Peach Crumble Cups have become my favourite seasonal transition snack from Summer to Autumn. The wholemeal flour and browned butter in the crumble impart a nutty richness that pairs beautifully with the sweet juicy peach and apricots inside.
I’m not one to jump head long into Autumn baking the minute September hits. The process is gradual and cooking so seasonally I continue to use what’s available. The Peach Crumble Cups are a brilliant combination of sweet summer fruits with the more wholesome, richer notes of Autumn baking. Let’s delve into this further.
Browned Butter Crumble
Alright. So I’ve made these Chocolate Raspberry Crumble Bars (Recipe found here) in the past. Yet this time around I wanted to create a crumble bar that was more seasonal. One that suited this in-between time that we’re sitting in. Not ready to dive into all things pumpkin and spice, I altered a couple of elements in the crumble mix to create a fuller, rounder flavour that was my ode to transitional Autumn flavours.
Instead of white sugar, all purpose plain flour and cold butter that's in the initial recipe, I subbed these ingredients with golden caster sugar, wholewheat flour and part browned butter/ part cold cubed butter.
And oh my word. What a fabulous transformation. The browned butter flavours the crumble mix with beautiful nutty notes and the wholewheat flour adds wonderfully to the texture.
In the oven the cold butter melts and helps crispen up the crumble mixture helping it turn crunchy on the top. Bliss! Seriously your kitchen will smell divine. I wish there was a candle that smelt like this!
The crumble mix forms the base, and the topping- two for one deal if you ask me. And sure having to brown the butter adds an extra step but it is SO worth it for this recipe. If you are SUPER organised you could brown all the butter needed in the crumble the day before, and then refrigerate it until the next day when you rub it into the flour and sugar.
Peachy Goodness
Stone fruits are still in season and I’m hanging on to them for as long as possible. They're the best bit about the summer so before they go out of season I chop some up and freeze them so that I can use them in crumbles and cobblers later on - peach being our favourite. Tinned peaches just don’t cut it in my book.
For this recipe I had a combination of fresh flat (or donut) peaches, white and yellow peaches and a couple of apricots thrown in for good measure.
The filling for these Peach Crumble Cups is super easy to make, here’s how:
- Chop and de-stone the fruit. I did a combination of slices and chunks. I like to put the chunks in the middle then once the crumble is sprinkled on the top of the fruit I lay a couple of the slices.
- In a bowl toss the fruit with lemon zest, lemon juice, cornflour and thyme. Yes, herbs. Peach and thyme are a match made in heaven. They compliment each other perfectly and teamed with some lemon juice and zest, you have a beautiful flavour profile to go with the browned butter crumble.
That’s it! Your filling is ready to go!
How to assemble your Peach Crumble Cups
You’re probably wondering why I didn’t just make this in a square 9x9inch pan like I did with my Chocolate Raspberry Crumble Bars. You absolutely could use a standard tray ... press half the crumble mixture into the greased pan, pressing it firmly until flat and compact. Spoon your peach filling ontop. Then scatter the rest of the crumble mixture on top and bake. Totally cool to make it like that.
But I just wanted to do something different. I didn’t have any cupcake cases, (my daughters sell cupcakes on our local High Road on the weekends and had raided my stash) so I used brown baking paper instead. It’s easy to make your own cases and I love the effect. Cut your baking paper into squares, large enough for them to fit into the cupcake moulds and hang over the edge. Wet the paper slightly and then press into the mould and weight it down with a glass. Leave the glass for 30-60 seconds and when you lift it out the paper will stay sitting in your mould. Easy right?!
How to layer this baby up
Once your crumble mixture and peach filling are ready, then separate the crumble mixture into two. Now spoon the crumble mixture distributing between the 12 cupcake moulds. Then press the mixture with your finger tips or the back of a spoon until firm and compact.
Next divide the fruit between the 12 moulds, spooning it onto of the firm base. Add any residual juice and herbs too! I save some of the slices to use at the end.
Sprinkle the remaining crumble mix onto of the fruit evenly between the 12 moulds. You can press it down if you like but I prefer to keep the crumble on top loose so that you get lots of uneven crumbly bits.
Add any remaining peach slices and herbs.
Now it’s time to bake!
I serve these with a big dollop of greek yogurt, an extra slice or two of fresh peach and a drizzle of honey if you fancy it.
Will you take a look at that. The base crumble layer goes firm and dense which gives the crumble cup stability, and then the peaches and apricots cook through to become soft and juicy, seeping into that bottom layer of crumble. On the top you have this textured crumbly crunchy layer that is as delicious as it comes! Someone stop me from having another!!
And those brown / orange muted colours - the start of Autumn on a plate!
As mentioned above I’ve made another delicious variation of crumble bars that you can have a quick look at:
Chocolate Raspberry Crumble Bars. Recipe found here
Peach Crumble Cups Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Crumble base and topping
- 110 g unsalted butter, browned and at room temp, ½ cup
- 300 g plain flour (all-purpose), 2 cups
- 180 g golden granulated sugar, ¾ cup
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp fine salt
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 75 g unsalted butter, ⅓ cup cold and cubed
Peach filling
- 8 stoned fruit, I used 6 peaches and 2 apricots, de-stoned, cubed and/or sliced
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- 1 tsp cornflour (corn starch)
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
Crumble mix
- Pre-heat your oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 12 hole cupcake tin with cupcake cases or baking paper squares as I did.
- If you haven’t already done so then brown your butter. Do this by adding it to a medium saucepan over medium heat and stir until it turns golden brown. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
- In a large mixing bowl add the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and egg and stir until combined. Then add the browned butter and stir until fully combined. Next add the cold cubed butter and using your finger tips rub the butter until the mixture until it resembles bread crumbs.
Peach filling
- In a separate medium sized bowl, toss the fruit, lemon zest, lemon juice, cornflour and thyme leaves until mixed together.
To assemble
- Once your crumble mixture and peach filling are ready, then separate the crumble mixture into two. Now spoon the crumble mixture distributing evenly between the 12 cupcake moulds. Then press the mixture with your finger tips or the back of a spoon until firm and compact.
- Next divide the fruit between the 12 moulds, spooning it on top of the firm base. Add any residual juice and herbs too! I save some of the peach slices to use at the end.
- Sprinkle the remaining crumble mix onto the fruit evenly between the 12 moulds. Add any remaining peach slices and herbs.
- Bake for 25-35 minutes until the fruit is oozing and juicy and the crumble top has browned and is crunchy. Serve with a big dollop of Greek yogurt, an extra slice or two of fresh peach and a drizzle of honey if you fancy it.
All recipes are developed and tested in Metric grams. I strongly recommend that you bake using digital scales for a more accurate result. I have provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe but please note that I haven’t tested using this method.
Notes
Nutrition
ellen
Wondering what is golden granulated sugar? Is it brown sugar or turbinado sugar? I live in Canada so wasn't sure which one to use....Thank you.
Emma
Hi Ellen, Its all to do with the amount of molasses that coat the sugar itself. You could use turbinado sugar but I think the granules are quite big so they will give a crunchier texture. Or you could use light brown sugar instead of golden granulated sugar.
Hope that helps. Thanks, Emma