Old Fashioned Peach Pie

It’s mid summer and the peaches are really starting to come in especially on the shore! I’ll admit to loving peaches, but only when they’re perfect. Because a perfect peach is so wonderful, and an unripe one is really no comparison. Right?

I’ll admit, the peaches are so great right now I made not one but TWO peach desserts this weekend. The first was an old favorite, a peach blueberry cobbler. Fantastic. The second, was something I’ve never quite gotten right, a peach pie. A classic southern treat that I had never managed to make without creating an absolute lake of peach juice between two crusts. Until now.

I used Smitten Kitchen’s new classic peach pie recipe and I was strategic about my peaches. What does that mean? I used peaches that were not quite at their ripest–just soft, but not mushy. I was hoping that this would mean the peaches wouldn’t liquefy in the oven and it worked. When combined with the three tablespoons of cornstarch and lower sugar than most peach pie recipes, it made for a fantastic filling. Even if we didn’t let it fully cool before we cut it!

It didn’t seem to matter much!

Old Fashioned Peach Pie
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Crust
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, very cold
1/2 cup water, very cold

Filling
About 3 1/2 pounds peaches
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cornstarch

To make crust, combine flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cut butter into chunks, then work chunks of butter into flour mixture with your hands until it resembles course meal. Remember butter chunks mean flaky pie crust, so leave some chunks! Add water and combine until dough just comes together. Separate dough into two discs, wrap in plastic and store in the fridge for at least one hour.

For the filling, slice peaches into a large bowl. I like my pie with the skins on, but you can also take them off. Add lemon juice, sugars, cinnamon, salt and cornstarch. Toss to combine.

Roll out chilled pie crust to fit your pie pan. Press crust into pan and fill with filling. Roll out the top crust and either cut into strips for a lattice top or leave whole for a full top. I like a lattice top for a peach pie, because it lets liquid evaporate, and it’s pretty :-)

Bake pie in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes, then reduce temperature to 375 and bake for another 30-40 minutes. Keep an eye on the pie while its in the oven, to make sure it doesn’t get too brown. If it starts to brown too much, tent with foil. Remove pie and allow it too cool for at least an hour before cutting.

This was a huge hit. So much in fact, I think another one is on my agenda for next weekend!

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