Recipe: Gluten-Free Peach Crisp
Serves8 to 10
Warm, silky peaches studded with a crispy oat and almond topping should be the official dish of summer — and not just for dessert. This double-crusted oat and peach crisp can be breakfast, too. The top bakes up crisp and crackly, while the bottom crust becomes soft with a slight chew after some time soaking up the peach juices. It’s a delicious hodgepodge of textures that other crisps or baked oatmeals cannot beat. Oh, and it’s gluten-free to boot!
If you’ve never eaten or made a double-crusted crisp before, you are in for a treat. Just mix up one big batch of crisp topping and press half of it into a baking pan, mix up the filling, and then top with the remaining crisp mixture.
How to Make Gluten-Free Crisp
Many of the components of a crisp topping are naturally gluten-free, namely the oats, almonds, and butter, but most crisp toppings are held together with a little bit of flour. You can substitute oat flour for all-purpose, but to add a bunch of nutty, toasty flavor, this crisp topping uses almond flour. It has the added benefit of being absorbent in the bottom layer and creating a chewy-custardy texture when baked under the peaches.
The peaches are coated in a mixture of sugar and cornstarch. In case you’re curious, cornstarch is naturally gluten-free, but like oats, you’ll want to purchase cornstarch from a manufacturer with a gluten-free label. Some flour, oat, and starch manufacturers share facilities, and cross-contamination can happen.
Gluten-Free Peach Crisp
Serves 8 to 10
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
For the crust:
Butter, for coating the baking dish
- 1 cup
gluten-free rolled oats
- 1 cup
almond flour or almond meal
- 3/4 cup
packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup
sliced almonds
- 1/2 teaspoon
fine salt
- 8 tablespoons
(1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
For the topping:
- 1/2 cup
granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon
cornstarch
- 6 cup
sliced fresh peaches (about 1 pound of slices from 8 large peaches)
- 1 tablespoon
freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
Make the crust:
Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350°F. Coat a 9x9-inch glass baking dish with butter.
Place the oats, almond flour or meal, brown sugar, almonds, and salt in a large bowl and stir until combined. Drizzle the butter over the oat mixture and stir to combine. Press about 1/2 of the oat mixture into the prepared baking dish.
Make the filling:
Place the granulated sugar and cornstarch in a medium bowl and stir until lump-free. Add the peach slices and lemon juice and gently toss to coat. Transfer the peach mixture onto the prepared crust.
Crumble the remaining oat mixture onto the fruit, pressing it into clumps if desired. Bake until the oat topping is golden and the fruit is bubbling, about 1 hour. Cool for 20 minutes and serve with ice cream or vanilla butter sauce.
Recipe Notes
Gluten-free oats: Oats are naturally gluten-free, but many oat packagers also package wheat in the same facilities. If you are making these bars for someone who is gluten-free, look for oats labeled gluten free.