Iron Skillet Peach Crisp

The months of July and August mean one thing to me...PEACH SEASON!!!  With a large farmer's market only about 15 minutes from my house, I am able to get good, fresh peaches every weekend.  A couple weekends ago, I picked up a few peaches that weren't quite ready to eat.  I stashed them in a paper bag on the counter, intending to ripen them so I could pack them in my lunch during the week.  Two days later, I checked the bag and found perfectly ripe peaches, too ripe in fact.  There was no way they were going to last all week without getting all soft and mushy.

I decided to make a dessert for the whole family to enjoy.  I thought about making a peach pie, then contemplated peach dumplings, before finally settling on peach crisp cooked in my new iron skillet (more to come from the iron skillet later).  Growing up, my grandmother made apple crisp quite often, and I loved the variety of textures in the dessert.  I decided to make basically the same thing, using peaches instead of the apples, and cooking the whole thing in a skillet instead of a baking dish.


Iron Skillet Peach Crisp

8 cups peeled and sliced peaches (about 7-8 small or 5 large)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 3 Tbsp flour, divided
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup old-fashioned oats
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  In a large mixing bowl, stir together peaches, brown sugar, 3 Tbsp flour, and cinnamon.  Pour into 10 inch iron skillet.  Set aside while making topping.

In small mixing bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup flour with oats, sugar, and salt.  Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles loose wet sand.  Spread topping mixture over peaches.  Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until peaches are bubbly and topping is golden brown.  Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.