Healthy Cardamom-Almond Peach Crisp

When I realized last weekend that the lovely farm stand peaches I’d bought needed to be used up sooner rather than later, I started thinking through my options and what I had on-hand.

As I’ve mentioned before, my peach crisp is one of my go-to recipes, a lightly sweet, super summery dessert that checks all my major boxes. Healthy? Check. Perfect mix of spices? Check. Fiber & fruit? Check.

Want a more indulgent version? Try this brown butter bourbon peach crisp!

But I wanted to do something a little special, tweak my same-old recipe and try something different. And that’s when I landed on cardamom. The more I use it, the more I think that cardamom is a criminally underutilized spice in our cuisine.

It’s most often found in Indian recipes and chai tea, but it’s also great combined with certain sweeter flavors—particularly pears, peaches, and chocolate. It’s fairly expensive (similar to saffron and vanilla), but a little goes a long way and so you can buy it once and have it on-hand for a long time.

So I added some cardamom to the crisp to give it a kick, as well as some almond extract which pairs wonderfully with both peaches and cardamom. Result? A delish cardamom-almond peach crisp that’s easy, healthy, and perfect!

I can’t wait to experiment with cardamom more, particularly with chocolate, as it’s so unusual—the warmth of ginger with the bite of pepper.

Preheat oven to 375 F and spray a 9×13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Remove the pits and cut up the peaches, then put in the pan.

Sprinkle the cornstarch, lemon juice, water, almond extract, honey, cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger on the peaches, then stir everything together. It’ll be a little messy, that’s totally fine. Spread everything out evenly in the pan.

In a small bowl, stir together the topping dry ingredients, then drizzle with oil and stir together until it clumps up somewhat.

I use a fork to stir it, kind of like pie crust dough. You don’t need everything to be moistened by the oil, some dryness is okay.

Sprinkle the topping over the peaches mixture evenly.

Bake at 375 F for 20-30 minutes, until the bottom mixture is bubbling and the topping (where you can see the oil) is browned.

This cardamom-almond peach crisp is great fresh, but also awesome leftover for a few days. I prefer it chilled (we’ve discussed my feelings on hot fruit or pudding), and it makes the perfect dessert to have on hand when you’re craving something sweet but are trying to be good.

Other healthy desserts you’ll love:

Peaches, cut in pieces (4-8 peaches, depending on size & how much you want; I typically use 4-5)
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1-2 tablespoons of water
1 teaspoon of almond extract
1-2 tablespoons of honey
1/2 tablespoon each of cinnamon, cardamom, ground ginger

Streusel Topping:

1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of flour (I use whole wheat)
1/2 cup of quick oats
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
1/3 cup of extra-virgin olive oil (or equivalent melted butter)

Preheat oven to 375 F and spray a 9×13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Dice up peaches and throw in the pan. Add the cornstarch, lemon juice, water, almond extract, honey, cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger, then stir everything together. Spread evenly in the pan.

Mix topping ingredients in a small bowl, I usually use a fork to break up the brown sugar clumps and get the oil evenly distributed (kind of like pie crust). Sprinkle topping over peach mixture. Bake at 375 F for 20-30 minutes or until the bottom is bubbling and the topping (where you can see the oil) is browned.

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