Peaches Cinnamon with Vanilla Bean Glaze Cookies

This week's easy peach cookies contain; white peaches, cinnamon, and vanilla bean paste and are the perfect combination of ingredients for my cookies. Look at all the specks from the vanilla bean paste in the glaze. Those specks say OMG; this will have a fantastic vanilla taste.

There are many different types of peaches, but for this recipe, I choose the white peach. I could have picked the yellow peach, but it has a lot of juice that needs more care.

Peaches are juicy, so let them sit in a colander. This process will allow the juices to drain out as much as possible. I also laid the cut-up pieces on paper towels to help absorb some of the excess liquid.

Although I love fresh fruit in my cookies, you need to take care that the fruit has as much juice drained from them before you add them to your batter. If you skip this part, the dough will be too wet, and the cookies will be soggy. Would frozen be better? Here is an article on the differences between fresh vs. frozen fruit when baking; you can decide which works best for you. I prefer fresh!

Ingredients for Peach Cookies

COOKIE DOUGH

• Butter unsalted 
• Sugar white
• Light brown sugar
• Lemon zest
• Lemon juice
• Vanilla Extract
• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Cinnamon
• Kosher Salt
• Peaches 

GLAZE

• Powdered sugar
• Vanilla bean paste
• Milk

Which Peach for My Cookies

I always use local peaches when making cookies that call for peaches. The two types that are common here are the yellow and white variety.

Yellow vs. White Peaches

Yellow peaches are one of my favorite fruits to peel and cut up to put on vanilla ice cream. Also, if I feel froggy, I will make the ice cream with the Kitchen Aid attachment and sit on the back deck to enjoy a bowl full of peaches and ice cream.

The yellow peach has a reddish, pinkish fuzzy outer skin. There are a lot of people that eat this fuzzy outer casing, but I am not as fond of it. Most of the time, the yellow peaches here have pits that come out relatively easy, which is another plus.

The only problem is that when baking with yellow peaches, I find they hold a lot of liquid. So the next day, your cookies can become soggy if kept in an air-tight container. But they do have a strong peach taste than the white variety.

So it depends on what I am making that determines the peach I use. I would use the yellow peach to make a peach filling, jam, or curd. But for this cookie, I did use white peach. The peach taste is not as strong, but I also wanted the vanilla bean to shine.

So the bottom line is "it depends" on which peach to use. If you use yellow peaches for a more robust peach flavor, watch that the juice level does not get away from you. Letting the cookies out on a plate to get more air will help to evaporate the peach juice and spare you the soggy cookie.

How to Make Easy Peach Cookies

First, I weigh the flour, cinnamon, and baking powder into a bowl and whisk to blend. Then, in another bowl, I weigh or measure the white and light brown sugars and set that bowl aside.

Now peaches will turn brown fairly quickly after they are skinned and chopped into small pieces. Since I will need a lemon zest for this cookie, I zest my lemon first. Then cut the lemon in half. Finally, squeeze one-half of the lemon over the diced peach to stop the peach pieces from turning brown. The other half will be used for the cookie dough.

Save the other half of the lemon to add ½ tablespoon to the cookie dough. Now, cut the peach in half and take out the pit. Peel the skin off of each half and dice each half.

Depending on the size of the peach, you may have to dice one and a half peaches to get one cup. Then, I put the peach pieces into a bowl and squeeze half of the lemon juice over the peach pieces and stir them around to cover.

After the peach pieces sit in the lemon juice for a couple of minutes, I spread them out onto a paper towel to absorb some of the juices.

1. Cream the butter, white, and light brown sugars for about 3 minutes on a medium mixer speed. It will turn a light tan color and look whipped.

2. Scrape the sides and add the lemon zest and juice along with the vanilla extract. Next, at a slow mixer speed, add the flour mixture. I scrape down the sides and then add the peaches. Don't mix too long, or the peaches will break into smaller pieces.

3. Cover the mixer bowl and refrigerate for 15 minutes while the oven heats to 350°F (175°C or 180°C). Then, add 12 mounds to a parchment-lined cookies sheet pan using a medium cookie scooper or just a spoon. I love these cookies to be irregular in size and shape

4. The fresh peaches can stick out anywhere, so I was not looking for a perfect shape. You can flatten them a little if you don't like the rounded look. These cookies, when baked, do not spread. Bake for 13-15 minutes at 350°F (175°C or 180°C). Leave the cookies on the pan for 3 minutes after pulling them from the oven before moving them to a cooling rack.

5. Making the vanilla bean glaze add the powdered sugar and the vanilla bean paste to a bowl. Then add 2 or 3 tablespoons of milk. I use a whisk to mix and smooth out the glaze. If the glaze is too thick, add the 4th tablespoon of milk. I use a measuring spoon to go back and forth over the top of the cookie with the glaze.