Last day of September and the construction crews banging daily behind my house are doing their best to rob me of the joys of the season. Ha! Not so fast.

Their blasts have yet to shock the garden.

Ok so I can’t open my windows to let in some of this awesome crisp air. Let’s do something instead with all these stone fruits loitering around my counter. Hello peaches!

Peaches are everyone’s BFF. They brighten an ordinary picnic and steal the spotlight at ice cream parties.*

Here they won’t disappoint in this easy tart. It’s a little Hump Day Heaven. This is the tart to eat when storing away the flip-flops and sighing about socks. Fall is my friend; socks not so much.

Who-knew-you-were-so-easy-Peach-Tart

Serves 8.

Adapted from Amanda Hesser

What you need:

for tart base:

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• ½ cup chopped toasted pecans
• ¼ cup canola oil
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract
• ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Fruit filling:

• 6 medium size peaches, pitted and sliced into ½ inch segments. No need to peel.

for topping:

• ¾ cups granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter

What you do:

1.  Heat oven to 425 F.
2. Whisk flour, salt and sugar together in medium bowl.
3. Add chopped toasted pecans.
4. In another bowl, whisk together both oils, milk, and both extracts.
5. Pour wet mixture into flour mixture and blend gently with fork until dampened only.
6. Press into an 11-inch tart pan and pat dough gently until it covers the bottom and sides of the tart pan.
7. Arrange peach slices in circles over the base or whatever pattern you like.
8. Make topping: combine sugar, flour and salt in small bowl, then add the butter. Using your fingers, work the mixture into fine crumbles then sprinkle over the peaches.
9. Bake for 35-40 minutes until juices are bubbling. Cool on rack and serve at room temperature.

Notes: I love the crunch of toasted nuts in my tart crusts, but you can certainly omit them. If you omit the almond flavouring, add another ¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract for depth.  Add wild blueberries if you have any leftover. And yes, not everyone has an 11-inch tart pan kicking around. You can use a smaller one and just cut back on the peaches. Add more peaches if you want-the idea here is to make this your own. Plop some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream on each slice if you wish. If your peaches are end-of-season ripe, you won’t need either.

* One of the recipes my subscribers received in my buzz sheet. Have you signed up yet?