We have this great new development at our house. My daughter and her fiancee like to cook, so often when they come over for dinner they offer to do the heavy lifting.

That was the case on Labor Day and since I was freed from cooking duties, I offered to handle dessert.

I opted for a peach and blueberry crisp. Warm fruit crisps feel like Fall to me, but using peaches, which are the end of their season here, still felt like Summer, so it seemed like the perfect Labor Day dessert.

I pretty closely followed this recipe for Whatever-You-Fancy Fruit Crumble, but I added flour to the fruit mixture like Ina does, and also used her suggestion to blanch the peaches before peeling.

This topping really makes the dessert. It uses flour and brown sugar, like most crisp and crumble recipes do, but also includes oats and pecans for crunch.

Here’s the recipe I used. It serves 8-12, depending on how big you like your portions. This night it served 7 of us, one went back for seconds, and there were leftovers.

Peach and Blueberry Crisp

Ingredients:

• 8 cups of whatever fruit you like (I used about 6 cups of peeled and sliced peaches and 2 cups of blueberries)
• 6 T. granulated sugar
• Zest of 1 lemon and 2 T. of lemon juice (you can also use an orange)
• 1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I used light brown sugar)
• 1/2 cup flour

For the crisp:

• 12 T. cold butter, cut into small pieces, plus more to grease the dish
• 1 cup flour
• 1 t. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 cup old-fashioned or rolled oats
• 1 cup pecan pieces

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Butter a large casserole or dish.
2. In a large bowl, mix the fruit with the granulated sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Spread evenly in the buttered dish.
3. In a food processor or mixer, combine the butter, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt until the butter is the size of peas. Add the oats and pecans and mix only until combined.
4. Give the topping a final mix with your hands and sprinkle it over the fruit. Place the dish on a baking sheet to catch any overflow, and bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until the top is brown and the fruit is bubbly.
5. Let sit until the fruit has cooled (this also helps it to set up a bit). Top with ice cream and serve.
   

Items used in this post

P.S. The best pumpkin bars and banana pudding with a twist.