Peach Crumble Muffins

Introducing my new favourite peach recipe – Peach Crumble Muffins! A soft buttery crumb littered with juicy bits of peach, and a crunchy, crumbly pecan topping, these are amazing made with ripe peaches, but honestly so good with canned peaches too!

Peach Crumble Muffins

I’ve been chasing my perfect Master Muffin Batter for years, but I’ve never quite nailed it. My criteria is demanding – pantry staples only, no creaming butter (muffins should be hand-mixed! *she says, passionately*), a proper tall dome, and it has to stay fresh for 2 days.

Eight batches into making this, thinking it would be a cinch using this batter or this batter (I was wrong) I finally realised I probably won’t ever land on one single master recipe. Different add-ins need different things – juicy fruit needs more structure, heavy mix-ins need lift, delicate flavours need a softer crumb. One batter can’t do it all.

So, this “easy to invent” muffin is purpose built for juicy peaches, to make the flavour shine with a sprinkle of crunchy crumb for extra pizzaz!

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What you need to make Peach Crumble Muffins

If peaches are out of season, don’t worry! This recipe works perfectly with canned peaches. Also, see my useful tips below for how to ripen peaches, and a nifty tip if you cut the peach open only to find it rock-hard unripe inside (macerate it!).

1. Peaches – ripe but firm

We use a good amount of peaches here, 2 large or 3 medium. Most inside the muffin and some on top (if you put too much inside the muffin, you get too many wet-raw muffin batter patches, better to put extra on the surface). I use yellow peaches for colour only, so feel free to use white!

Use ripe but firm peaches. If they are overripe (ie squishy on the surface) it is difficult to cut and will turn a bit mushy once baked.

Canned peaches works perfectly here as a substitute if they are out of season (the season for good peaches is notoriously short here in Australia). See recipe card for directions (you’ll need a large 825g / 29oz can, preferably in juice rather than sugary syrup).

Other stone fruit – Yes, yes, yes! Anything ripe and juicy. 🙂 Nectarines, apricots, plums, cherries. For mangoes, I’d use my Mango Muffin recipe (it is mango-forward). See below recipe card for other fruit muffin recipes I have (and which to use for which fruit).

2. muffin batter

• Flour – Just regular plain flour (all-purpose flour). Don’t substitute for wholemeal flour (whole-wheat) – it is much more absorbent so it will make the muffin dry.

  Self raising flour (ie flour with baking powder built it) – It is best to use flour plus baking soda or baking powder because it makes softer muffins, but if you only have self-raising flour, you can use that instead. However, expect the muffins not to dome quite as well.

• Baking soda (bi-carbonate soda) – About 3x stronger than baking powder which we need in these muffins which are considerably weighed down with a lot of peaches and a good pile of crumbly topping! However, if you only have baking powder, it will work – use 3 teaspoons – but expect the muffin to rise marginally less.

• Yogurt – Any plain, unsweetened, full-fat yogurt. I use Greek-style which is my fridge staple. Yogurt is a bit of a bakers’ secret, known for making soft cakes. Here, it helps make the batter thicker to keep the peach bits suspended plus the acidity gives the baking soda a kick start for a lovely muffin dome.

• Unsalted butter – Melted, then slightly cooled.

• Sugar – I use white sugar here because I want a white muffin crumb. You can switch for brown if you prefer.

• An egg – Just one egg is all we need to hold the muffin crumb together. Using only one is another reason that this muffin crumb stays fresh for days – because the more eggs you use, the drier the crumb gets (because of the egg whites). Make sure it’s at room temperature, and that it’s a large egg (labelled as such on the carton, ~55g / 2 oz each in shell) – definition and explanation here.

• Cinnamon powder – Because peaches and cinnamon are a perfect match!

• Vanilla extract – A hint for flavouring the batter. Extract is better than vanilla essence (which is imitation). I wouldn’t use vanilla pod – feels wasted to use in a muffin.

• Salt – Just a pinch, to bring out the flavours in everything else. Standard practice in sweet baking these days!

3. CRUMBLY PECAN TOPPING

I tried this with a plain crumbly topping (streusel). But then I added pecans, and there was no going back. Here’s all you need:

• Pecans – Toasted in the oven for 5 minutes (it’s so worth it, really brings out the pecan flavour), then finely chopped.

• Flour – Just regular plain / all-purpose flour.

• Brown sugar – Rather than white sugar, for lovely caramely tones in the topping.

• Unsalted butter – This is what makes the mixture clump a bit. Plus, well, you know. Buttery goodness!

• Salt – I actually really like being able to taste a bit of salt in the crumbly topping. Not enough take make it salty though. 🙂

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How to make Peach Crumble Muffins

There’s 3 parts to this recipe: chopping the peaches, making the crumbly topping (very easy 4 ingredient mix job) then the batter. It’s straight forward, but please ensure your fridge ingredients are at room temperature so they combine properly (egg, yogurt – and the peaches!).

1. CHOP PEACHES

Treat it like an avocado – cut the peach in half by slicing around the natural seam, all the way to the stone. Twist the halves apart, remove the stone, then dice!

2. CRUMBLY TOPPING

Mix the chopped pecans, flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add butter and mix with a fork – it will resemble wet sand. It will clump and adhere to the muffin as it bakes.

3. muffin batter

I have a firm view that muffin batters should be able to be hand mixed. (It is ok, however, to require an electric mixer for cupcakes! Perfectly logical in my world.)

1. Whisk Dry and Wet ingredients in separate bowls. (Tip: Whisk the dry first then the wet so you don’t need to wash the whisk in between).

2. Combine – Make a well in the centre of the Dry ingredient bowl and pour the wet in. Mix just until the flour is almost incorporated (~ 14 stirs). The batter will still be lumpy and you will still see some flour – this is right!

   💡The goal with muffin batter is to make it with the minimum stirs possible once the wet and dry ingredients are combined, as the less you stir, the softer the muffins. So these mixing steps are designed to do just that. Excessive stirring = hard muffins = 😭.

3. Add peaches – Pour the 1 1/2 cups of chopped peaches into the batter.

4. Minimum mixes – Then gently mix through, just until you can no longer see flour and the peaches are dispersed (~ 8 to 10 stirs).

4. assemble and bake

Work quickly here – now is not the time to call your bestie for a long gasbag! Try to get the muffins in the oven within 5 minutes. Once the baking soda is activated (when it mixes with yogurt), it loses power quickly, and slow hands mean flat muffins.

1. Fill – Divide the batter between the muffin tin holes, use it all! There should be enough to fill it to the top of the muffin tin holes, a bit below the rim of the paper liner I’ve used (pictured above, sticks out a few millimetres above the muffin tin). I use an ice cream scoop with a lever – handy for this purpose! Because the batter is thick, it stays in a bit of a mound using the scooper which is fine – it gets flattened in the next step.

2. Top the batter with a few pieces of diced peaches, pressing them in lightly. Then spoon a mound of crumble on each. Use it all and pile it high! The crumble clumps and sets in the oven.

3. Bake for 23 minutes at 200°C / 390°F (180°C fan-forced), or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. It might take up to 25 minutes, depending on your oven. (PS America – I know 390°F is an odd temperature, if you’re oven only goes up in 25°F increments, do 400°F for 10 minutes then 375°F for the remaining 13 minutes.)

4. Rest the muffins for 10 minutes in the muffin tin to cool a little and “set” (muffins are quite fragile when hot). They are now ready to be devoured – or, if you are not going to eat all 12 immediately, put the rest on a cooling rack to finish cooling.

These Peach Muffins keep really well. They will still be fresh 3 days later – I can’t get on board recipes that are “best eaten on the day”. Because I know these warm, fruity, buttery muffins will be irresistible to you, but can you eat twelve in one sitting??! 😂 (I shouldn’t laugh. My heart is pulling me towards the muffins but my jeans are weighing on my conscience).

The one caveat I do have is that the crumbly topping is not as crisp as it is on the day it is made. I thought that would bother me but it didn’t. You still get texture from the pecans. And if you really want to refresh it, just pop the muffin under the broiler (oven-grill) for a 2 to 3 minutes to crisp up the top again.

Hope you enjoy! – Nagi x

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Watch how to make it

In memory of Dozer

Dozer came home yesterday. On one hand, it felt like a bit of closure, having him back home. But it was also a hard day.

In amongst the sadness though, I had to laugh when I opened it up and picked up the velvet bag inside. It was so much heavier than I expected! 😆 And then I thought, of course it is. He was a big boy. Big dog, big presence, apparently big box too. ❤️

Dear Dozer,

You know that for years I’ve been saying that my phone is listening to me. Why else would it keep serving up ads for extra-slimming jeans and gel masks that will shave 10 years off my face?

Now, my phone is torturing me with photo memories of you. (I say “torture” because seeing photos of you still makes me weep). So today was an album of photos from this day – 27 February – over the years. And unsurprisingly the album was 99% you. Nice little flashback of the life we shared – here’s a selection:

27 February 2013 – Here you are, only 10 months old!! That time I shaved you in an attempt to control your shedding. (Sorry! 😂)

27 February 2016 – This is you at 3 years old. Already owning the beach!!

27 February 2019 – So apparently, this was a hair day. For both of us! 😂 Remember how you used to come with me to the hairdresser when we lived in the northern beaches???

27 February 2021 – When we got the gardens done when we lived in Mona Vale!! Ah yes, I remember this day was closely followed by an emergency vet visit to get your stomach pumped when you munched your way through a garden bed of blood and bone. YUCK!!

27 February 2022 – Doing something extraordinary – wiping eye snot off your snout?? (You always were a high performer).

27 February 2023 – That time we found out we made the New York Times best seller list!

27 February 2024 – At a photo shoot for Tonight! This was for the big double page photo of the Sweets chapter you were in. ❤️

27 February 2025 – And this day last year. A rare day I don’t have a photo of you, but weirdly I have photos of what is clearly your toys! 😂

Oh but wait, here’s one from the next day, a brilliant in focus shot. I don’t know why I’m playing with you in what looks like a city meeting outfit. 😂 But we were sure having fun! ❤️

I hope someone up in the big sky kitchen is making these peach muffins for you and sneaking you extra crumb topping when no one’s looking because the crunchy bits were always your favourite..

I miss you so much, every single day.

Love – your mum x