Oh, lovely peaches. They are SO good this year.
When I asked my neighbor to buy peaches for me, I asked for eight of them. And I had some kind of peach whiskey drink in mind I’d read about that used a reduction of peaches. But then, I couldn’t find the recipe. So, as two days went by and the peaches ripened to perfection, I had to decide what to do with them. I’m trying NOT to make desserts – because I’m the only one eating them – but alas, what to do except make peach crisp. What a treat this was. There’s not a lot of topping on this, and I used monkfruit sweetener – and truly I cannot taste the difference. The original recipe came from a 2015 issue of Bon Appetit. I adapted it a little bit – less sugar, then the substitution of monkfruit in the topping and the peaches. I added a bit more garam masala (what an unusual addition).
What is garam masala:
it’s a frequent ingredient in Indian cooking, but it’s a combo of spices and maybe a few herbs (coriander, cumin, bay, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, maybe star anise and sometimes fennel). So, it works fine here in a fruit dessert.
There at left you can see the skillet with just the peach mixture and the pecans sprinkled on top.
The peaches were dripping juice off my hands as I peeled them, then sliced them into a bowl, adding just a tetch of monkfruit sweetener, lemon juice, garam masala and salt. Into the buttered iron skillet it went. The topping is very easy to make, and I used less monkfruit than the recipe called for too. The little chilled butter cubes are easily mushed into the dry mixture – using your fingers. Pecans are an essential ingredient – they are so perfect with peaches (they’re one of those magic combinations made in heaven) which tells me God had a plan when he made Georgia (and the South) peach country, and also pecan 
country. So the topping is sprinkled over the top and it’s baked for 25-40 minutes. It kind of depends on how thick the peaches are in the skillet. If you have fewer peaches, do use a smaller iron skillet. You want the peaches to be about 1 1/2 inches thick in the pan. Maybe even more as they shrink as they bake.
There, at right, is the crisp, just out of the oven. The topping doesn’t get all that brown, just a bit golden.
Because this was a treat for me, I ate just that for dinner. Nothing else. And oh yes, it was just wonderful. I let the skillet sit out on my counter overnight and then put what was left of the crisp (a lot) into a storage container. The topping won’t be crisp anymore, but the flavor will still be just as good. And probably the pecans will be soggy. So, ideally, make just enough of this that you’ll eat at one sitting.
What’s GOOD: I liked everything about this. The peaches, of course, which were at the peak of perfection; the toasted pecans were also SO good. I couldn’t discern the garam masala, but am sure they contributed to the flavor even though I couldn’t actually taste it. I’d definitely make this again.
What’s NOT: nothing really – it helps to have really ripe peaches. Ideally, eat all of it at the first serving of it as the topping won’t stay crisp and the pecans will get soggy. Eat up!
printer-friendly PDF and MasterCook file (click link to open recipe)
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Iron-Skillet Peach Pecan Crisp
Recipe By: Adapted from Bon Appetit 2015
Serving Size: 8
TOPPING:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup light brown sugar — (packed) or artificial sweetener like monkfruit brown
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter — chilled, cut into very small cubes
FILLING:
1 1/2 cups pecans
1 tablespoon unsalted butter — room temperature, to smear inside skillet
2 1/4 pounds peaches — (about 7 medium), cut into 1/2″ wedges
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar — or artificial sweetener like monkfruit
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
NOTES: If peaches are not fully ripe, use more sugar mixed into the peaches. If you reduce the size of this, make the crisp in a smaller iron skillet.
1. Topping: Whisk flour, brown sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Rub in butter with your fingers until clumps form and no dry spots remain.
2. Preheat oven to 350°F. Toast pecans on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until slightly darkened in color, 8-10 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop.
3. Smear bottom and sides of a 10″ cast-iron skillet with butter. Toss peaches, brown sugar, granulated sugar, lemon juice, garam masala, and salt in a large bowl to combine. Transfer to skillet. Sprinkle toasted pecans on top, then add crumble topping, breaking up into large pieces, over filling.
4. Bake crisp until topping is golden brown and juices are thick and bubbling around the edges, 25-40 minutes. Serve warm or at room temp with vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.
5. Crisp can be made 1 day ahead. Store lightly covered at room temperature.
Per Serving: 405 Calories; 27g Fat (56.7% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 41g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 34mg Cholesterol; 295mg Sodium; 26g Total Sugars; 0mcg Vitamin D; 37mg Calcium; 2mg Iron; 361mg Potassium; 99mg Phosphorus.
hddonna
said on August 21st, 2020:
Sounds scrumptious. I do like nuts in a crisp topping. I did Deb Perelman’s version of Nigel Slater’s Almond Crisped Peaches yesterday. Deb added oats, but I took those out again, though I love them in this sort of thing, just so as not to be adding any more carbs. They are a nice little dessert. One half peach gets only about a teaspoon of sugar in the topping, not so bad, really. I’m lucky enough to have other people in the house to help eat up desserts, but sometimes the ones that really appeal to me don’t appeal to them as much. Then they don’t disappear as quickly but sit around tempting me. Anything with chocolate disappears the fastest! With a crisp, since they don’t keep as well once baked, I’ve found I can make up the topping and freeze it, then do individual servings in ramekins, adding the topping to the fruit and baking it when wanted. And they will eat it when served freshly baked.
Great idea about doing the individual servings and reserving the topping for when you need it. . . carolyn t