Ingredients:
10-12 large whole peaches
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 cups white sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups quick oats
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup margarine
As the days get longer and hotter, fruits like peaches start coming into season. Here’s a vegetarian recipe for a sweet summer treat that’s easy to make. First, preheat your oven to 350 F. Peel and remove the pits of your peaches. Then, slice your peaches into chunks that are about 5 millimetres thick. Be careful when cutting the peaches; they’re going to be slippery.
Line your baking tin with parchment paper and sprinkle about 1/4 cup of brown sugar on the bottom. Gently lay your peach slices on top and evenly across the brown sugar. Let your peaches bake for about 30 to 50 minutes. The peaches should be very soft, with a syrupy bottom. Take the peaches out of the oven for the crumble.
For the crumble topping, grab a medium-sized bowl. Measure out the 4 cups of flour, 2 cups of quick oats, 2 cups of white sugar, 1 tsp of cinnamon and put it all in the bowl. Give the dry ingredients a gentle mix. Measure out 1 cup of margarine and put in a microwave-safe bowl. Melt the margarine at 30-second intervals until completely melted.
Carefully pour the melted margarine into the dry ingredients in parts, mixing the crumble together with a fork. Then pour in 2 tbsp of vanilla, mixing in between each addition. The crumble should have a sandy texture with larger clumps about the size of a bean; it should keep its shape when squeezed in your palm.
Increase the oven temperature to 375 F. Drizzle the crumble evenly on top of the peaches, making sure to get the corners. Place the peach cobbler in the oven for about an hour or until the top is golden brown. Let the cobbler cool for at least 30 minutes before serving, then enjoy.
The easiest way to peel peaches is to make a single shallow cut on the skin. Then place the peaches in a pot of boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds. Remove the peaches from the boiling water then place them in an ice-cold bath. The skin then should slough off easily.
You can also used canned peaches for this recipe, but make sure to thoroughly drain or pat the peaches dry. When baking, the brown sugar is going to pull out a lot of moisture from the peaches—draining or patting the peaches dry will help prevent a soggy crumble.
When placing the crumble on top of the peaches don’t compact it. If you compact the crumble it will prevent the steam from the fruits to evaporate, which will make the syrup rise and spill around the edges onto the crumble, making it soggy.