High Altitude Peach Bread with Peach Icing
There’s nothing better than biting into a soft, tender slice of peach bread bursting with juicy peach flavor. Each bite is filled with warm cinnamon, buttery richness, and chunks of fresh peaches, all topped with a luscious peach glaze that adds the perfect finishing touch. Whether you’re enjoying it with your morning coffee or as an afternoon treat, this loaf is guaranteed to be a favorite!
Love PEACHES? Try these other HIGH ALTITUDE PEACH RECIPES: soft and tender Peach Muffins, fresh Peach Pie, and quick 3-Ingredient Peach Cobbler.
This High Altitude Peach Bread recipe is made at 8,000 ft elevation. To adjust the recipe for other elevations check out high altitude baking adjustments.
Every summer, when peach season rolls around, I can’t resist bringing home a box (or three) of ripe peaches from Palisade, Colorado. While I love eating them fresh, baking with sweet peaches is my favorite way to make them last, and this peach bread recipe has become one of my go-to quick bread recipes.
Baking peach bread at a higher elevation requires adjustments from a sea level or “original” recipe. The trick for high altitude baking is slightly reducing the sugar and increasing the flour for the a light, tender crumb that allows the peach flavor to shine.
If you’re lucky enough to have a stash of fresh peaches, this bread is a wonderful way to use them before they’re gone for the season. Also using canned peaches is a wonderful way to enjoy this easy recipe all year round.
Next time you’re craving something peach flavored, give this recipe a try and it just might become on of your favorite recipes too!
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- MAKE WITH FRESH OR CANNED PEACHES – whether it’s peach season or you’re craving peach bread in the middle of winter, this recipe works beautifully with fresh or canned peaches for year-round baking
- PACKED WITH PEACH FLAVOR– enjoy sweet peaches in every bite and a drizzle of peach icing on top, this bread is bursting with juicy goodness
- QUICK AND EASY RECIPE – a simple quick bread recipe that requires no yeast or complicated steps….just mix, bake, and enjoy!
- TOPPED WITH A SWEET PEACH ICING – the finishing touch is a drizzle of peach icing that enhances every slice with even more peach flavor
- PERFECT FOR HIGH ALTITUDE BAKING – no more dense or dry quick breads! This recipe is specifically adjusted for higher elevation, so you’ll get a soft, tender crumb and a beautifully domed top every time
Recommended tools:
- LARGE BOWL or BOWL OF A STAND MIXER
- BREAD PAN
- SMALL BOWL
- SHARP KNIFE
- OPTIONAL: COLANDER
Ingredients:
Peach Bread:
- WHITE & BROWN SUGAR – adds just a little kiss of sweetness
- VANILLA EXTRACT– adds just the slightest vanilla flavor
- LARGE EGGS – helps bind the batter together and creates a light, fluffy bread
- MILK – adds moisture and richness. I always use Whole Milk with baking
- BUTTER – use unsalted melted butter for extra richness
- PEACHES – for the best flavor use fresh, ripe peaches but canned peaches work great to enjoy this recipe year-round
- ALL PURPOSE FLOUR – creates the base for the quick bread
- BAKING POWDER – creates the beautiful rise of the bread
- SALT – never skip the salt, it helps the other flavors to shine brighter
- CINNAMON – adds a beautiful warm spice
TIP: for accurate measuring of flour never scoop flour up, always spoon it into the measuring cup and level it off
Icing:
- POWDERED SUGAR – the base for all icings
- PEACH JUICE – adds the moisture and flavor for the icing. TIP: add 1 tablespoon at a time
Find the full ingredients list in the recipe card below
How to make:
- PREPARE PEACHES
- Fresh peaches need to be peeled, pitted, and sliced into chunks. See below in FAQs for how to blanch peaches to remove the skin easily.
- Canned peaches need to be fully drained and sliced into chunks
- PREHEAT & PREPARE PAN – See below in FAQs for how to grease and flour the pan
- MIX BREAD BATTER – mix until just combined, over mixing can cause the bread to collapse during baking
- ADD IN PEACHES – gently fold the peaches in
- BAKE – 1 hour or until golden brown and
- PREPARE ICING – drizzle the icing over the top of the cooled bread
Ingredient Substitutions / Variations:
Vanilla Icing:
Swap out the Peach Icing for simple and easy Vanilla Icing. Use the following:
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2-4 tbsp Whole Milk – add the milk 1 tablespoon at a time until the right consistency is achieved for drizzling the icing
Almond Extract
Swap out the Vanilla Extract for Almond Extract to achieve a subtle nutty, almond flavor in the Peach Bread. Use 1/2 tsp of Almond Extract.
Turbinado Sugar
Skip the icing all together and sprinkle that top of the bread batter with Turbinado Sugar or Coarse Sugar.
Crumble Topping
Looking for an added crunch to the top of the bread? Add a buttery, crunchy cinnamon-sugar crumb to the top.
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
- 1/3 cup Butter – melted
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
FAQs:
How to pick a peach for a baking recipe:
When choosing a peach for baking, look for firm peaches with a few soft spots when gently pressed near the top. The peaches should smell fragrant. Avoid peaches that are rock hard or have large bruises or soft spots.
How to blanch peaches:
Blanching peaches in a pot of boiling water makes peeling them absolutely no work at all. All it takes is placing the whole peach in boiling water for 1 minute then using a slotted spoon immediately place the peach in ice cold water. The skin will peel off without any difficulty leaving the beautiful fruit.
How to grease and flour a pan:
Use a pastry brush or a paper towel to spread a thin layer of butter to the entire inside of the pan. Be sure to get the corners for best results. Then add a small amount of flour to the pan. Evenly spread the flour by gently tapping and tilting the pan until the flour has coated the entire pan. Tap any excess or loose flour out of the pan.
How to store peach bread:
Store homemade peach bread at room temperature. First allow the bread to cool completely. Then wrap the bread in plastic wrap or place in an airtight container. Store for up to 5 days on the counter or freeze for longer storage.
Can you freeze peach bread?
Freeze peach bread for long, lasting flavor and texture. Wrap the bread tightly with plastic wrap and aluminum foil or place in a freezer Ziploc bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight for perfectly moist, tender peach bread.
Other high altitude recipes:
- Peach Pie – with fresh peaches
- 3-Ingredient Peach Cobbler – with canned peaches
- Apple Crisp
- Apple Pie
- Blueberry Scones – with fresh or frozen blueberries
- Blueberry Pie – with frozen blueberries
- Blueberry Coffee Cake
- Blueberry Muffins
- Lemon Bars
- Key Lime Pie
- Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
High Altitude Peach Bread with Peach Icing
Equipment
- Large and Small Bowl
- bread pan standard size
- Colandar optional for draining canned peaches
- Knife & Cutting Board
Ingredients
Peach Bread
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 ½ Salt
- ½ cup White Sugar
- ⅓ cup Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Butter melted
- ⅓ cup Milk
- 1½ cups Peaches cut
Peach Icing
- 1 cup Powdered Sugar
- 2-4 tbsp Peach Juice
Instructions
- PREPARE PEACHES – Fresh peaches need peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces. Canned peaches need drained and cut 1/2 inch pieces. The cut pieces of pieces of peaches (whether fresh or canned) should be 1 1/2 cups. Note: Save 4 tbsp of the juice for the Peach Icing
- PREHEAT – preheat the oven to 350° F
- PREPARE THE PAN – lightly coat the pan with softened butter and evenly spread flour over the butter by gently tapping and tilting the pan. Tap any excess or loose flour out of the pan.
- MIX BREAD BATTER – First add all the dry ingredients together and mix. Add in the melted butter, vanilla extract, and milk. Mix until the batter is just combined.
- ADD IN PEACHES – gently fold the peaches into the batter
- ADD TO PAN – gently scoop the batter into the prepared pan and spread the batter evenly through the pan.
- BAKE – bake for 1 hour or until the top is golden brown and a cake test or toothpick comes out clean when poked into the middle of the bread.
- COOL – cool the bread IN THE PAN for 20 minutes and then run a knife along the edge of the bread and carefully slide the bread out on to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- PREPARE ICING – In a small bowl mix together the icing by adding 1 tbsp of peach juice at a time until the right consistency is achieved. Drizzle the icing over the top of the cooled bread. TIP: The icing should be thin enough to run off the end of a spoon to drizzle but thick enough to control.
Notes
If you make this delicious High Altitude Peach Bread recipe leave a comment below and let me know how it turned out. If you have any questions, post them below and I would love to help you out.
