I’ve heard that a wish will come true if the top of a pie is cut off, pushed to the side of the plate, and eaten last. Also, the wish must be repeated silently just before the last bite is taken, and not a word must be spoken until everyone has left the table. It sounds complicated but if you’re wishing for more pie, it might be worth it.–Mollie Cox Bryan
Fresh Peach Pie FAQs
There’s a foil trick that requires nothing more than taking a long, slender strip of foil and curving it around the edge of the pie, crumpling and crimping it slightly so it remains perched along the perimeter of the pie. This will shield that outer edge of the crust, which is the part that turns brown first. And by leaving the middle of the top crust uncovered, it will continue to bake and brown.
For a pie, you want to choose peaches that are slightly soft and have a strong peach fragrance. Skip moldy, bruised, or overripe fruit and avoid hard peaches, as they’ll be too difficult to work with. For more tips, check out this article on How to Tell if a Peach is Perfectly Ripe.
If your peaches are ripe, the easiest way is to score an ‘X’ in the bottom of the peach and place it in a saucepan of boiling water for about 30 seconds. Transfer to a bowl of ice water, and when cool, the skin should slip right off.
Fresh Peach Pie
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Vinegar Pie Crust, rolled out to 1/8-inch (3-mm) thickness
- 5 cups peeled and sliced fresh peaches, (about 9 medium peaches)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1/2 to 1 cup sugar, depending on how sweet your peaches and your preference
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons (1 oz) unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
- Place the peaches in a large bowl, add the lemon juice, and gently stir to coat. In a smaller bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg, mixing thoroughly. Add the sugar mixture to the peaches and gently stir to coat.
- Line a 9-inch pie plate with 1 of the rolled-out pie crusts. Spoon the peach filling evenly into the crust. Brush the edge of the crust with water, cover with the second rolled-out crust, press gently to seal, and flute or crimp the edges. Cut a few steam vents in the top.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown and the filling is bubbly. Remove from the oven, brush with the melted butter, and cool on a wire rack for 1 hour before slicing. Serve at room temperature or slightly warm.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This filling for this fresh peach pie was incredible. I used 1/2 cup sugar, per Allison’s recommendation on the website, and was so happy I did. I don’t enjoy fruit pies that are too sweet, and this was not one of them. It was just sweet enough, with a bit of tartness from the lemon—it was almost refreshing if that makes any sense!
I tried the filling with the vinegar pie crust—I made it twice and it just didn’t come together for me. Of course, it could have been a user error. It didn’t stop us from enjoying the pie—we all just cut around the crust to get to the good stuff!
This fresh peach pie recipe creates a very nice pie, my husband and son thought this was the best peach pie. I wasn’t convinced, very skeptical of the vinegar crust, have never made a vinegar crust before. However, the crust is easy to make and can be used right away, and turned out to be nice and flaky.
The pie dough was a little sticky to roll out and did use more flour than I normally would. Perhaps 1/2 hour in the refrigerator may have helped. I also didn’t trust the cooking times for the high heat but followed the directions and the pie turned out very well.
Now is the best time for peaches, so you can’t go wrong there, and adding cinnamon & nutmeg makes for a flavorful pie.
I’m more of a savoury summer tart versus summer fruity pie kind of person but my family sure does love a crusty pie no matter what season. This was my first peach pie and I was impressed with how quickly it came together.
I used a serrated fruit peeler as the recipe didn’t specify how the peaches should be peeled. Sometimes I shy away from peeling fruits after scalding then cooling the skin so I liked that this one was not fussy. My peaches were a 6/10 sweetness, so I added 3/4 cup sugar.
Even though the photo showed a rustic pie crust my helper daughter loves cutting shapes so we used a peach-shaped pie cutter and embellished our crust steam vents. The crust was very forgiving as we had to re-roll the dough a couple of times. It was also the flakiest crust I’ve ever made.
Notwithstanding, I found that even brushing the baked crust with butter was not quite enough to improve the flavour of the shortening in the crust. Overall, I’d sacrifice the flakiness for the butter flavour.
However, this review is about the peach filling and that flavour was that of fresh-baked peaches with a touch of cinnamon and sweetness. A summer treat without the guilt.
I tried a slice while warm and had some the following day cold from the fridge and actually enjoyed the cold pie much more than warm. I also tried naked and with a teaspoon of crème fraîche. I found the crème fraîche to round off the flavours and make up for the missing butter in the crust. As for my family, they’re already wondering about when I’m making this pie again … peachy keen!
Peaches and summer are synonymous with one another and this fresh peach pie is a great example of that; a simple pie that allows the natural sweetness of juicy in-season peaches to shine through.
One of the best aspects of this pie is how easy it comes together. Pies usually seem rather daunting and time-consuming.
But don’t let the vinegar in this dough recipe fool you! This dough doesn’t require any fancy ingredients, ice-cold butter, or hours to let rest. Instead, this dairy-free recipe comes together in a snap and can be used right away.
Since the dough doesn’t have to be chilled and rested before rolling out, I’d highly recommend a generous coating of flour on your surface area and rolling pin before rolling out. There was just a tiny bit of breakage when rolling out and when transferring to the pie dish but nothing to be concerned about.
When baked, the dough comes out perfectly flaky and golden. It tastes light with just the right amount of saltiness to balance out the sweetness of the filling. Even after rolling out the dough fairly thin, you can still see the layers in the dough.
The filling comes together just as fast. I opted to use only 1/2 cup of sugar since the peaches I used were pretty ripe and I didn’t want to overpower the natural sweetness of the peaches themselves. I’m always a little hesitant to use cinnamon and nutmeg in summer fruit pies since, to me, those warm flavours remind me too much of fall. However, in this recipe, the spices don’t overwhelm the peach flavour at all.
When cooked the peaches maintained their shape and sweetness and were a perfect summer treat. I did feel that the peaches were so juicy that they could have used a little more flour to really thicken the filling. When the pie was done and cooled, the filling did spill out after the first piece was removed from the pie plate. I feel that a touch more flour would help with this if someone wanted a little more sturdiness in the filling.
This fresh peach pie is fantastic on so many levels and I can already tell that it will be a go-to for many years to come.
Best peach pie in the world!!! Love it!
THAT is what we love to hear. We spend a lot of time curating the best recipes and then testing and testing them to make sure they work. You are proof of that!
Well, I have news for you. I just made this pie with yellow peaches that turned up at a brand-spanking new farmers’ market around the corner from my building. Everyone LOVED this pie—my son, my mother, and even the folks working the farm stand, who each got a slice while still warm that same afternoon. We all agreed it was the best ever. The peaches were not without slight flaws of texture, but baked in the pie it made not one bit of difference. This pie was the taste of sunshine and summer captured perfectly.
Naturally, the quality of the peaches is paramount. But the recipe is critical, too. This will absolutely be my go-to peach pie recipe for the future. The vinegar crust with its brushed-on butter at the end was also heaven.
Only thing I changed, and if you have sweet peaches I urge you to do the same: I cut the amount of sugar in the recipe by half, and never missed it. The pie was still sweet as I could have wanted it to be—more would’ve been injustice to the fruit, IMHO.
Pie looks yummy. So far this season, I have been disappointed with the taste and the texture of southern peaches, they have been mealy. I am afraid they have been harvested too early and thus never ripen properly. I have had better luck with white peaches which of course remind me of France. Our peaches aren’t ready yet and will be happy when they are available.
You know, I’ve had a similar experience this summer with peaches, only I’ve been struggling with those in New York state. And I agree wholeheartedly about white peaches. Like you, I find that the white peaches almost always have a more palatable texture, and though sweeter than the more common yellow ones, the white varieties still come through with a discernable peach flavor.