Bourbon Pecan Peach Crisp is the ultimate summer dessert! Made with brown sugar, fresh peaches, rolled oats, and bourbon, this easy peach crisp recipe is summer in a skillet. Peak season ripe peaches are best but frozen peaches will work. And serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Fresh Peach Crisp: The Ultimate Summer Dessert
I look forward to peach season all year long! Peach desserts are such a luxury because the window to enjoy peak season peaches is tragically short. And what’s better than a bubbling skillet of warm peaches topped with golden brown crisp topping… and ice cream?!? NOTHING!
Why You’ll Love this Easy Peach Crisp
- Brown sugar, cinnamon, orange juice work together to enhance the peach flavor!
- Like most fruit crisps, it’s easy to make, but will quickly become your favorite summer dessert.
- Juicy ripe peaches covered with a golden brown crisp topping… to-die-for!
- Delicious served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top… or two scoops, if you’re like me.
- You can make it in a baking dish, casserole dish, or large skillet.
- Make this peach dessert with fresh peaches or frozen peaches.
- Adding a dash of bourbon enhances the depth of flavor, but you can omit it.
Easy Peach Crisp Recipe
- Sweet Peaches: Choose semi-firm but ripe sweet peaches. They shouldn’t be mushy and you definitely want the slices to hold their shape when sliced. Firm peaches are better than overly soft ones. And you can use frozen peaches in a pinch!
- Bourbon: My secret ingredient to this classic summer dessert! But feel free to replace with a tablespoon of vanilla extract or use another liquor like rum or whiskey.
- Orange: Freshly squeezed orange juice and zest enhance the peach flavor. If you can’t find fresh oranges, skip the zest and replace with peach nectar or store-bought OJ. I don’t suggest using lemon juice.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds rich flavor and helps enhance the other flavors in this recipe.
- Brown Sugar: In a pinch, granulated sugar will work. But brown sugar adds the best flavor to this fruit crisp!
- Cinnamon: The tiniest pinch of cinnamon adds a sweet spice and enhances the flavor of the peaches.
- Cornstarch: A bit of cornstarch helps thicken the peach filling up. See my notes below if you’re using frozen peaches.
Golden Brown Crisp Topping
- Unsalted Butter: For the easy and even blending, cut it into cubes. And make sure the butter is at room temperature before use.
- Old-Fashioned Oats: Aka rolled oats. Do not replace these with quick oats.
- Pecans: This nut can easily go rancid, so always check they’re fresh before use.
- Sugar: A combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar sweeten the crisp topping. And ensure it bakes up golden brown.
- Spices: Cinnamon and cardamom team up to add sweet flavor to this crisp topping!
- All-Purpose Flour: When it comes to flour, all-purpose flour works best. And while I don’t suggest using any other variety of flour. However some readers have reported good results using a 1 for 1 GF flour substitute.
- Ice Cream: Of course, you’ll want to have some ice cream on hand for serving! We love classic vanilla ice cream, but use your favorite flavor ice cream. Salted caramel ice cream or peach ice cream are also great options!
You can use your hands to make the crisp topping, or use a pastry cutter or two forks!
How to Make Peach Crisp
- Preheat the Oven: Unlike a lot of recipes that preheat the oven to 350 degrees. This recipe calls for a higher temperature of 375. Be sure to preheat your oven about 30 minutes before you plan on baking, so it gets sufficiently hot.
- Make the Peach Filling: To avoid an extra dirty dish, you can mix the peach filling right in the baking dish! A 9×13-inch baking dish or a large skillet will work fine! And unless peach skin REALLY bothers you, skip peeling them, i’ll save you so much time and effort. I like to slice my peaches but you can also cut them into bite-sized pieces.
- Pro Tip: If you’re using a skillet, place it on a baking sheet before baking. This just ensures any juices that bubble up land on the baking sheet and not the bottom of your oven.
- Bake the Peach Crisp: For about 45 minutes! Or until the rolled oats in the crisp topping toping are golden brown and the peaches are soft and juicy.
- Serve Warm: But allow the juices to “set” for about 15 minutes before digging in! And of course, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to make this the ultimate summer dessert!
Jump to the recipe below for the full ingredient list and recipe! This post may contain affiliate links!
Can I leave the Bourbon Out?
- Yes, you can leave the bourbon out. I would suggest adding a an extra Tablespoon of vanilla extract. Or subbing another liquor.
- If you’re not sure what kind of bourbon to use, we love Bulleit Bourbon, and it’s typically easy to find.
- If you don’t want to invest in a full-size bottle, go to your local liquor store and peruse the mini bottles. You can find them near the check-out counter, and they are the perfect size for baking projects!
- If you don’t have bourbon but still want to use liquor, whiskey would be a nice substitute or even a rye!
Fresh Peaches vs Frozen Peaches
- If you can find ripe peaches that are peak season, by all means, use fresh peaches! In my opinion, fresh peaches is what makes this summer dessert so darn good!
- If you can’t find peak season sweet peaches, frozen peaches will work. Instead of 2 and 1/4 pounds, use (2) 16 ounce bags of sliced frozen peaches.
- Do not thaw the frozen peaches before use! Add them frozen, and break them up with your hands if they’re sticking together.
- Because frozen peaches contain more water than fresh peaches, I suggest adding an extra 2 teaspoons of cornstarch.
Peach Recipes: What’s the Difference between Peach Cobbler and Peach Crisp?
- A crisp is typically fruit (in this case, peaches), covered in a buttery streusel like topping.
- While peach cobbler is typically a fruit base topped with fluffy biscuits (or a biscuit like mixture). Both are delicious, and much easier than peach pie!
More Fruit Crisps:
