Name: Peach Coffee Cake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 1/2 pound peaches; 1 tablespoon brown sugar; 1 cup all-purpose flour; 1/3 cup granulated sugar; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt; 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1 egg; 1/2 cup cold milk; 1/3 cup all-purpose flour; 2 tablespoons brown sugar; 2 tablespoons granulated sugar; Pinch fine sea salt; 2 tablespoons cold butter (cut into small chunks)

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Peach coffee cake is a summery breakfast treat. It’s a great way to use up less-than-perfect peaches you might have lingering in your fridge.

Whenever I feel out of sorts, I like to head to the the kitchen and get to work. Especially in summertime, there’s something about the motion of chopping and mixing that just feels right.

In the fall I like to make apple coffee cake, and when faced with a few slightly forgotten peaches, the recipe popped back into my brain.

Slice of peach coffee cake with a fork and cup of coffee behind.

Coffee cake is one of my favorite things to make and eat (hello, blueberry coffee cake and cinnamon coffee cake) but I hadn’t yet taken the opportunity of gorgeous Texas peaches in a coffee cake.

The original recipe calls for pie filling, but fresh peaches work just as well in this recipe. Fresh peaches are already so wonderfully juicy and melt-in-your mouth that I only gave them a few minutes of maceration in brown sugar to really bring out the flavor.

Now, I’m not saying that this peach coffee cake will cure your summer blues. But it’s hard not to feel a little calmer, a little more at peace, when you’re absorbing the heady perfume of fresh peaches in a cinnamon-tinged cake. Grab a cup of coffee and you’re all set.

Ingredients for peach coffee cake

Peaches – Use ripe peaches for this recipe. You don’t need to need ones that are perfect, however — peaches that are a little bumped or bruised work just fine!

Both freestone and clingstone peaches will work, though freestone peaches are a little easier to work with.

You can also use a 15-ounce can of sliced canned peaches. Make sure to use peaches that are packed in water or juice, not syrup.

If you use frozen peaches, make sure they are completely thawed before making this recipe.

Sugar – You’ll need both granulated sugar and brown sugar. The brown sugar is tossed with the peaches to help extract the juices and add a deeper sweetness. It’s also used in the topping along with the granulated sugar, which is used in the batter.

Flour – I use all-purpose flour in this coffee cake. You can swap in up to 50% whole wheat flour; a whole wheat pastry flour works great.

If you need this coffee cake to be gluten free, use your favorite gluten-free all-purpose flour mix, and make sure the baking powder is also marked as gluten-free.

Baking powder – Baking powder provides lift.

Salt – A little salt brings out the other flavors baked goods.

Cinnamon – I love cinnamon in coffee cakes, so of course we have it here! I add just a bit to the batter.

Egg – You’ll need 1 standard large egg. If your eggs are a different size, don’t worry about increasing or decreasing amounts.

Butter – Unsalted butter is best for this recipe, but you can use salted if that’s what you have. The butter is used in the crumb topping, so if you choose to use salted butter, I recommend leaving out the pinch of salt in the topping.

Milk – I use 2% milk for most of my bakes because that’s what my kids drink. You can also use whole milk. Skim milk will work, but the peach cake won’t be quite as tender.

I have not tested this recipe with nondairy milks. If you choose to use a milk alternative, I recommend using an unflavored, unsweetened version.

Make this easy peach coffee cake for your weekend brunch. It's great for an afternoon snack, too.

How to make this recipe

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat an 8×8-inch square pan, or round cake pan, with nonstick spray.

You can also line the pan with a piece of parchment paper, leaving a bit to overhang on the sides. This will make it easy to remove the whole coffee cake from the pan for slicing and serving.

Halve the peaches, remove the pits, and slice or cut into chunks.

In a small bowl, mix the peaches with 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and set aside. As it rests, it will bring the juices out and soften the fruit. This process is called maceration.

While the peaches macerate, make the rest of the batter.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk until ingredient are uniformly mixed.

In another bowl, whisk together the egg and milk until blended, then pour into the flour mixture.

Stir together until batter is smooth, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.

Fold in the peaches, then pour the batter into the prepared pan. Spread to the corners and edges, smoothing the top.

Make the topping by mixing together flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and a pinch of salt until combined. Make sure to break up any chunks of brown sugar.

Use a pastry blender, a fork, two knives, or your fingers to mix in the cold butter. You want the mixture to be forming clumps that look like wet sand, with no dry bits.

Sprinkle the topping evenly over the coffee cake.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Slice of peach coffee cake on a peach colored plate.

Tips for making Peach Coffee Cake

Peeling the peaches isn’t necessary. The peels will fall apart in the batter as the coffee cake bakes. You can of course peel if you like, but don’t worry about it if you’re crunched for time.

To remove the pit on a peach, slice from top to bottom (as with an avocado) and twist carefully. Separate the halves and carefully pry the pit from the peach.

Some clingstone peach varieties have pits that are harder to remove; if you squish the peach a little while twisting that’s OK for this recipe!

Or, simply cut the slices away from the pit rather than removing the pit.

I like to use parchment paper to line my pans for coffee cake. This eliminates the use for additional butter or oil. If you leave a little bit of extra above the top of the pan, you can also easily remove the cooled cake from the pan for slicing.

You can skip the streusel topping, but why would you?

Swap the cinnamon for ground cardamom, or even ginger, if you like.

If your peaches are a bit wrinkly and slightly past their prime, all the better! We don’t need picture-perfect fruit for an amazing cake.

The baking time will depend on the kind of pan you use and your oven. My oven runs slightly hot, and I used a stoneware baking pan — my personal baking time was 30 minutes. I recommend starting at the lower end and checking it until you achieve your desired doneness.

If you like, you can drizzle on a sweet icing over the crumble topping, or in place of it. The addition of icing makes it great for a summery dessert.

Serve as-is or with a dollop of whipped cream, Greek yogurt, or vanilla ice cream.

Peach coffee cake starts your morning off right. Who doesn't love a summer peach?

Try this delicious peach coffee cake today. It will be the hit of the summer!

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