Rustic Peach Pie
Have you noticed how fabulous the peaches are right now? I have. I like taking the time to pick ones that are just right. You know the ones; they smell divine and are neither too mushy nor hard as a rock.
Sometimes I bake a peach/apricot pie, but since I did not love the way the apricots tasted, I decided the peaches could stand on their own.
I was not in the mood for a double crust. Chalk it up to laziness or just the desire for something different. I opted to make a larger crust than I normally do for a single crust pie, so that I could fold part of the crust over the fruit. Additionally, I added some nutmeg and cinnamon to the crust.
The more thought I gave to this pie, the more rustic it became, which is pretty humorous, given the fact that I really do not have a rustic bone in my body. Unless roasting s’mores around a fire counts.
I left the skin on the peaches, which was good for me because I do not enjoy taking the skin off. Keeping the flavors consistent with the crust, I also mixed nutmeg and cinnamon in with the peaches, along with sugar, brown sugar, flour and a bit of butter.
The end result is a Rustic Peach Pie with a hint of spice throughout, coupled with tasty sweet peaches that you won’t be able to resist. Given its simplicity, I think that even pie-weary folks will want to give this one a try.
| Rustic Peach Pie | Print |
- Crust:
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3-4 tablespoons ice water
- Filling:
- 3 pounds peaches (6-7 peaches)
- ¼ sugar
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- For the crust:
- Combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a food processor. Pulse on/off to mix. Add the butter and pulse on/off until the butter is the size of baby peas. While using the pulse on/off button, add the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix just until the dough becomes a ball. The dough should not be wet and sticky.
- Wrap the ball in a sheet of wax paper and form a disc shape with the dough. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
- Preheat oven to 400º. Set aside 9” pie plate.
- For the filling:
- Cut each peach into 8 pieces. Combine the peach slices with sugar, light brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir gently to combine. Add the butter and stir in.
- Roll out the dough, either on a lightly floured surface or between sheets of wax paper, so that it is large enough to fit into the pie plate with a large overhang of pie crust that will be used to fold over part of the peach filling. Spray the pie plate with cooking spray (i.e. Pam) and transfer the dough to the plate.
- Spoon the filling into the pie plate, arranging the peaches so that they fit nicely into the pan and pile a bit towards the center. Fold the excess dough over the peaches. This will not cover the entire top surface.
- Bake at 400° oven for 40-50 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely before serving.
- Betsy's tidbits:
- I bake my Rustic Peach Pie on the bottom rack of my oven. I found, through trial and error, that the lower third oven rack did not bake the bottom of the crust as nicely as I wanted it to. If your oven tends to run hot, bake in the lower third rather than on the bottom rack.
- If nutmeg is not your favorite spice, either eliminate it or cut it back a bit.
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