Grilled Peaches With Brown Sugar and Cinnamon

Grilled peaches.  Seems weird, I know.  I started this last year because I had some peaches to use up and we had the grill out.  I remembered an old episode of Rachael Ray where she grilled stone fruit for dessert on her indoor grill, so I thought, “What the heck?  Throw a little brown sugar and cinnamon on those…what could go wrong?”  Oh my gosh, these are so decadent and delicious. It’s reminiscent of peach crisp without all of the baking and work of slicing peaches.  It’s sweet, and peachy, and cinnamonny, and melt in your mouth delicious.  And then you have that little bit of grill flavor thrown in for extra goodness!  And honestly, it’s ok if your peaches aren’t perfect – they can be overripe or underripe and it will still taste great.  You just want to make sure your grill isn’t too hot or that you find a somewhat cool spot to set them on or they will burn and that’s no good.

This is a quick and easy way to throw together a dessert to go with your grilled dinner.  It’s pretty impressive for guests, too.  Most people have never thought of grilling peaches, and they are surprised they are this good!  I assure you, once you make these once, you’ll definitely make them again!

Grilled Peaches

Ingredients:

• 4 peaches, cut in half and pits removed
• ½ cup of brown sugar, divided (not packed)
• 1 tsp cinnamon, divided
• ¼ tsp nutmeg, divided
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 2-4 Tablespoons chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix together ¼ cup of brown sugar, ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, about 1/8 tsp of nutmeg, and the vanilla.  Put peaches into a large plastic bag and add in the brown sugar mixture.  Gently move the peaches around with your hand to coat with the brown sugar mixture on all sides.  Let sit for at least ten minutes to allow the sugar to melt and soak into the peaches.

In the same small bowl, mix remaining brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and the nuts.

Lay the peaches, cut side down on the grill for 3-5 minutes, or just until there are grill marks.  Turn peaches over and spoon on the brown sugar and nut mixture.  Put the lid on the grill and cook for another 3-5 minutes, until sugar on top begins to melt and caramelize.  It will continue to melt after you take them off the grill.

These are wonderful served with vanilla ice cream and or whipped cream.  But, most of the time we don’t have that stuff unless I plan ahead, so I can attest that they are delicious just the way they are.  🙂

Enjoy!