Easy Grilled Peaches with Maple Brown Sugar Butter
Calling all peach lovers!! This simple recipe for grilled peaches topped with maple brown sugar butter is such a delicious dessert for all your summer parties!! Grilling peaches levels up their flavor and brings out their sweetness in the best way. When the peaches are fresh of the grill, they are brushed with a maple brown sugar butter. The final step is topping them off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, my personal favorite, or whipped cream and toasted hazelnuts. This is the perfect summer dessert!
What’s Special about Grilled Peaches
I just got back from the farmers market and my first stop is always to buy more fresh peaches. Well, truth be told, I also make a beeline to my favorite bakery to buy fresh olive bread and croissants, but that’s for another post! This post is all about ripe juicy peaches.
To avoid the dreaded mealy, hard-as-a-rock peaches, buy peaches when they’re in season. Prime peach season is May to September, so you still have plenty of time to make this!
My daughter and I are slightly peach-obsessed and love gorgeous ripe peaches. They’re definitely one of our favorite Summer fruits. We eat them as a snack, sliced on top of granola, in sandwiches, in peach pie, on charcuterie boards, and, of course, grilled with a scoop of ice cream.
The magic of grilling is that it brings out even more of the inherent sweetness in the peaches. It intensifies the flavor and makes the peaches taste…well…more peachy.
What makes these grilled peaches extra delicious is the brown sugar butter. It’s so ridiculously good and easy to make you’ll want to slather it on everything! If you’re a french toast fan, spread some on top of the bread before serving, or top cream scones or pancakes with it.
It’s really easy to whip up — softened butter is mixed with brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and a little bit of maple syrup. Then you brush the brown sugar butter over the warm peaches. The best part is some of it will pool in the center. Top with vanilla ice cream and, if you want a bit of crunch, some toasted hazelnuts. And that’s it! It’s super quick and easy, and uses ingredients you most likely already have on hand.
How to tell if your peach is ripe:
To pick the best peach, it shouldn’t be rock hard or mushy. Use your finger to gently press on the peach, and if it yields slightly, then it’s ready to go. You want a peach that is firm enough to stand up to the heat of the grill. If it’s too mushy, it will overly soften on the grill and that’s not what we’re going for.
What if I can’t remove the pit?
We’ve all been there, right? You pick what you think is the perfect peach, cut it in half, and try to twist the halves apart and they won’t budge! It’s so frustrating. You might have picked a peach that’s not ripe yet, or, it’s a clingstone peach (more on that below!). If this happens, cut quarters around the pit. You’ll have 4 quarters to grill instead of 2 halves and that’s perfectly fine! They’ll still grill beautifully and taste delicious!
Freestone Peaches vs. Clingstone Peaches
The name is pretty much the spoiler here. Freestone peaches are larger than clingstone, and the pit easily separates from the flesh. This type of stone fruit is perfect for baking, snacking, and grilling. Clingstone peaches are smaller and the pit literally clings to the flesh, which gives them their name. While freestone peaches are readily available in markets (both yellow and white variety), clingstone are more often found at farmers markets.
Do you have to peel the peaches?
Nope! That’s one of the reasons this recipe is so easy! Not having to peel the peaches saves so much time! Of course, if you prefer your peaches peeled, you can absolutely peel them, but it’s really not necessary.
How to Grill Peaches:
Step One: Clean your grill! You don’t want your peaches to taste like last night’s burgers, so be sure you thoroughly clean your grill grates. I like to put some olive oil on a paper towel and use it to wipe the grates.
Step Two: Preheat your grill to medium heat. You want your grill nice and hot before you put your peaches on it.
Step Three: Place peach halves face-down. For the best results, grill 3-5 minutes per side. You want to see nice grill marks and then it’s time to flip them over.
Step Four: Turn peaches and place cut side up. Brush with brown sugar butter and continue to grill them for 3-4 more minutes. The sugar in the butter will start to caramelize which is going to make them taste incredible!!
Step Five: Remove from the grill and top with vanilla ice cream.
The Brown Sugar Butter Mixture:
In a small bowl, soften your butter. You can do this by letting the butter sit on your counter for an hour. Or you can help it along by softening it in your microwave or in a small pot on your stove. The butter should be soft enough to easily mix in the rest of the ingredients.
Stir the brown sugar, ground cinnamon and maple syrup into the softened butter. You can use dark brown sugar or light brown sugar, but I prefer dark brown because it has a higher amount of molasses which helps with the caramelization.
Add a good sprinkle of Maldon or other large flakey salt. The salt combined with the sweet is so ridiculously good!!!
You can make this ahead of time and refrigerate before using it.
When you’re ready to grill, melt the brown sugar butter in a small pot on your stove, or in the microwave.
Do I have to use the brown sugar mixture?
Absolutely not! If you prefer a savory grilled peach, just brush them with a little bit of butter. Savory peaches would elevate the peach, feta and pecan salad, or peach and blue cheese toast, or peach, arugula and mozzarella salad.
Other options for toppings:
Homemade whipped cream
Toasted hazelnuts or almonds or walnuts
Drizzle of caramel sauce
Plain Greek yogurt
What if I don’t have an outdoor grill?
You can absolutely make these in a cast iron grill pan on the stove. If you don’t already own one, I highly recommend purchasing one. They’re not that expensive and are true workhorses in the kitchen. You’ll find yourself using it all the time!
How do I store grilled peaches?
Place them in an airtight container and they’ll keep for 3-5 days. Although, they never last that long at my house!
This peaches recipe makes the perfect sweet treat on a hot Summer night! It’s a perfect example of how simple grilled peaches make an easy dessert that’s full of the flavors of Summer.
If you make this recipe, I’d love if you’d leave a comment and let me know how it turned out! Your comments are super helpful to other friends who swing by looking for tasty recipes.
