Baked Peaches
When you need an easy but delicious dessert my simple Baked Peaches is the recipe for you!
It’s as effortless as taking ripe peaches and stuffing them with a crunchy amaretti cookies, butter, and cinnamon filling. The result tastes just like a mini peach pie or peach cobbler – but without the fuss!
My Baked Peaches with amaretti stuffing recipe is a traditional dessert from my husband’s region of Italy, Piedmont. We love visiting his homeland to sample so many other delicious dishes like Bunet, Bagna Cauda and Baci di Dama.
But this easy Baked Peaches recipe is a standout! Halved ripe, fragrant peaches are stuffed with a decadent amaretti cookie filling. As the peaches bake in the oven, the fruit caramelizes and the amaretti filling melds into it.
This is the perfect dessert to champion beautiful summer peaches. I know you’ll love how easy these Baked Peaches are to prepare and how much easier they are to eat! Serve them alongside some vanilla ice cream and add a drizzle of caramel sauce to really impress your guests.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- My Baked Peaches recipe is so simple and fast to prepare.
- The Italian flavors of amaretti and cinnamon complement summer peaches perfectly.
- These simple Baked Peaches will remind you of a delicious peach pie or peach cobbler.
- You only need a handful of ingredients to produce this tasty summer dessert.
For complete ingredient quantities and full instructions, please scroll to the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Ingredients
- Butter – I recommend using unsalted butter for this recipe.
- Peaches – Choose lovely fresh and ripe peaches. They should smell sweet and be slightly soft to the touch. Peaches are a summer fruit, so I recommend making these Baked Peaches when they are in season. Any variety of peach will work for this recipe.
- Amaretti Cookies – You can find this delicious almond flavored Italian cookie in most delicatessens and some supermarkets. Choose a variety that is crispy and crunchy.
- Brown Sugar – This is important to add a wonderful caramel flavor to these simple Baked Peaches.
- Egg – Just the egg yolk is required for this recipe. Save the egg white to make my Brutti ma Buoni or Raspberry Torte.
- Cinnamon – A little spice to make these Baked Peaches even more irresistible.
Instructions
Place the amaretti cookies in a small bowl and crush them with your hands.
Wash, halve, and stone the fresh peaches. With a teaspoon, scoop out a little of the pulp from each half. Reserve the pulp. Place the peach halves into a buttered baking dish, cut side up.
Stir into the crushed amaretti, the reserved pulp, brown sugar, egg yolk, and cinnamon then spoon this filling into the cavity in each peach half.
Dot the tops with butter and bake in a preheated oven.
Substitutions
- If you can’t find peaches, you could substitute nectarines.
- Try another dry cookie, like ginger snaps or cinnamon-flavored graham cracker cookies instead of amaretti cookies.
- You could substitute superfine granulated sugar for brown sugar, but you just won’t get that beautiful caramel flavor.
Variations
- Instead of making the amaretti cookie filling, you could make a crumble or crisp topping to stuff the peaches. It would be like a mini peach crisp!
- Experiment with different spices, for a different flavor combination. Cardamon, ginger, and nutmeg would be delicious.
- For extra chocolatey decadence, you could add a spoonful of cocoa powder or a few mini chocolate chips to the amaretti filling.
Storage
Once cooled, you can store my Baked Peaches in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. When you want to enjoy them, just reheat them in the microwave or the oven until they are warmed through.
Tips for Success
- When cutting the peaches in half, take care to cut along the natural line of the fruit.
- Use a melon baller or teaspoon to carefully scoop out a teaspoon of the peach pulp. It’s important not to scoop out too much or too little. If you scoop out too much, you may not have enough filling but they will still be tasty.
FAQ
Yes! I prefer to bake peaches with the skin on them as it holds the soft peach flesh together. The skin will soften in the oven and you’ll find it very easy to eat.
You can enhance the sweet flavor of peaches by cooking them with warming spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and ginger. I love making my Baked Peaches with amaretti cookies because their sweet almond flavor works perfectly with the juicy peaches.
Baking peaches will soften them and the fruit will release delicious juices that you can spoon over this dessert. Under-ripe peaches will soften with baking, but I prefer using fully ripe and fragrant peaches for my Baked Peaches recipe. This dish is all about the peaches and so it’s worthwhile using beautifully ripe, summer peaches to maximize flavor.
Serving Suggestions
I love to serve these Baked Peaches simply with some thick Greek yogurt or whipped cream on the side and a drizzle of maple syrup for extra sweetness. But they can be decadently delicious when served with a generous dollop of my Mascarpone Cream.
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Baked Peaches Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 ripe peaches
- 1 teaspoon unsalted butter for baking dish
- 1½ cup (75 grams) amaretti cookies approximately 20 amaretti cookies
- ¼ cup (50 grams) brown sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons (30 grams) unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/175°C and butter a baking dish large enough to fit the peach halves in a single layer.
- Wash, halve and stone the peaches cutting along the natural line of the fruit.
- With a teaspoon or a melon baller, scoop out about a teaspoon of pulp from each half enlarging the cavity. Reserve the pulp.
- Place peaches halves into prepared baking dish, cut side up.
- Place the amaretti in a small bowl and crush the cookies with your hands.
- Stir in the reserved pulp, brown sugar, egg yolk and ground cinnamon. Mix well.
- Spoon the filling into the cavity in each peach half as evenly as possible. Dot the tops with butter.
- Bake peaches in preheated oven for about 30-40 minutes or until soft and the filling is starting to firm up.
- Serve warm or a room temperature with or without cream or vanilla ice cream.
Notes
- If peaches aren’t available, nectarines make a great substitute.
- For a twist on the flavor, swap the amaretti cookies with dry cookies like ginger snaps or cinnamon-flavored graham crackers.
- You can use superfine granulated sugar instead of brown sugar, though you’ll miss out on that rich caramel flavor.
- For a twist, skip the amaretti cookie filling and opt for a crumble or crisp topping—it’s like making mini peach crisps!
- Play around with spices to create new flavor combinations. Cardamom, ginger, or nutmeg would be fantastic choices.
- For an extra dose of chocolatey indulgence, try mixing a spoonful of cocoa powder or a handful of mini chocolate chips in the amaretti filling.
- When halving the peaches, follow the natural line of the fruit for a clean cut.
- Use a melon baller or teaspoon to gently remove about a teaspoon of peach pulp. Be careful not to scoop out too much or too little—taking out too much might leave you short on filling, but the result will still be delicious.
Nutritional Estimate Per Serving
Nutritional Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. For accurate results, it is recommended that the nutritional information be calculated based on the ingredients and brands you use.
This updated and improved recipe was first published on April 5, 2018.
Lovely recipe. As a prediabetic, I substituted half the amaretto weight with ground almonds and also halved the sugar content. I did, however, sprinkle some amaretto liqueur over each one (which might have negated the reduced sugar)!
Sounds like a great lower sugar version, CazT! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
i do love amaretti biscuits so these would be great. i’m hoping we actually get a winter soon. it is still in the 30Cs here in brissie. cheers sherry
Hi Sherry, thanks for your lovely comments! Yes, I love amaretti biscuits too. It’s getting cooler now and the peaches have disappeared from the shelves. I cant’ wait to make this next summer!
I love the simplicity of this recipe and so delicious at the same time! A classic Italian. Simply wonderful!
Yes, I’ll have to run right out and get some of those last peaches before they run out (and plums, too!). I believe Patricia Wells also lives in Paris and has some French cookbooks. Must now try your Stuffed Peaches recipe!
Yes, get some of those last peaches but also save this recipe for next season – it’s worth it! I can’t wait for peach season to return!
Oh these are making me pine for summer and ripe peaches. I’ve made something similar, and cooked it in an aluminum foil pan on the grill. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and I’m in heaven.
So simple but gorgeous and perfect for the plentiful stonefruit that we have nowadays! 😀
Lorraine, simplicity is what I love when the produce is good!