Every spring, I count down the days until summer the way a little kid eagerly eats chocolate out of an Advent calendar to cross off the nights until Christmas Eve. No, I’m not waiting to grill dinner on the 4th of July, and I’m not even drooling over chocolate desserts to celebrate my birthday. Instead, I turn giddy with excitement over…
Peach season.
As soon as grocery stores advertize peaches as $0.99 per pound, my mom and I stock up as if we’re preparing for a fruit Armageddon. She and I buy them 6 at a time, basically on a weekly basis. We rarely nibble on them fresh, practically swatting at my dad and guy if they reach for one as a snack, and always slice them up to bake my grandma’s peach pie.
Mom saved Grandma’s recipe, a family secret, on a large handwritten index card, yellowing and fading with age, in a manila folder in her kitchen cupboards. But she’s baked it so many times that she rarely pulls it down to consult the measurements anymore!
With the two of us working together, Mom on the no-roll shortbread crust and me on the juicy filling, we can assemble the pie and pop it in the oven in less than 20 minutes. Between the four of us—Mom, Dad, my brother, and me—we can easily polish off the entire dessert in a single night. No shame!
However, that rich buttery shortbread crust sometimes tastes a little too heavy, especially after grilling burgers for dinner! So this past week, I decided to skip the crust and created a crumble instead with a similar summery filling and sweet oat topping.
My resulting Clean Peach Crumble disappeared just as quickly as Grandma’s special pie! Just like in her dessert, I sprinkled a really thick layer of sweet crumbs—basically the best part!—on top of the soft fruit. But unlike Grandma’s pie, my crumble is clean-eating friendly, with gluten-free and vegan options too. It’s the sweetest way to eat your daily servings of fruit!
The filling consists of just 4 ingredients: peaches, cornstarch, cinnamon, and almond extract. The almond extract was one of Grandma’s secrets in her pie filling, and it lends a subtle sweetness to the peaches. I promise they don’t taste nutty at all!
With my peaches overly ripe, I decided against adding any extra sweetener to the filling. If yours aren’t quite as juicy, feel free to mix in a few teaspoons of agave or honey (or brown sugar, but then it wouldn’t be clean-eating anymore).
The crumble topping is unbelievably simple—even more so than the filling! Many crumb toppings call for cutting cold butter into the oats and flour, but I felt lazy and opted for melted butter instead. It’s so much easier to mix into the dry ingredients!
Because of the liquid agave, this crumb topping is initially much moister than your typical recipe, and it will probably stick to your fingers when you sprinkle it over the filling. But don’t worry—it still crisps up in the oven the same way your traditional brown and white sugar crumb toppings do. It’s the perfect textural contrast to the soft fruit beneath!
Naturally sweet and lightly spiced, my healthier Clean Peach Crumble tastes like the epitome of summer, reminiscent of sun-kissed skin, lazy backyard barbeques, and warm starry-skied nights. Topped with a little vanilla ice cream, it’s a positively irresistible sweet and luscious treat!
Trust me, I would know… I shamelessly savored 3 slices in a single day!
P.S. Don’t forget to enter my CVS Gold Emblem Abound Giveaway before July 9! With so many healthy snacks to win, you don’t want to miss it!
This easy dessert tastes exactly like summer! Soft juicy peaches with a thick oaty crumb topping… Served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, this healthy crumble is an irresistible summer treat!
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and lightly coat an 8”-square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, toss together the diced peaches, cornstarch, almond extract, and ¼ teaspoon cinnamon until thoroughly combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the oats, flour, and remaining cinnamon. Add in the agave and butter, mixing until completely incorporated.
- Spread the peach mixture into the prepared pan, and evenly sprinkle the oat crumbs on top. Bake at 350°F for 35-45 minutes, or until the peach juice is bubbling and the oat mixture turns crunchy. Cool completely to room temperature. For best results, let the crumble rest for 2 hours after coming to room temperature before serving to allow the juices to thicken.
Do you peel the peaches or no?
Yes, I peeled the peaches for this recipe! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try this crumble, Sarah!
Hi, Amy –
thanks for this quick and easy recipe! I made with very ripe red plums (that needed to be used) and peaches (that weren’t quite ripe enough). I left skins on, which was fine – the baking time was plenty to get them soft.
I also use lemon extract (as I didn’t have almond in the house), and also added a bit of nutmeg and ginger. My crumble didn’t mix quite well enough, but that may be because I didn’t melt the red palm butter I used, which has a lovely flavor and lots of beta carotene, so provides a beautiful yellow color. (Will have to work on that part, as I like the crumbly topping to be crisp!)
I think your recipe would also work well with cherries, though those aren’t in season in PA just now.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this crumble Sandy! I love your idea of using plums in it as well. So fun! I definitely think you’re right about the cherries too! 🙂 Yes, if you didn’t melt the butter, that would be why it was hard to mix together. There’s a delicate balance of dry ingredients + wet in this particular healthy crumble topping, so if you didn’t melt the butter, it would throw that off. I think you’ll have a much easier time if you melt your butter next time!
Would this filling work in a peach pie?
Can I mix the peach mixture, then freeze, for Peach Crumble (or pie) post peach season?
Do you have a favorite “baking peach” to use for this, with the best texture and sweetness?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Jolene! I haven’t personally tried using this filling in a pie, but I have a feeling it could work. I don’t have any experience with freezing the mixture then thawing for later baking, but if you’ve been able to do that successfully with other crumble recipes, then it should probably work with this one too. We don’t have very many peach varieties in the grocery stores where I live (they’re just labeled “white” and “yellow!”), but I prefer the “yellow” peaches for baking! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of this recipe if you decide to try it!
I made this last night for breakfast the next day and my husband loved it. I didn’t have agave, so i used equal parts of honey instead. Also, i added a teaspoon of water to the mixture and covered it with foil while baking (only on the first 25 minutes) so it won’t turn dry (as the other comments here) I think that helped.
My husband has been telling me that we should start eating a little healthy and I am so glad i found your website. I will be visiting more often. Thank you for your recipes!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this crumble Hesty! That means a lot to me that you’d want to try more of my recipes — I’m so honored! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you try next! (Maybe the blueberry oatmeal muffins? 😉 )