Fresh Peach Pie Recipe
This recipe for fresh peach pie is the best way to use up those summer peaches. A crisp, buttery pie crust filled with a juicy and flavorful peach pie filling makes this pie unbeatable.
Ingredients
For the Pie Dough
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 12 tablespoon unsalted butter frozen and then grated, or cut into small cubes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg yolk, beaten
- 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
- ¼-3/4 cup water Note - I used the entire ¾ cup since my dough was a tad dry upon mixing.
- 2 egg white, beaten
- 1 pinch granulated sugar
For The Peach Pie Filling
- 6-7 fresh, ripe peaches, peeled and sliced
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
Instructions
To Make The Pie Crust
- To start, blend your flour, cinnamon (if using), butter and salt until the mixture becomes coarse and pebble like. You can use a food processor for this, but I typically just cut the butter into the flour (or grate the flour if using frozen butter, which I recommend) and then use my fingers to combine.
- Mix the egg yolk, vinegar and ¼ cup of ice water together. Drizzle 4 tablespoons of the mixture over the dough at a time, and gently stir to combine. Keep adding a little more liquid at a time until the dough starts sticking together a bit. (Note – I ended up adding the extra ½ cup of cold water to my dough because it wasn’t sticky enough.)
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll up into a ball. Divide the ball into four with a knife, then flatten each ball with the palm of your hand to expand the pebbles of butter. Gather the dough together again and then divide into two pieces – one of these will be for the bottom portion of the crust, and the other for the top, so make one slightly larger than the other.
- Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap them in plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for at least 60 minutes. (I refrigerated mine for about 24 hours since I wasn’t using it until the next day.)
Peach Pie Filling And Assembly
- Preheat the oven to 425.
- If your dough has been chilling a while, take it out of the refrigerator and let it sit for about 30 minutes. This will make it much easier to roll into your crust later.
- Combine the sliced, peeled peaches, lemon juice, sugar and flour in a large bowl, and mix to combine.
- Roll out your larger pastry disc on a lightly floured surface and place in a 9-inch pie plate. Brush half of the egg-white across the top of the bottom layer of crust.
- Add your peach mixture and sprinkle in the ground nutmeg.
- Roll out the second disc of pastry and place on top of the filling. Wet the top edges of the bottom pastry disc with some cold water, trim any excess pastry off the sides, and pinch the bottom and top edges of the pie together (the water helps hold the crusts together while baking).
- Cut a few slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape from the pie when baking.
- Brush the remaining egg white on top of the pie, especially around the edges, and sprinkle with a pinch of granulated sugar and cinnamon.
- Bake the pie for 15 minutes at 425, then reduce the heat to 375. Cook the pie for an additional 45 minutes to an hour (you’ll know your pie is done when the peach mixture is bubbling and the crust is a nice golden color.
- Serve, and don’t forget to add ice cream!
Notes
- Fresh peaches work best here, although you can also get away with using frozen if you're making this pie off-season.
- If you find your peach pie filling seems a bit too runny (especially if you've made the filling in advance), let the filling sit in a colander for a few minutes to drain some of the juices. Because the sugar brings out the juice in the fruit, it's best to make this filling as close as possible to when you're going to make the pie. This prevents it from becoming too juicy. Using less sugar than the NYT recipe originally called for also helped cut down on some of the extra juice.
- "Seal" your double pie crust with water. When making a double pie crust, brushing the bottom edges of the crust with water before adding the top layer can help seal the pie once you pinch the edges together.
- Add an egg white wash to both layers of the crust. A great trick for pies is to add an egg white wash not only to the top of the pie but to the bottom pie layer as well, prior to adding your filling. Adding the egg white wash to the top of the pie will give the pie crust a nice golden color on the top and also help your sugar sprinkles stick to the crust. Adding it to the bottom layer of the pie helps to create a seal between the crust and the pie filling, and helps to prevent a soggy pie bottom.
- Don't forget the vents! When you bake a pie with a double crust, the filling produces a ton of steam. Not adding vents may cause your pie to rupture (the steam has to go somewhere, right?) and can make the crust a soggy disaster. Four simple slits made with a sharp knife are enough to prevent this from happening. Or, you can get really fancy and use a pastry cutter to cut shapes into the top of the pie.
- Start your temperature off high for the first 15 minutes (425 degrees), then reduce it to 375 for the remainder of the cooking time. This will help set your crust and prevent it from becoming too soggy on the bottom. It also helps your filling to thicken.
- Bake the pie near the bottom of the oven to help make the bottom crust crisp.
- Give the pie time to set. If you make this pie and complain of a runny filling (even when taking the precautions above), it could be because you haven't given it enough time to cool. The filling needs some time out of the oven to set. So don't cut into it for at least 30 minutes once it's done baking.
- Watch the top crust. It will turn a nice golden brown. But, if you find your oven is cooking the top too quickly, throw some foil over the top (just to cover the pie, not to seal it) to prevent it from burning.
Nutrition
Calories: 416kcalCarbohydrates: 57gProtein: 7gFat: 18gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 69mgSodium: 323mgPotassium: 209mgFiber: 3gSugar: 22gVitamin A: 925IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 22mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!