A long time ago when I was living in Washington, DC, I was lamenting the end of summer to a friend. “I hate when summer is over,” I said. “Why?” she asked. “It happens every year.” Yeah, summer happens over and over again, but there’s still something about the end of the season that makes me wistful and nostalgic. Maybe it’s my sentimentality; maybe it’s my addiction to stone fruit. Whatever it is, I find myself in about the same position every year around this time.

Which brings to these muffins. I was a little nervous going to the farmers’ market this weekend because I thought peach season would be over. Much to my delight, Harvey Yoder from Yoder Farms still had peaches set out at his stand. I bought a pint with plans to make these peach spice muffins.

Peaches are versatile and lend themselves well to a lot of flavor combinations, but one of my favorites is cinnamon and ginger. “Ginger?” you might say. A lot of people associate ginger with fall…and I guess to some extent, they do the same thing with cinnamon. However, these spices are great year round and pair especially well with stone fruits. They add a little kick, and they contribute to that peach pie effect in whatever you’re baking. Honestly, these muffins are like peach pie in muffin form.

One of my favorite parts about baking is eating something that’s fresh out of the oven. There are few things better than taking something that’s still warm, unwrapping it, and devouring it almost one bite as it melts in your mouth. I did that about 20 minutes ago with these muffins and I’m still on cloud nine. I’m going to try to save the rest of these to bring to my coworkers tomorrow…but I’m not optimistic they all will make it.

A note about these muffins: If you want, you can leave off the turbinado sugar on top, but I’d highly recommend keeping it. I’ve written about this a lot on the blog, but turbinado sugar is one of my favorite things to add to baked goods. It adds a little crunch and has a rich flavor, kind of like maple syrup, so it pairs well with a lot of sweet ingredients. Plus, it’s fun to sprinkle on top of muffins, scones, or whatever else you’re about to put in the oven. Finally, I think it makes things look more artisanal. I kind of hate myself for just writing that, but it’s true.

ANYWAY. Enjoy these muffins! Here’s a song to get you started on your peach spice muffin journey. It’s probably an understatement to say I’m obsessed with the new Sabrina Carpenter album. This song gives me Joni Mitchell vibes.

Peach Spice Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (195 g) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/3 cup (80 ml) neutral-flavored oil (I used avocado oil)
1 large egg
1/3 cup (80 ml) milk or non-dairy milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 cup finely chopped peaches
turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.

Whisk together your flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt in a large bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk together the oil, egg, milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Mix in the dry ingredients on a low speed until just combined. Use a spatula to stir the mixture a couple times and make sure there’s no flour or wet ingredients at the bottom of the bowl. Add the peaches and gently fold them in until combined.

Fill the prepared muffin tin with batter and top each cup with a little turbinado sugar. Bake the muffins for 15-20 minutes, or until the tops spring back to the touch and are golden brown. You can also test them by inserting a toothpick in the middle. If it comes out clean, the muffins are done. Allow them to cool on a cooling rack. Store at room temperature in an airtight container. Enjoy!