Easy Gluten Free Peach Crisp Recipe (HEALTHY, Vegan Option!)
This luscious gluten free peach crisp recipe features juicy spiced peaches with a crunchy pecan and oat topping. It's a huge crowd pleaser, and nobody will know that it's naturally sweetened (it can also be made vegan!). This is one of my go-to summer desserts, and I hope you'll love it too.
Ingredients and swaps:
The star of any crisp is the craggly, crunchy topping (am I right?). This crisp features a high topping-to-fruit ratio, maximizing the cookie-like crust. Oh YES.
- Peaches: You can use ripe peaches or nectarines!
- Rolled oats: Instead of using all-purpose flour in the crisp topping, it’s bound with ground oats instead, making it gluten-free.
- Pecans: Pecans lend a delicious crunch, but you can swap them out for almonds or walnuts.
- Coconut sugar: The crisp in naturally sweetened with coconut sugar, but feel free to use brown sugar instead.
- Cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg and vanilla: Warming spices give this crisp an irresistible depth of flavor (and will make your house smell amazing!).
- Butter: The topping gets moisture from melted butter, but you can swap it out for coconut oil.
- Cornstarch: A touch of cornstarch (or you can use arrowroot powder) thickens the peach juices, making the crisp spoonable.
How to make a gluten free peach crisp:
- Put ½ cup of oats in a mini food processor (or you can use a large processor or Vitamix), and process until finely ground. Transfer to a bowl. Add pecans to the processor (no need to wash it) and pulse until coarsely chopped.
- Transfer the pecans to the bowl with the ground oats, and add whole oats, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and melted butter. Stir until combined.
- Toss the peaches with sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla paste (or extract), and cornstarch. Transfer to an 8x8-inch baking dish. Sprinkle the crisp topping over the peaches.
- Bake the crisp until the topping is golden brown and the peaches are bubbling, about 30 minutes. Let cool slightly.
Vegan variation
To make a vegan peach crisp, swap out the butter in the topping for melted coconut oil or vegan butter.
Serving suggestions:
Serve this peach crisp with a dollop of whipped cream (you can use coconut whipped cream for a vegan version), or better yet, a scoop of ice cream (regular or vegan). The cold ice cream with the crunchy crust and warm, plump peaches… Well, my friends, you’re just going to have to try it for yourselves.
FAQs
Yes! The peach crisp can sit out at room temperature for up to 6 hours. You can either eat the crisp at room temperature or reheat it in a 350˚F degree oven until warmed through. Leftovers are also delicious straight out of the fridge the next day (p.s. it's the best breakfast ever!).
A peach cobbler is topped with a biscuit topping, whereas a peach crisp is topped with an oat and nut topping. A peach crumble differs from a crisp in that the topping usually doesn't include oats.
It's up to you! I prefer to leave the peels on since I like their flavor and appearance (and, let's be honest, it's so much easier!). However, if you prefer, you can remove the peach skin using a vegetable peeler before slicing.
Tips for this recipe:
- You’ll need an 8x8-inch baking dish or baking pan for this crisp. You can also make smaller individual sized crisps instead (like these) - check the crisps at 20 minutes.
- You can use either fresh peaches or nectarines (or a mix!) in this recipe. There’s no need to peel them.
- This crisp is naturally sweetened with coconut sugar or maple sugar (although you can use brown sugar if you prefer). If your peaches aren’t very sweet, feel free to add another tablespoon of sugar to the filling.
- The topping features both whole and ground oats (the ground oats bind the topping together). A food processor or Vitamix makes quick work of grinding the oats and chopping the nuts. If you don’t want to grind the oats, you can also use ½ cup of store-bought oat flour instead and chop the nuts by hand.
- Feel free to swap out the pecans for walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts.
- Try the crisp with this Cardamom Whipped Cream (swoon).
- Don’t miss this easy apple crisp recipe and this gorgeous strawberry crisp!
- For other recipes that use the food processor, check out my first book, The Food Processor Family Cookbook.
*This post contains Amazon and other affiliate links to products I use and love (from which I earn income, at no cost to you). Thank you for supporting From Scratch Fast!
Other healthy desserts to try:
- Grilled Peaches with Cardamom Whipped Cream
- Healthy Carrot Cake
- Almond Coconut Cake
- Double Chocolate Zucchini Brownies
- Black Bean Brownies
- Paleo Strawberry Shortcakes
Stay connected
I'd love to answer any of your questions and see what you're cooking!! Don't forget to give this recipe a star rating and leave a comment below. Follow along on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube & Pinterest, and be sure to tag @nickisizemore so that I can share your creations!
Get the recipe!
Gluten Free Peach Crisp (Vegan Option!)
Ingredients
- Butter or cooking spray, for pan
Crisp topping
- 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats, divided
- ⅓ cup pecans
- ¼ cup packed coconut sugar, maple sugar or light brown sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch freshly ground nutmeg
- 4 tablespoons butter or coconut oil, melted
Filling
- 1 ¾ pounds ripe peaches and/or nectarines (about 6 peaches), cut into ½-inch wedges
- 2 tablespoons packed coconut sugar, maple sugar or light brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
For serving
- Vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or coconut whipped cream
Instructions
Make the crisp topping
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Butter an 8x8-inch baking dish, or spray it with cooking spray.
- Put ½ cup of the oats in a mini food processor (or you can use a large processor or Vitamix), and process until finely ground. Transfer to a bowl. Add the pecans to the processor (no need to wash it) and pulse until coarsely chopped.
- Transfer the pecans to the bowl with the ground oats, and add the remaining whole oats, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and melted butter. Stir until combined.
Make the filling & Assemble
- In a large bowl, toss the peaches with the sugar, cinnamon, cardamom and vanilla paste (or extract). Fold in the cornstarch (see the headnote).
- Scrape the peaches into the baking dish (including any juices that have accumulated in the bottom of the bowl). Sprinkle the crisp topping over the peaches, pressing it gently in an even layer. Bake the crisp until the topping is golden brown and the peaches are bubbling, about 30-40 minutes. Let cool slightly.
- Serve the crisp warm or at room temperature with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream. Swoon!
Notes
- You’ll need an 8x8-inch baking dish or baking pan for this crisp. You can also make smaller individual sized crisps instead (like these) - check the crisps at 20 minutes.
- You can use either fresh peaches or nectarines (or a mix!) in this recipe. There’s no need to peel them.
- This crisp is naturally sweetened with coconut sugar or maple sugar (although you can use brown sugar if you prefer). If your peaches aren’t very sweet, feel free to add another tablespoon of sugar to the filling.
- The topping features both whole and ground oats (the ground oats bind the topping together). A food processor or Vitamix makes quick work of grinding the oats and chopping the nuts. If you don’t want to grind the oats, you can also use ½ cup of store-bought oat flour instead and chop the nuts by hand.
- Feel free to swap out the pecans for walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts.
- Try the crisp with this Cardamom Whipped Cream (swoon).
- Don’t miss this easy apple crisp recipe and this gorgeous strawberry crisp!
- For other recipes that use the food processor, check out my first book, The Food Processor Family Cookbook.
Can I use frozen peaches for this?
Hi Rosemary, I haven’t tested this recipe with frozen peaches so can’t guarantee the results, but I do think they should work. Use them frozen (don’t defrost them first), and use the full amount of cornstarch. Let me know if you give it a try!