The smell of ripe peaches is heavenly to me. If you love it too, just wait until you get a whiff of them baking in this delicious healthier peach crisp with salted caramel sauce. Get ready to swoon!
What Makes This Peach Crisp Healthier?
In this recipe, I’m swapping coconut oil in place of butter. And, the caramel drizzle is actually made from Medjool dates. My love affair with dates started with date nut balls my mom used to make over the holidays. But with dates being readily available in grocery stores, now is the perfect time to snap some up for the sauce. If you’re not familiar with dates, they look like gigantic raisins. The skin is wrinkly and dried and the fruit inside is really rich and caramel-like in taste, with a small pit in the very center of the fruit. Dates are really flavorful, full of fiber, and are much healthier than adding a bunch of sugar to make a sauce. In fact, we’re using just 1/3 cup of brown sugar in this recipe and the rest of the sweetness comes from the dates and a small amount of pure maple syrup.
The peach crisp topping is a yummy mix of rolled oats, brown sugar, and pecans or walnuts for crunch, plus a few spices to give the flavor some added warmth. You can make this recipe gluten-free by simply using gluten-free oats in place of the old-fashioned variety. Everything else about it is already gluten-free, so it can easily be adjusted. If you’re not crazy about nuts in your food and have no gluten issues, you can make the crumb topping from my Double Crumb Crust Apple Pie instead.
How to Easily Peel Peaches
Some people don’t like fresh peaches, claiming they don’t like fuzzy fruit, or they think peeling them is a pain and takes too much time. But, to make peeling peaches a breeze, all you need to do is get a large pot of water boiling. Then dunk them in it for 30 seconds to a minute. Transfer them to a large bowl of ice water to shock them a bit. I use the same technique to peel tomatoes! The skin will easily peel away from the peach and then all you need to do is use a knife to cut a circle around the fruit so it evenly halves. The pit is easy to remove from the center and you can cut the peaches into slices from there. See how pretty these peeled peaches are? Plus, there’s no wasted fruit.
How to Tell if a Peach is Ripe
I love to get my peaches from local orchards, but if you only have a grocery store as your source, look for peaches that have golden to reddish toned skins. They should have some give when you press into the skin and the fruit should be fragrant. If the skin is firm, they’re not ripe enough and if it’s wrinkly, they’re too ripe.
Canned Peaches Instead of Fresh
There’s no really great substitute for fresh peaches in my opinion. However, if you’re time-pressed, you can substitute canned peaches in this recipe. Just make sure you buy the kind that’s canned in water and not syrup. Each peach equals approximately 1 cup of canned peach slices, drained.
Peach Crisp with Salted Caramel Sauce Ingredients
Fruit Mixture
- 6-7 large ripe peaches, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Crunchy Topping
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, light or dark
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup melted and cooled coconut oil
Salted Caramel Sauce
- 10 dates, pits removed and cut into pieces
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
How to Make Peach Crisp with Salted Caramel Sauce
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8″ x 8″ baking dish.
- In a large bowl, combine the peaches, maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir together.
- Place 1/2 cup of rolled oats and 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts in a food processor or blender and pulse until it’s a fine consistency.
- Add the rest of the oats and nuts, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon to the crushed oat and nut mixture.
- Now add the melted and cooled coconut oil and stir until the topping gets a bit clumpy.
- Add a third of the topping to your peach mixture and stir through.
- Spread the peach mixture into the 8″ x 8″ baking dish and top with the remaining crisp topping.
- Bake at 350 for 50 minutes.
- Remove from oven and while it’s cooling, make the salted caramel sauce by simmering the dates in a half cup of water until they break down and turn into a sauce of sorts. If it’s too thick, add more water.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt and stir, then taste, adding additional salt to taste.
- Pour the sauce over the peach crisp or serve it on the side. As a decadent extra, enjoy it with a scoop of natural vanilla ice cream.
Peach Crisp with Salted Caramel Sauce
This peach crisp makes the best use of summer's bounty. Made with a nut and gluten-free oatmeal crust and no butter, it's also healthier!
Ingredients
- Fruit Mixture:
- 6-7 large ripe peaches, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- Crunchy Topping:
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, light or dark
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup melted and cooled coconut oil
- Salted Caramel Sauce:
- 10 dates, pits removed and cut into pieces
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grab an 8" x 8" baking dish.
- In a large bowl, combine the peaches, maple syrup, vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir together.
- Place 1/2 cup of rolled oats and 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts in a food processor or blender and pulse until it's a fine consistency.
- Add the rest of the oats and nuts, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon to the crushed oat and nut mixture.
- Now add the melted and cooled coconut oil and stir until the topping gets a bit clumpy.
- Add a third of the topping to your peach mixture and stir through.
- Spread the peach mixture into the 8" x 8" baking dish and top with the remaining crisp topping.
- Bake at 350 for 50 minutes.
- Remove from oven and while it's cooling, make the salted caramel sauce by simmering the dates in a half cup of water until they break down and turn into a sauce of sorts. If it's too thick, add more water.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt and stir, then taste, adding additional salt to taste.
- Pour the sauce over the peach crisp and serve as is or with a scoop of natural vanilla ice cream.
Notes
-This recipe can easily be made gluten-free by using gluten free rolled oats.
-In a pinch you can use canned peaches in water, not syrup.
Enjoy!
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