Peach Cobbler Focaccia

The hybrid you've been hankering for

Jul 06, 2025

∙ Paid

Hey, welcome to School Night Vegan - so glad you’re here!

The recipe in this week’s newsletter is for paid subscribers, to say a huge thanks for supporting School Night Vegan!

If you simply gotta have this recipe, you can upgrade your membership right here and you’ll get instant access to this recipe (including a downloadable, printable PDF) as well as my entire recipe/newsletter archive.

Despite all the warnings, a couple of months ago I took my life into my own hands and asked instagram a question.

“If you could make a focaccia/dessert hybrid” I asked “which dessert would you choose?”. I fired off the request to my stories, expecting to be cancelled by the Italian Board of Food Preservation within minutes… but the cancellation did not come (not yet anyway). Instead, I got a bunch of really great answers (and also a bunch of really stupid ones, like Skittles focaccia…). I’ve posted a few of my attempts already, from my cinnamon bun focaccia to my game-changing lemon and blueberry focaccia. But by far the most requested hybrid? Peach Cobbler Focaccia.

And so here we are. As I’m writing this, I’m three quarters of the way through this focaccia. The focaccia I was planning to take to my sister’s house. The focaccia I was going to share with at least six other family members. Demolished, destroyed, devoured. So if that’s not an endorsement I don’t know what is.

Peach cobbler isn’t really a thing here in the UK (we tend to make fruit crumbles instead) but I published my version of the American classic last year and have been a bit obsessed with it ever since. The sweet vanilla studded peaches with the crisp, crumbly cobbler topping. Irresistible, honestly.

But how do we combine such a perfect dessert with focaccia, in a way that elevates both? Here’s how. My first piece of advice is wait for peach season. I’ve been SO patient about this you guys, so I KNOW you can be too. It just hit July like two days ago, which is the start of peach season here in the UK, and honestly I tasted a peach like two weeks ago and it was AWFUL compared to the ones I bought or this recipe. Probably a coincidence, but you get the idea. We’re using fresh peaches for this recipe, so do yourself a favour and pick them at their best. Make sure they’re ripe but not over-ripe (or they’ll turn to mush as they bake). Oh and if you want to peel them (not necessary, but a nice extra touch) here’s how to do it.

Next, we’re going to make a deliciously buttery cobbler topping (vegan of course). For visuals and maximum crunch, I decided to keep this more similar to a crumble topping, otherwise it just spreads and covers the entire top of the focaccia and stays soft due to the steam escaping the bread as it bakes. No bueno!

And finally, to up the sweetness (don’t want anyone mistaking this for a savoury focaccia now do I??) we’ll add a vanilla spiked glaze right before serving. The result is a light, springy, bouncy focaccia, studded with juicy caramelised peaches, topped with a buttery, crunchy cobbler and glazed with big, big vanilla vibes. I don’t often do this, but I URGE you to make this. You won’t regret it.

This week’s recipe is a paid one, to say a huge thanks to my subscribers. I genuinely wouldn’t still be running School Night Vegan if it weren’t for your support, so I honestly can’t thank you enough. I’ve also included a downloadable/printable PDF version of the recipe, in case you’d like to use it without logging into Substack. Remember, as a paid subscriber, you can leave comments on this post, so if you have any questions about the recipe just pop them down there at the bottom and I’ll be glad to help out. If you really gotta have this recipe, you can upgrade your membership here and you’ll also get access to every recipe I’ve ever posted on Substack.

Weekly Update

Before we get to the recipe, here’s some stuff that happened since I last checked in.

I Went to Switzerland!

I hosted a vegan getaway with the Getaway Co to Switzerland last week and it was absolutely incredible. The group (from all over the world) were so wonderfully friendly and we experienced some truly magical stuff together. Like the hike to the top of Monti di Ronco, or our boat trip to Italy to explore Isola Bella and the beautiful vegan breakfasts at our fully vegan hotel overlooking Lake Maggiore.

I’ll do a full run-down of this trip in next week’s newsletter, but for now, if you’d like to find out about my next vegan trip with The Getaway Co (we’re going to Bali in September!) you can get full details here!

I Gave My Sister a Vegan Tour of Manchester

In case you missed it, I recently moved to Manchester, up in the North of the UK. It’s amazing here and I’m so happy to be closer to my family. But guess what else? Manchester is REALLY vegan friendly. My sister (who lives nearby) came to see my new house and I showed her some of my top spots. This included a stunning cinnamon roll from The Flat Baker and a visit to Noodle Alley where we ordered literally every vegan option they have.

I’ll do a full vegan run-down of Manchester in an upcoming newsletter, just give me a minute to find all the best spots. I promise you, it’s worth a visit.

Dog Tax

I’ve been away from Ripley for a week while in Switzerland, so she’s been glued to my side for the past few days. Here she is, having a nap. Her toe beans smell like popcorn and moss.