Peach Crisp With Thyme
I love when I can put savory items into desserts and pastries. You can use fresh or frozen peaches for this recipe, but the addition of thyme really adds a nice pop to the finished product. You can also build this crust into different shapes, aside from the traditional round one in a pie tin.
CRUST
2 1⁄2 cups graham cracker crumbs
3⁄4 cup (1 1⁄2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1⁄3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1 nutmeg pod, finely grated
CRISP TOPPING
1⁄3 cup packed light
brown sugar
1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, roughly chopped
1⁄4 teaspoon Diamond
Crystal kosher salt
3 tablespoons chilled
unsalted butter
PEACH FILLING
1⁄4 cup granulated sugar
1⁄4 cup packed light
brown sugar
1 1⁄2 tablespoons
cornstarch
1⁄4 teaspoon ground
cinnamon
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons fresh
lemon juice
1 1⁄4 pounds fresh peaches, cut into 8 wedges each
1⁄4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Vanilla ice cream, for serving
1 Make the crust: Heat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg and stir until evenly mixed. Scrape the mixture into a 9- or 10-inch metal pie pan and press evenly into the sides and bottom of the pan. Bake until lightly golden brown at the edges and set, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack and let cool but keep the oven on.
2 Make the crisp topping: In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, flour, thyme and salt. Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the cold butter into the dry ingredients, or dice the butter into small cubes and add to the dry ingredients. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients until a crumbly dough forms. Cover and refrigerate the topping until ready to use. 3 Make the filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together both sugars, cornstarch and cinnamon. Add the water and lemon juice and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until the liquid begins to bubble and thicken, about four minutes. Add the peaches, increase the heat to medium high and return to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the peaches soften lightly, about five minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. 4 Immediately scrape the peach filling into the pie crust. Scatter the chilled topping over the filling, then transfer the pie pan to the oven. Bake until fruit is bubbling in the center and the topping is golden brown and crisp, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream.