cut them up, make a perfect peach crisp, everyone you know will love you just a little bit more.

**Note: If you don't have access to fresh peaches or lack the time (and/or patience) to prepare fresh peaches, this recipes will work great with frozen peaches. Just make sure you thaw them first!

Ok, so here's how you do it.

As I'm sure most of you have noticed by now, I lack a lot of patience for certain activities. Intricately decorating a cake...Nope, not doing it. Sifting all my ingredients...not happening. Grabbing a paring knife and carefully peeling all my peaches...definitely not.

I have very fond memories of sitting on the counter while my grandmother expertly used her knife to slice off the peels of peach after peach. Little Katie loved this. It was calming watching her methodically reveal the golden fruit which she then sliced into beautiful little wedges. Plus, she let me eat the peels...major bonus!

But, here's the deal. I am not my grandmother. I do not have those skills. And, while losing a few fingerprints may help me if I later decide to turn to a life of crime, right now it's something I would like to avoid. So, I do it the cheater way...and you can too!

Grab those peaches, and cut an X across the bottoms. Don't cut too deep, maybe an 8th of an inch. You want to barely cut through the skin. Do this to every peach. 

While you're cutting the X's, bring a pot of water to a boil. It is important that the pot is deep enough for you to completely submerge your peaches.

Ideally, make sure of this before you bring your water to a boil, so you aren't transferring boiling water from pot to pot because you were sure the first was deep enough. In other words, don't be like me.

Once all the peaches are scored and the water is boiling, set the peaches into the water. I wouldn't add more than 4 or 5 at a time as this part happens fast. 

In just a few seconds, you will see the skin start to pull away from the peaches. Pull them out immediately! You aren't cooking the peaches at this point; you're only taking the skin off, so you don't want them in the boiling water for any longer than is necessary. 

Place them directly into a large bowl of ice cold water. This will prevent them from continuing to cook.

Now, it's easy. Grab those peaches and just pull that skin right off. No problemo!

You'll be left with beautiful, peeled peaches that are ready to be turned into a wonderful crisp. And, all of your fingers will still be safely intact. Win/win!

Okay, on to the crisp. First, chop those peaches. I will warn you...they are slippery. So do this carefully. As you can see, my peaches aren't in exact, uniform wedges. You know...no patience...not my grandmother..blah blah. But, you can cut them in whatever way makes you happy. The recipe will still work.

Chop them up, and throw them in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix some sugar, cinnamon, and flour.

Toss the dry mixture on top of the peaches and stir it up.

Add the juice of one lemon.

(This isn't a ton of juice, but it makes a huge difference in the flavor.)

Add a little cornstarch and water.

And, mix it all up again.

Pour it into your baking dish, and set it aside.

**This recipe works in a 9x13 baking dish. I was giving it to two different people, so I divided it between two smaller dishes.

Now, let's talk about the topping. This is a crisp (or a crumble if you prefer to call it that), not a cobbler.  The top, therefore is not a batter, or a pie crust. Instead, it is mix of sugar, flour, oats, spices and butter. And, let me tell you, it is fabulous!

As the peaches bake, the top of the crisp becomes golden and a little crunchy. The juices bubble up into part of the topping, and the nuts get toasty and brown. Basically, it's great. I know there are a lot of cobbler enthusiasts out there, but I'm going to say it...I think crisps are better. Yell at me if you want, but it's true. The topping adds so many more dimensions than a simple batter or crust can ever offer.

Alright, alright...I know! Enough talk and proclamations. How do you make it?

Mix up the dry ingredients (flour, sugars, oats, nuts, spices).

Add in the butter. Make sure it's room temperature or this will not work.

Now, you have to get in there! Use your hands. If you have some sort of aversion to using your hands, a fork will work. But, I'm telling you, your hands are the best tool here.

Work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly (because it's a crumble...get it?).

If you take a little and squeeze it in your palm, it should hold together.

Sprinkle half of the topping over the peaches, reserving the other half.

After 30 minutes, the crisp will look like this. Pull it out of the oven.

Sprinkle on the rest of the topping, and bake until golden brown and bubbly!

Perfection!

Let it cool 15 minutes, and you're ready to serve! Yum!

Perfect Peach Crisp

(adapted from Guy Fieri) 

Ingredients:

For the peaches:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 ½ lbs fresh peaches (peeled and chopped), about 10 cups

1 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
1 lemon

For the crumb topping:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup oats

¼ cup pecans
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

Directions:

1. To Make the Peaches: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place chopped peaches in a large bowl.

2.In a separate bowl, mix sugar, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Add to peaches and mix. Add cornstarch mixture and lemon juice and stir until combined.

3. Pour peach mixture into a greased 9x13 baking dish and set aside.

4. To make the crumb topping: Mix dry ingredients. Add in butter and work together with hands until combined and crumbly.

5. Sprinkle half of the topping over the peaches and bake for 30 minutes.

6. Sprinkle on the remaining topping and continue baking until golden brown and bubbling, about 45 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool at least 15 minutes. Eat as is or add ice cream!

Store leftovers covered in the fridge.

ENJOY!