Grilled Peaches with Honey Yogurt & Mint
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Capture the essence of summer with this simple campfire grilled peaches and yogurt dessert. It’s a quick and easy camping dessert idea that makes for a perfect substitute for ice cream.
Whether we’re at home or camping, it’s nice to have something sweet after dinner. Especially during the summer months when it stays light out for so long! For us, a small dessert is a perfect way to cap off an evening in the outdoors.
We love taking advantage of all the great seasonal produce that summer brings. We decided to take two of our favorite things about summer – fresh peaches and grilling – and create this simple grilled peach dessert.
Now when the weather is warm, we’re always in the mood for ice cream, but ice cream just doesn’t seem to be compatible with camping. Even when placed at the bottom of an ice-packed cooler, it just never seems to stay frozen. There’s a reason they call it a “cooler”, not a “freezer,” meaning even after just a few hours, your rock-solid frozen ice cream will become a mushy disappointment.
This is where yogurt comes in! Yogurt only needs to be kept cool, not frozen: a much easier proposition at a campsite. Yogurt also lends itself well to mixing with other flavors and ingredients. This is why for this recipe, we’ve paired it with grilled seasonal peaches, mint, and wild honey.
Grilled Peaches & Yogurt Ingredients
Peaches: When it’s peach season, you’ll know it because your local grocery store will go from having zero peaches to having bushels of peaches pretty much overnight.
When selecting peaches we use the same pseudo-science we use for selecting avocados. Our goal is to buy peaches that will be perfectly ripe in a few days. Semi-soft, but not too soft. We hold them, we smell them, and ultimately, we just sort of guess. Sometimes we’re right, sometimes not (again, see: pseudo-science).
Brown Sugar: A little brown sugar dusted over the peaches before grilling adds a bit of caramelized flavor to this dessert. If you’re trying to reduce your sugar intake, it can be omitted.
Yogurt: If you want to replicate the thick texture and firmness of ice cream, then you’ll want to go with Greek yogurt or even better yet, Icelandic style skyr. For breakfast, we prefer the low-sugar, extra-tangy plain version. But this is dessert, so what the heck, go for the sweetened vanilla version! Or lean into it and get a peach flavored one!
Honey: Honey adds natural sweetness to the yogurt.
Mint: While you can get mint year-round, the flavor is quintessentially summer. And in this dessert is pairs perfectly with the peaches and yogurt. If you end up with a little left over, no worries. You’ve got a head start on making Mint Juleps!
How to make grilled peaches
The key to grilling peaches is to make sure you have a clean, well-oiled grill grate before you begin. If you plan on using your own grill, this is going to be a lot easier. To start: scour with steel wool or a steel brush, wipe debris away with a rag, then dab a clean paper towel in some neutral cooking oil and rub down the grate. You want it lightly shimmering, not dripping with oil.
If you’re relying on the grill grate over your campground fire pit, it might be more challenging. Some campground grill grates just need a minor clean up, but most are in pretty rough shape. If the grill grate at your campsite is hopelessly rusty or caked over in carbon, we suggest that you just skip it altogether. Seriously, don’t waste good peaches on a bad grill grate!
Instead, place a cast iron skillet or griddle on top of the grill grate and cook your peaches in that. Pro Tip: use a little butter (or coconut oil) in the cast iron. If you can’t have grill marks on your peaches, then you might as well add a little extra flavor to compensate!
Back to the peach grilling instructions. Get your fire or coals going and let them burn down to medium medium-low heat. Ideally, this will have already happened during dinner.
Cut your peaches along the seams, all the way around, and twist with your hands to remove them from the pits. Brush the freshly cut side with oil and sprinkle with just a little bit of brown sugar. If it has been a little while since you oiled the grill, you can re-oil it using a pair of tongs and a folded up paper towel that has been dabbed in oil.
Place the peaches face down directly over the heat, with freshly cut side with the oil and brown sugar facing down. Let cook on this side for roughly 4-5 minutes, until they develop grill marks. When the peaches are ready, they should release from the grill themselves without much effort.
Once they are ready to flip, turn them over and move them to the side over indirect heat. Leave here for another 4-5 minutes until they soften all the way through. Remove and serve.
Essential equipment
Grill or fire pit: If you’re camping at an established campground with a fire pit and grill grate, you’ll be all set. However, if you’re camping somewhere with no grill (check ahead!), you’ll want to bring your own. We like this portable propane grill, or if you want to cook over coals, consider the BioLite FirePit or a foldable grill.
Metal Tongs: Long, metal-tipped tongs are essential for high heat grillwork.
Silicone Basting Brush: A silicone bristle basting brush is perfect for apply cooking oil onto your peaches.
Cooler: Yogurt needs to remain refrigerated, so you will need to store it in a cooler. Learn about how to safely pack a cooler for camping in this post!
What to Serve with this Grilled Peach Dessert
It’s a beautiful night, the sun has just set, and you’re about to treat yourself to some grilled peaches and yogurt. How could the night get any better?
Well, a drink would be nice, right?
We’d recommend a Blackberry Citrus Old Fashioned.
Other easy camping dessert ideas
↠ Campfire Banana Boats
↠ Easy Apple Crisp
↠ No-Bake Bourbon Peach Cobbler
↠ more camping desserts
Ingredients
- 2 large ripe peaches
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 (5.3oz) container thick vanilla yogurt, such as Greek yogurt or skyr
- honey
- 3-4 mint leaves, minced
Instructions
- Slice the peaches in half and remove the pits. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the cut sides.
- Place the peaches cut side down onto the grill over low to medium-low heat and cook until the peaches are warm and beginning to soften, about 8 minutes, flipping halfway.
- Remove from grill and top each peach half with vanilla yogurt, a drizzle of honey, and a sprinkle of mint. Enjoy!