Canned Peach Oat Crisp
By Jude Horak, UC patient. Flare and remission. Dessert.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Total
- 40 min
- Serves
- 6
This is the dessert I make when I want something baked and warm without asking much of my gut. Canned peaches were on my flare list from the start, peeled, cooked soft, and packed in juice, and it took me a while to realize I could bake with them. The topping is quick oats, a little flour, brown sugar and a modest amount of butter, with no nuts and no seeds, which puts it in the same gentle territory as a bowl of oatmeal. I hold the butter to four tablespoons across six servings, which is less than most crisps use, and the peaches thicken with a spoonful of cornstarch and their own juice rather than a lot of added sugar. It bakes in half an hour and is best after a fifteen-minute rest, when the filling has set enough to spoon cleanly. In remission I bump it up with fresh fruit or more texture, and the tips explain how. The rest of the year it is this exact recipe, unchanged.
Why it works for UC
Canned peaches are already peeled and cooked, which strips out the skin and most of the insoluble fiber that makes fresh stone fruit hard work during a flare, and choosing fruit packed in juice keeps the sugar reasonable. Oatmeal in the topping is mostly soluble fiber, and quick oats break down more easily than steel-cut or even rolled oats. Butter stays at a small amount so total fat per serving is low, cinnamon and vanilla are pantry flavors that do not irritate, and there are no nuts, seeds or dried fruit anywhere in it. That combination is why this one is a both-phases recipe rather than a treat I have to wait for.
Ingredient pages: Canned Peaches, Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 2 cans (15 ounces each) sliced peaches in juice, drained, with 1/4 cup of the juice reserved
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
- 3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
Method
- 1Heat the oven to 350 F and lightly butter an 8-inch square baking dish. Whisk the reserved 1/4 cup peach juice with the cornstarch in a small bowl until no lumps remain; adding cornstarch straight to the fruit leaves gritty pockets.
- 2Toss the drained peaches with the cornstarch mixture, lemon juice, vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon of the cinnamon in the baking dish and spread them evenly. The layer will look thin; the topping makes up the rest.
- 3In a bowl, stir together the oats, flour, brown sugar, salt and remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Pour in the melted butter and maple syrup and mix with a fork until the mixture forms damp clumps the size of peas and small pebbles.
- 4Scatter the topping evenly over the peaches without pressing it down. Loose clumps bake up lighter and crisper than a packed layer.
- 5Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and the peach juices are bubbling thickly around the edges. If the top browns before the edges bubble, tent loosely with foil for the last few minutes.
- 6Rest for 15 minutes before serving. The filling is thin and runny straight from the oven and sets to a spoonable, jammy texture as it cools. Serve warm, alone or with a spoonful of plain Greek yogurt.
Tips and swaps
- In a flare, this recipe is the recipe: quick oats, no nuts, juice-packed peaches and a modest hand with the butter. If fat is a problem for you, drop the butter to 3 tablespoons; the topping will be softer but still good.
- Remission upgrades: add 1/2 cup of fresh blueberries to the peaches, swap half the flour for whole wheat, or use rolled oats for more chew. Keep nuts out unless you know they sit fine for you.
- Drain the peaches well. Too much liquid and the filling never sets, even with the cornstarch. Reserve the 1/4 cup you need and discard or drink the rest.
- Leftovers keep 3 days covered in the fridge. Reheat single portions in the microwave for 45 seconds, or rewarm the whole dish uncovered at 350 F for 10 minutes to re-crisp the top.
What a serving gives you
A serving comes in around 220 calories with about 8 grams of fat, mostly from the butter, and 3 grams of fiber, the soluble kind from the oats and the softened peach flesh. Peaches contribute vitamin C and some potassium. It is a dessert, and the sugar from the brown sugar, maple syrup and fruit adds up to about 20 grams per serving, so I treat it as a treat rather than a snack. Adding plain Greek yogurt on the side brings protein that makes it more filling.
Questions about this recipe
Can I use fresh peaches instead of canned?
In remission, yes: peel 5 or 6 ripe peaches, slice them, and toss with an extra tablespoon of cornstarch and a tablespoon of sugar since fresh fruit releases more juice and is less sweet than canned. Skin-on peaches are an option once fruit skins are back in your diet, but I still peel them. During a flare I stick to canned, because peeled and cooked fruit is the point and the can does that work for me.
Does this crisp freeze well?
It does, either baked or unbaked. For unbaked, assemble it in a foil pan, wrap it tightly and freeze for up to 2 months; bake from frozen at 350 F for about 45 minutes. For baked leftovers, freeze individual portions in small containers and reheat in the microwave. The topping softens a bit after freezing, which is honestly closer to the texture I found easiest when eating was hard. A quick pass under the broiler brings the crunch back.
