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Home » Recipes » Cake Recipes

Old Fashioned Peach Buckle

Published: Aug 19, 2020 · Modified: Mar 9, 2025 by Chef Dennis Littley

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Summertime means fresh peaches and that means freshly baked Peach Buckle to me! And that brings back one of my favorite childhood memories.

My mother wasn’t a great cook but she loves peaches and this simple cake was one of her favorites.

slice of peach buckle on a white plate


 
Table of Contents:
  • What is a Buckle?
  • Ingredients to make a Peach Buckle
  • Can I make a buckle with other fruit?
  • How to make Peach Buckle
  • Recipe: Peach Buckle with Sweet-Tart Lemon Syrup

What is a Buckle?

The base of buckle consists of a rich cake batter, which is sprinkled with fresh fruit. Some cooks prefer to split their batter, layering half in the bottom of the pan and mixing the other half with the fruit before pouring it in. 

The fruit is topped with a streusel mixture. During the baking process, the cake batter rises up around the fruit, encasing the fruit in batter and causing the streusel to buckle, creating a distinctive crinkly appearance

It’s an old fashioned dessert developed by the early settlers that we now refer to as a coffee cake. But no matter what you call it, I promise you’ll be calling it delicious!

Ingredients to make a Peach Buckle

ingredients to make recipe

Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make a Peach Buckle. In Chef Speak this is called the Mise en Place which translates into Everything in its Place.

Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.

Can I make a buckle with other fruit?

Yes you can. Some of my other favorite fruits for this delicious cake are:

  • blueberries
  • nectarines
  • apples
  • pineapple
  • blackberries

A mixed berry buckle is always a delicious treat. Try mixing some of the other fruits together to get

How to make Peach Buckle

Let’s start by making the streusel topping for the buckle.

Mix very cold butter pieces with the sugar, flour and oats. Mix together with your hands until all of the ingredients are well blended. You should end up with peas size crumbs. Set in Refrigerator until needed

You don’t have to use oats in your streusel topping but I like the texture it adds. I actually used a Bob’s Red Mill Five Grain Cereal instead of just oats.

Collage showing how to make the recipe.

Next we move on to the buckle batter.

  • Cream butter, sugar and lemon zest together until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. (by hand with a wooden spoon or using an electric mixer)
  • Add the eggs one at a time, fully incorporating. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl

I used Happy Eggs’ new Heritage Breed blue and brown eggs. The yolks are a deep yellow, almost orange in color. That is why the mixture (and the cake has such a rich yellow color.

 ingredients to make the batter

Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium-sized bowl.

Here you see the flour mixture with the Greek yogurt and egg mixture.

Collage showing how to finish the recipe.
  • Add half the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture, mixing just enough to incorporate.
  • Add Greek yogurt, mixing in just enough until its mostly mixed in.
  • Add the remaining flour mixture, stirring in the flour just enough so it’s barely incorporated (there may be dry bits of unincorporated flour)
  • Using a flexible spatula (or large spoon), fold the peaches into the mixture. Being careful not to mix any more than needed to get the peaches into the batter.
large glass bowl with peach buckle batter and a red rubber spatula

This is how the batter looks after the peaches have been folded in.

 batter in a nine inch square glass baking dish

Add the batter to a 9″ baking pan, glass or metal. I like baking certain cakes in glass it gives the finished cake a darker richer appearance.

Because of the way glass transfers heat in the oven, it will bake faster and darker than most metal pans.

buckle topped with streusel

Top the peach buckle batter with the streusel mix. Place in a preheated 350 degree F oven and bake for 50-55 minutes.

If you’re using non-professional metal baking pans the cake will take 5-7 minutes longer to bake.

lemon syrup and a spoon in a saute pan

While the buckle is baking, prepare the lemon syrup. Don’t skip this step. The lemon syrup is a delicious addition to this peach buckle!

baked peach buckle with a nicely browned streusel topping

The Peach Buckle couldn’t have come out any. better. The streusel topping was nice and brown and the cake was moist.

Allow the buckle to cool for a few minutes then drizzle the lemon syrup over top of the streusel.

slice of peach buckle on a white plate

Serve warm out of the oven with vanilla ice cream or enjoy the buckle plain for breakfast. You’re going to love it!

If you enjoyed this recipe, you may also like these:

  • Blueberry Buckle with a Key Lime Syrup
  • Clementine Cranberry Pound Cake 
  • Meyer Lemon Pistachio Pound Cake (Starbucks Copycat Recipe)
  • Peaches and Cream Cottage Cheese Cake

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slice of peach buckle on a white plate

Peach Buckle with Sweet-Tart Lemon Syrup

Fresh peaches make my Peach Buckle irresistibly delicious. Add a fresh lemon syrup and it's the perfect dessert, breakfast or snack cake.  Wouldn't you're friends and family love a slice of this deliciousness?
5 from 17 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 55 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins
Course Breakfast Cake
Cuisine American
Servings 9
Calories 445 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

Topping

  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter cubed and chilled
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ½ cup flour
  • ½ cup oats

Batter

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs at room temperature
  • ½ cup Greek yogurt full-fat at room temperature
  • 3 cups peaches chopped -fresh or frozen

Lemon Syrup

  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • ½ cup lemon juice or lime juice

Instructions
 

  • Pre-heat oven to 350°
  • Butter a 9-inch (23cm) square cake pan.

Topping

  • Mix very cold butter, sugar, flour and oats with your hands until all is well mixed with peas size crumbs. Set in Refrigerator until needed

Batter

  • Cream butter, sugar and lemon zest together until light and creamy, about 3 minutes. (by hand with a wooden spoon or using an electric mixer)
  • Add the eggs one at a time, fully incorporating. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl
  • Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium-sized bowl.
  • Add half the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture, mixing just enough to incorporate
  • Add Greek yogurt, mixing in just enough to incorporate
  • Add the remaining flour mixture, mixing just enough so it’s barely incorporated (there will still be dry bits of unincorporated flour)
  • Using a flexible spatula, fold the peaches into the mixture. Being careful not to overmix.
  • Scrape the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top.
  • Add the topping over the batter and bake for 50-55 minutes at 350 degrees. Or until the buckle is lightly browned on top and feels just set in the center. It should spring back lightly when you touch the center.
    *I used glass, a non-commercial metal baking pan may take 5-7 minutes longer

Lemon Syrup

  • When the buckle is almost finished baking, make the syrup by heating the lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, cooking it until it thickens. It should take about 5 minutes. Don’t allow the syrup to brown.
  • Remove the buckle from the oven and pour the warm lemon syrup over it, letting it soak in.
  • Serve buckle slightly warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or home made whipped cream.

Nutrition

Calories: 445kcalCarbohydrates: 72gProtein: 7gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 79mgSodium: 183mgPotassium: 233mgFiber: 2gSugar: 46gVitamin A: 655IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 50mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe? Pin it for Later!Mention @askchefdennis or tag #askchefdennis!

Comments

    5 from 17 votes

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Kate says

    August 25, 2024 at 4:00 pm

    5 stars
    OMG this was SO GOOD!!! I added walnuts to the streusel. Much of the streusel sank into the batter as it baked, but the oats and walnuts added good texture and crunch. The tartness of the citrus syrup made the flavor really sparkle.

    Reply
    • Chef Dennis Littley says

      August 26, 2024 at 8:04 am

      Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed the buckle. There may have been a little extra moisture in the peaches causing it to be looser which could be why the streusel sank.

      Reply
  2. Mary says

    February 28, 2024 at 3:11 pm

    5 stars
    This buckle is delicious! I used frozen peaches that I chopped up and slightly drained. They were very moist and I worried about the buckle not baking correctly. The finished cake did not suffer from the extra liquid and was moist, dense and so so good especially with the streusel topping. Thank you for a keeper recipe. (Baked at 5000 ft elevation)

    Reply
  3. Jocelyn Mallory says

    January 18, 2024 at 8:14 pm

    I haven’t made this yet, but would like to know if I can substitute drained, canned peaches for either this recipe or the peach cobbler pound cake. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Chef Dennis Littley says

      January 19, 2024 at 7:21 am

      Yes you can use drained canned peaches to make both recipes.

      Reply
  4. Debra says

    August 23, 2020 at 9:52 pm

    5 stars
    Perfect Fall Sunday Morning addition to the coffee on the patio routine. I pinned this one to have it handy whenever the urge strikes.

    Reply
  5. Tayo says

    August 23, 2020 at 7:29 pm

    5 stars
    I love this peach cobbler and especially love the addition of lemon. I cant wait to try it!

    Reply
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My name is Chef Dennis Littley, creator and owner of Ask Chef Dennis Productions. As a classically trained chef with 40+ years of experience in the kitchen, I share my time-tested recipes, knowledge, and chef tips to help you create easy-to-make restaurant-quality meals in your home kitchen.

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