These grilled peaches with brown sugar pecan crumble are the perfect simple summer dessert.
We have a serious problem in our house revolving around fruit. Ulysses likes all his stone fruits (and pears) crunchy. As in, not ripe at.all.
This makes my blood boil.
He will happily bite into a peach and it will CRUNCH it’s so under ripe.
Me? I’m a normal person and prefer my fruit sweet, juicy and soft to the touch (aka: ripe).
I go to the store twice a week to restock produce, usually buying 4-5 of whatever stone fruit looks good, put them in the fruit bowl on the countertop and prepare to wait the 1-2 days for them to get to that perfect juicy, ripe state.
Except they hardly ever make it that long because Ulysses comes along, snags the still hard as a rock fruit and devours it.
It’s seriously one of the most trying things in our marriage (right behind the whole toilet seat thing).
I feel like I need a secret hiding spot for my fruit.
But that would probably just result in molding peaches and nectarines shoved behind something in a cabinet somewhere.
So this was an attempt to meet somewhere in the middle.
You don’t want the peaches super ripe because then they’ll fall apart on the grill and the grilling softens them up a bit anyway.
The heat brings out the sweetness though and then the brown sugar pecan (and coconut!) mixture takes it from summer fruit to summer fruit dessert.
It’s the same concept as when air frying peaches.
I’d still like to be able to just bite into a ripe peach in my house but I’d say this is a decent solution for now.
MORE PEACH RECIPES TO TRY:
Paleo Peach Shortcake
Roasted Peach Rosemary Lemonade
Whipped Lemon Burrata Crostini with Grilled Shrimp and Peaches
Peach and Radish Salad with Crispy Prosciutto
Grilled Peaches with Brown Sugar Pecan Crumble
Ingredients
- 3 peaches, (about 1 day before peak ripeness) halved and pits removed
- 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened coconut flakes
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped pecans
- 1-2 sprigs of fresh mint, sliced for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a grill or grill pan and grease the slats/pan with any kind of oil (I used coconut oil spray on a grill pan)
- Once hot, add peaches to the grill, open side down.
- Grill for about 5 minutes until peaches have softened a little and have nice grill marks on them.
- Flip, and grill on the other side.
- While peaches are grilling, combine the brown sugar, coconut flakes and pecans in a small bowl and mix together,
- Remove peaches from grill, sprinkle with the crumble mixture and top with the mint.
- Enjoy warm (vanilla ice cream would be a great addition!)
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
My mom is exactly the same! She will only eat crunchy peaches and pears. I have to take my fruit out of the fridge to separately ripen while her fruit stays crunchy inside the fridge. *sigh* But anyway, this dessert looks absolutely delightful for the summer!
Beautiful photos!
We also have the same problem but I buy his and hers fruit so we are both happy. He knows not to eat mine or he’ll get yelled at! The biggest problem for us, however, is that he always leaves the water pitcher on the counter because he likes room temp water but I like mine cold. It drives me absolutely insane.
These peaches look divine and your pictures are gorgeous!
Looks yummy. I have a similar problem…but it’s one of my cats. I can’t let the peaches sit out to ripen because he will steal them. He loves peaches. He comes running into the kitchen if I am cutting an extra juicy one up. Strangest thing.
My husband eats almost 100% of his fruit with salt on it… seriously… that makes me want to gag.
These look yum! I especially like the addition of mint.
salt?! that takes it to a whole different level!
Aaron does the same thing with unripe fruit! It drives me nuts. I know EXACTLY what you mean about the crunching. I’m always telling him “You know that’s not ripe, right? It shouldn’t be crunchy.” He doesn’t care.
P.S. Your photos are particularly stunning in this post. :)
Thanks, Amanda :) I’m glad I’m not the only one with a fruit freak of a husband.
These look gorgeous. I’m tempted to whip some up and put a dollop of soy ice cream on them!
Ah! I just got goosebumps thinking about biting into underripe fruit. Eek! Although, I have been eating cherries that could probably use another day or so. I have a million peaches & apricots in my fridge right now, so this a perfect way to use them up. :D
I do the exact same thing– I buy fruit and then let them sit for a few days so they can ripen up. So much better that way! :)
P.S. Your pictures look like they are straight out of a magazine.
Thanks, Alisha!
hahaha! We have the same problem in our house… Kinda. My brothers eat SO much fruit that I hardly ever get to it just because I don’t eat 5 apples a day. It’s ridiiiiiiiiiculous. We should get our own separate fruit bowls.