Tag Archives: peach

Just Peachy Oatmeal Cookies

peachy oatmeal cookies

peachy oatmeal cookies

Peach season is just starting where I live in Colorado. I have waited very patiently for this, so I am now gobbling up peaches in a frenzy. They are too few and too precious to do anything other than eat raw with their juices running down my arm. Using them in baking will have to wait until my tummy’s desire for fruit salad has been quenched. Until then I have a supply of dried peaches.

If properly soaked, dried fruit can often be a replacement in baked goods for their fresh counterparts. Cookie recipes are the perfect place to try dried fruit, so use any dried gems that you have. Just remember to soak them first so they get moist and plump. The amount of water and time this takes will depend on your fruit’s moisture content.

My recipe is loosely taken from one on Organic India’s blog. It was already vegan, with no changes required for altitude, and it allowed me to test their fiber supplement as an egg substitute. I tweaked it to accommodate my dried peaches and their soaking water. (Here’s a tip: never discard soaking water from fruit — it’s delicious). Next I made many other radical changes that suited my eating habits and pantry supplies. Cookies are forgiving that way, and they turned out wonderful.

Just Peachy Oatmeal Cookies loosely adapted from Organic India

3/4 cup soaked and chopped dried peaches
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp Organic India Cinnamon Spice Pre & Probiotic Fiber Supplement
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup soaking water from the peaches
1/3 cup + 1 TBS vegetable oil
1/4 cup + 3 TBS maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract

soaked and dried peaches

soaked peaches and dried peaches

Several hours prior to making the cookies, soak the dried peaches in plenty of water. Strain and save the soaking water. Chop the peaches into small bits.

Heat oven to 375F and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, sift in flour, fiber supplement, baking soda, cardamom, and ginger. Add rolled oats. To a medium bowl, add soaking water, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla. Whisk together, then pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir to combine until a dough forms. It will be slightly sticky. Fold in chopped peaches.

Set the bowl of cookie batter aside for 15 minutes. This will make the dough easier to handle. Drop dough by tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets, making 30 cookies. Bake for 19-20 minutes, or until the undersides are lightly brown. Let cool slightly before removing onto a wire rack to fully cool.

Until next time, happy baking!

Baked Oatmeal with Peaches

baked oatmeal with peaches

baked oatmeal with peaches

With my husband working from home now, he has time for more than cereal for breakfast. I concluded that if I made a large dish of baked oatmeal on the weekend, then it could be reheated on many mornings. This meal would be hearty enough to keep his hunger at bay while he toiled at the computer. Another bonus was that I adapted the recipe to use up what I found in the backs of my cupboard and freezer. Feel free to use whatever you find in your pantry — the recipe is very flexible.

This dish is by nature vegan and not one that requires adjustments for high altitude, so I didn’t need to make those modifications. You can choose the fruit and oats you include, and the thickeners and sweeteners. Ultimately, I ended up with a sweet treat that was gluten-free and refined sugar free. Here is my healthy, pantry staple version of baked oatmeal.

Baked Oatmeal with Peaches adapted from Peach Crisp

5 large peaches, peeled and sliced (or 10 cups frozen)
2-3 TBS chia seeds (or tapioca starch)
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (gluten-free, if desired)
1/8 cup brown rice flour (or oat flour)
1/8 cup date paste*
1/8 cup smooth almond butter
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg

Heat oven to 350F. Put peaches in a large bowl and sprinkle with chia seeds, lemon juice, cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger. Depending on how much juice the peaches give off, you may need to vary the amount of chia seeds. Let peaches stand for 15 minutes to thicken up and release some of their juices. Put peaches into a baking dish (mine was 10 x 10” but you can use a similar size).

In the same large bowl, add oats, brown rice flour, date paste, almond butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix until it forms a crumbly texture that is neither too wet nor too dry. Sprinkle the mixture over the peaches. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top starts to brown. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for 5 minutes.

*If you don’t know how to make date paste, or even what it is, keep an eye out for my post next week.

Until next time, happy baking!

Walnut and Cinnamon Peach Crisp

The perfect bite of peach crisp

Walnut and Cinnamon Peach Crisp

Walnuts and cinnamon and peaches … oh, my! Looking at half a flat of local peaches, I was devising ways to use up a good portion of them when a crisp came to mind. The dessert turned out so velvety, luscious, and decadent that I wanted to eat the entire dish in one sitting, for dinner. A few bites were saved for breakfast, but it’s best to reheat it to bring out the full peachy flavor.

The recipe I liked had few ingredients and good preparation techniques but made a large baking dish of crisp, so I scaled it down. Then I added walnuts because I love a crunchy topping. To veganize it I used vegan buttery sticks. Fortunately, nothing needed to be changed for altitude. My final fix was to prefer mixing with my hands instead of using a stick blender. It made for easier kitchen cleanup, and it allowed me to create larger clumps of topping goodness.

Walnut and Cinnamon Peach Crisp adapted from Cinnamon-Oat Peach Crisp

3 pounds peaches, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/4” slices
1/2 cup organic granulated sugar
2 TBS + 3/4 cup all purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup packed organic brown sugar
1/2 cup rough chopped walnuts
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) vegan margarine, softened

Toss peaches, granulated sugar, and 2 TBS flour in a bowl to combine. Let sit, tossing occasionally, for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk oats, brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, salt, and remaining 3/4 cup flour in a large bowl to combine. Add margarine and mix it in with your fingers, removing any lumps.

Place a rack in the center of the oven; preheat oven to 350F. Scrape peaches and any juices into a 2-qt baking dish. Evenly scatter oat topping over peaches and bake until peaches are soft, fruit juices are bubbling, and topping is a deep golden brown, 40–45 minutes. Transfer baking dish to a wire rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Until next time, happy baking!

Cardamom Peach Morning Muffins

cardamom peach morning muffins

cardamom peach morning muffins

It’s peach season, and I got so excited I got twenty pounds of peaches. Now I am (desperately) trying to find a zillion ways to use them up. After grilled peaches, bellinis, and eaten raw, peach muffins came to mind. I thought that the peach flavor would be the star in a muffin that was not too sweet, so I looked up my Hearty Raspberry Muffins. Also, I consulted a peach recipe in my archives to help get a good balance. A tweak here, an addition there, and I had a tasty muffin. If you like a sweeter treat, then drizzle them with a simple sugar glaze made of one part non-dairy milk to three parts organic powdered sugar. Add a pinch or two of cinnamon and cardamom powders to your glaze to spice things up.

To make the recipe vegan, I merely removed the eggs. Muffins can generally get by with enough baking powder. To help combat the dryness at altitude, I added more liquid to my batter. To bump up the peach flavor, some of that liquid was the juice that ran off when I diced my peaches. If you don’t get enough peach juice, then add more milk. The last adjustment was to use up my cardamom simple syrup I had made for another recipe. You can substitute another liquid sweetener, but be sure to add cardamom to your batter.

Cardamom Peach Morning Muffins adapted loosely from Spiced Peach Muffins

1.75 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole bran
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1.25 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup cardamom simple syrup, or other liquid sweetener
2.5 TBS canola oil
1/4 cup peach juice
1/2 cup non-dairy milk
1 cup peaches, diced but not peeled

Preheat oven to 375F and grease 10 sections of a muffin tin. Whisk together the flour, bran, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk together the simple syrup, oil, peach juice, and milk. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Gently fold in the peaches.

Heap the batter into the muffin tin; the cups will be 3/4 full. Bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes, or until they’re golden and risen high. Cool muffins on a wire rack. Store, well-wrapped, on the counter for 3 days; or freeze for up to 3 months.

Until next time, happy baking!

Peach Streusel Muffins

Peach Streusel Muffins

Peach Streusel Muffins

This recipe was inspired by what I had in the cupboard and fridge. First I realized that I didn’t get blueberries at the store as planned for blueberry muffins. Then I saw that I had only a little non-dairy milk and vanilla. But the craziest thing was that I couldn’t find any flax seeds for a flax egg – they’ll probably fall at my feet tomorrow because I know they’re in there somewhere. I came across this recipe and saw that it could be adapted by what I had at hand and it gave me a chance to try chia egg as a replacer.

To make these vegan I used non-dairy milk, vegan margarine, and a chia egg for the non-vegan ingredients. For high altitude I added flour and milk and reduced baking powder. To make it healthier I used whole wheat instead of all purpose flour, and I made a streusel with dates instead of sugar. And, because I discovered I had frozen peaches, I used those for the fruit. The muffins turned out not too sweet and perfect for breakfast.

Peach Streusel Muffins adapted from Oatmeal Berry Streusel Muffins
for the streusel
1/4 cup oats
2 dates, pitted
1/8 cup walnuts
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
for the muffins
1 TBS chia seeds, ground
3 TBS warm water
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oat flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegan margarine, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup + 2 TBS non-dairy milk
1 cup fresh or frozen chopped peaches
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 12 cups of a muffin tin with paper liners. In a small bowl, whisk together chia seeds and warm water to make a chia egg. Set aside for 10 minutes to gel. In a food processor, pulse oats, dates, walnuts, and cinnamon until you have a crumbly texture. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, cream margarine and sugar. Beat in chia egg, vanilla and non-dairy milk, and mix well. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix until dry ingredients are just moistened. Gently fold peaches into batter.
Distribute batter evenly into muffin cups and top each with streusel. Bake for 22-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Until next time, happy baking!