I got a bit overzealous about fresh peaches back in June.
It was hot. It felt fully like summer, and when I saw a bag of them at the grocery store, I snapped them up.
And they were, well, fine.
I mean, they were juicy and fresh, but they lacked a lot of flavor.
It dawned on me that, despite the summer months being upon us, it was most certainly not quite peach season, and while these looked pretty, they were not the peaches I normally looked forward to in late July and early August.
So, I saved the recipe I’m sharing with you for the proper part of the summer, because while it turned out pretty well with my less-than-flavorful peaches, I’m convinced a late-summer peach would up the wow factor quite a bit with this one.
It’s a bit of a non-traditional way to use peaches, but if you’re tired of cobblers and pies, this might be a good alternative to use up the last few, if you bought a box this year.
This comes from the blog “Butter and Baggage” by Barbara Curry. You can find her original recipe at https://www.butterandbaggage.com/peach-cornbread/. I didn’t add extras in this one, but I did adjust the pan size a bit when I made this.
Peach Cornbread
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk or a scant cup milk, topped with vinegar
- 4 tablespoons butter divided
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups fresh diced peaches
Instructions
- Place a nine- to 12-inch cast iron pan in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- While the pan heats, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, and two tablespoons of the (melted) butter in a mixing bowl.
- Whisk in the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt until everything is well-incorporated.
- Fold the peaches into the batter.
- When the oven is preheated, carefully remove the pan, and melt the other two tablespoons of butter in the pan, swirling to coat it.
- Add the batter, spreading it out evenly, and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Serve warm on its own or drizzled with honey or alongside some vanilla ice cream.
This was good. The sweetness from the corn played well with the sweetness from the fruit, and having the diced peaches throughout led to some nice pops of flavor.
It was a nice change of pace for how to incorporate peaches into something new, too.
And while my first attempt wasn’t quite as spectacular as it could have been, I’m looking forward to trying it again with some actually in-season peaches.
As they say, good things come to those who wait.
This piece first appeared in print Aug. 13, 2026.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
