It’s too hot to bake. You know it. I know it. But peach season doesn’t care about the heat index. Those peaches are sitting on your counter getting riper by the hour, practically daring you to do something with them before they turn to mush. So what’s a person supposed to do… turn the oven on and roast the whole kitchen just for dessert?

No. You use the slow cooker sitting in your cabinet doing nothing since the last pot roast.

This peach cobbler happens in three ingredients and about five minutes of actual work. The slow cooker does the rest while you go sit somewhere with air conditioning, like a civilized person. I’m not going to pretend this is the most sophisticated dessert you’ll ever make. It’s not. It’s better than that. It’s the one you’ll actually make again.

Why this works

Here’s the thing about cobbler: it’s supposed to be a little messy. A little imperfect. That’s the whole charm of it. Somewhere along the way, recipe writers decided we needed cold butter cut into flour with a pastry blender and a biscuit dough rolled to a precise thickness, and I say: for a weeknight dessert in August? Absolutely not.

A box of white cake mix, cut with butter until it’s crumbly, does the same job as a made-from-scratch biscuit topping. It bakes up golden and just a little crisp on top, with all that peach juice bubbling up underneath. Nobody at your table is going to ask if you made the topping from scratch. And if they do ask, that’s a you problem, not a me problem.

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What you’ll need

Fresh, ripe peaches

These are the whole point of the recipe, so don’t cheap out here. A peach that’s still hard as a baseball won’t break down and get juicy the way you want. If your peaches are a little underripe, leave them on the counter for a day or two first. In a real pinch, canned peaches (drained well) or frozen sliced peaches (thawed and drained) will work, though you’ll lose some of that fresh-peach flavor that makes this worth making in the first place.

A box of white cake mix

This is your topping, and it needs to be the dry mix straight from the box. Don’t prepare it first. Yellow cake mix works fine too if that’s what’s in your pantry. I’ve used it plenty of times when white wasn’t on the shelf. Spice cake mix is worth trying if you want something with a little more warmth to it.

Butter

This is what turns the dry cake mix into that crumbly, golden topping, so don’t try to skip it or swap in oil. It won’t crumble the same way and you’ll end up with something closer to cake batter than cobbler topping. Salted or unsalted both work. If you need this dairy-free, a stick of plant-based butter substitute (the kind sold in stick form, not the tub spread) will get you close.

That’s it. Three ingredients, and I’d argue the recipe gets worse the more you add to it.

MORE: How to Pick the Perfect Peach for Grilling, Baking & Eating

How to make it

Start with the peaches

Peel and slice your peaches, then spread them in an even layer across the bottom of your slow cooker. A 3- or 4-quart size is right for this amount. Any bigger and your peaches will spread too thin and cook unevenly.

Don’t sweeten the peaches or toss them with anything first. Between the peaches’ own juice and the sugar already in the cake mix, you’ve got plenty of sweetness coming.

Cut the butter into the cake mix

In a separate bowl, dump in your dry cake mix and add the butter. Cut it in with a pastry blender if you own one, or do what I do most days and just use a fork, or honestly, a potato masher works great here too. You’re aiming for a crumbly texture, like coarse sand with some pea-sized clumps. Don’t overwork it into a paste.

Layer it over the peaches

Sprinkle that crumbly mixture evenly over the peaches. Resist the urge to stir it together. You want distinct layers, peaches on the bottom and that crumbly topping on top, so it bakes up with texture instead of turning into peach mush with cake crumbs mixed in.

Here’s the trick nobody tells you about the lid

Slow cookers trap condensation, and that condensation likes to drip right back down onto your topping and turn it soggy. Lay a paper towel across the top of the slow cooker before you put the lid on. It’ll catch the drips before they land on your cobbler. This one trick is the difference between a topping that stays crisp and one that turns to wet cake, and I learned it the hard way after one too many soggy cobblers.

Cook and walk away

Cook on HIGH for 2 to 3 hours, or on LOW for about 4, until the topping is golden and the peaches are bubbling around the edges. Resist opening the lid to check on it every twenty minutes. Every peek lets heat escape and adds to your cook time.

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A few things I’ve learned

Serve it warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream melting into the peach juice underneath. That’s non-negotiable in my house. If you’ve got leftovers (unlikely, but let’s pretend), it keeps in the fridge for a few days and reheats just fine in the microwave. The topping won’t be quite as crisp, but it’ll still taste like summer.

And if peach season passes you by before you get to this? Frozen peaches make this a year-round dessert, not just a July-and-August one. I’ve made this in December when I needed something that felt like summer and didn’t want to think too hard about it.

This is the kind of recipe I love handing off to you: cheap, forgiving, and it doesn’t ask much of you in return. Give it a try this week while the peaches are still good, and let me know how it turns out.

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4.34 from 3 votes

Slow Cooker Peach Cobbler

Fresh peaches, a boxed cake mix, and butter, all in your slow cooker. It's the easiest summer dessert you'll make all year, and it won't heat up your kitchen doing it.

Prep Time5

Cook Time2 30

Total Time2 35

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 342kcal

Ingredients

6 fresh ripe peaches, peeled and sliced
1 box white cake mix
½ cup butter 1 stick

Instructions

Place sliced peaches in the bottom of a 3- or 4-quart slow cooker.
In a medium bowl, combine the dry, unprepared cake mix with the butter.
Cut the butter into the cake mix with a pastry blender (or fork or potato masher) until crumbly.
Sprinkle the cake mix mixture over the peaches.
Apply the slow cooker lid.
Optional: Place a paper towel over the top of the slow cooker before applying the lid, to catch and absorb any condensation that collects while cooking.
Cook on HIGH for 2–3 hours, or on LOW for about 4 hours.

Notes

Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Underripe peaches? Leave them on the counter a day or two before using. Canned (well-drained) or frozen (thawed and drained) peaches work in a pinch, though fresh gives the best flavor.

Yellow or spice cake mix can stand in for white cake mix.

Leftovers keep in the fridge for a few days; reheat in the microwave. The topping softens but the flavor holds up.

Nutrition

Question: Are you team ice cream on top, or eating it straight out of the crock? No judgment either way. Share in the comments.

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Easy Slow Cooker Peach Cobbler with Boxed Cake Mix

Why this works