Peach Berry Crisp

One of the big topics in food blogging today is attribution—recognizing the creator of the original recipe in your post. We honor each other by linking back to the inspirational recipe that spoke to us and said, “Me. Make me. I’m delicious!”

I do have some attributions for this recipe but first let’s just acknowledge that a Google search for Peach Berry Crisp yields 80,000 returns. That’s specifically “peach berry crisp”. Needless to say, crisps are pretty popular.

So, who would I say inspired this recipe?

My number one attribution: Mother Nature. She tempted me with luscious juicy New Jersey peaches, plump blackberries, and firm blond raspberries. She provided the oats, sugar, and flour. She did everything but mix them all together and put them in the oven.

My number two attribution: Isabel Ely Lord. Very little is written about her but apparently she wrote the cookbook, Every Body’s Cookbook: A Comprehensive Manual of Home Cookery in 1921. That’s where, according to Wikipedia, apple crisp is first mentioned. Thank you, Isabel.

My number three attribution: Twitter and About.com and Foodgawker and Tastespotting and Google. That’s where I talk about food, see pictures of food, and read about food. All. The. Time. It makes me hungry. It’s where my friends inspire me with their chatter and keep my foodie synapses popping.

Before we get to the recipe I’d like to share my thoughts on crisps. I really don’t think you need a recipe—just a general road map. Some fruit, sugar, flour, and “butter”. Maybe a little of this (lemon juice?), a little of that (spices?). Pop it in a moderate oven until the fruit is bubbly and the top is beautifully browned. That’s pretty much it. Easy.

I am always inspired by my gluten-free friends because of their creativity and joie de vivre. A few of them have crisp and crumble recipes you might enjoy:

Karina of Gluten-free Goddess: Gluten-free Peach Cobbler

Iris of The Daily Dietribe: Blueberry Cobbler (sugar free)

Shirley of Gluten-Free Easily: Strawberry Cobbler

Elana of Elana’s Pantry: Peach Crisp

Please post a link to your fruit crisp, cobbler, slump, or buckle in the comments below!

Peach Berry Crisp 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place into a medium bowl:

3 large peaches, peeled, sliced and each slice cut in half again

1 1/2 cups mixed blackberries, raspberries, and/or blueberries (more or less to your liking)

Sprinkle the fruit with and mix together:

1 tablespoon tapioca starch

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon lemon

Spoon the fruit mixture into the bottom of a deep dish pie plate.

In a separate bowl stir together:

1 cup GF rolled oats

3/4 cup almond flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

a pinch each of nutmeg and salt

Add to the oat mixture and combine with a fork until crumbly:

3 tablespoons Earth Balance

Place the crumble mixture on top of the fruit. Pop in the oven for 30-35 minutes.

The crisp is done when the fruit can be pierced with a fork and the topping is nicely browned.

Serve warm for dessert or breakfast!

Note: The topping is very crispy…almost granola like. It’s definitely got a bit of a chew to it because of the oats.

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Nutella Brownies....well, almost.

Abby Dodge. If you met her you’d swear you know her from somewhere. She’s one of the neighbors you haven’t had a chance to get to talk to yet—the one that smiles a lot. The one that brings the fabulous desserts to all the neighborhood parties and picnics.

Yep. That’s Abby Dodge. She’s fun and creative and can whisk white chocolate laced whipped cream as nonchalantly as if she were stirring milk into her coffee—all the while talking to you about all things dessert.

Abby is all that and more. She’s a well known pastry chef who studied her art in Paris, a food writer and instructor, a cookbook author seven times over. Just as important—she’s witty and friendly and readily shares her knowledge with you. (Met her at the Big Summer Potluck. Lucky me!)

Abby’s latest book is soon to be released—Desserts 4 Today. I know two things about the book—all, ALL, the recipes have only 4 ingredients (cool!) and one of those recipes is Nutella Brownies. That’s the recipe making it’s way around the net wowing the foodies.

So, you know what this post is about. Nutella Brownies…well, almost.

Abby’s brownies contain only 4 ingredients: Nutella, an egg, flour and hazelnuts. The first three of those are not in my sensitive pantry. (Nutella has skim milk so it’s out for me—click here for the company’s statement on gluten if you think you may want to use it.)

So, I played with the recipe a little. This version has a few more than 4 ingredients and probably doesn’t taste exactly like Abby’s original Nutella Brownie creation. Still, they disappeared off the counter in no time flat. That’s a really good sign in my book.

Alice of Savory Sweet Life has posted the original Nutella Brownie recipe and a review of Abby’s book.

Almost Abby Dodge’s Nutella Brownies

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place mini cupcake liners into a mini cupcake pan.

Here’s what you’ll need: 

A faux egg (1 teaspoon EnerG Egg Replacer whisked into 3 teaspoons warm rice milk) or a real egg*

1/2 cup chocolate nut butter  or Nutella*

1/2 teaspoon agave syrup

4 tablespoons gluten-free flour blend

1/4 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

12 pecan halves

In a small bowl mix together the chocolate nut butter, faux egg and agave until smooth and satiny.

Add the flour and stir to combine. Mix in the chocolate chips.

Scoop a teaspoon of the dough into each cupcake liner. Top each brownie with a pecan half.

Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

*Notes: The italicized ingredient alternatives may not be GF CF EF and/or vegan but you can use them if you do not have diet restrictions that prohibit their use.

Also, there are a lot of recipes for homemade nutella—I ran across one posted on In Jennie’s Kitchen that looks easy and very good. For a nut-free version of that recipe try subbing out Sunbutter (made from sunflower seeds) for the hazelnuts. I haven’t tried this but suspect it will work well.

The chocolate nut butter I used is gluten-free and vegan: Dark Chocolate Dreams.

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