I’m just gonna say it, peaches are the best stone fruit.
Yeah, nectarines are great. Plumbs are good too. But the real winner in this contest are peaches.
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peach pie
Streusel Topped Peach Pie
Streusel or Strudel… I always mix them up. Always.
So when I was going to tell Price I was making a Streusel Topped Peach Pie I practiced it in my head over and over again. AFTER googling it to make sure I was right.
It’s just one of those weird mind farts I have. And I’m okay with it. I do imagine a strudel topped peach pie would be good too… ha!
Anyway, right now peaches are crazy good. I have always loed peaches but I fell head over heels in love with them while I was pregnant last summer. I developed the craziest sweet tooth. Instead of grabbing for donuts and cupcakes I had a bit of restraint and went after fruit, and lots of it! Peaches were my crutch as I ate insane amounts of them. They are hard to resist when they are perfectly ripe, sweet, and juicy late in the summer. Bliss.
Well, I still really love peaches so I wanted to make a peach pie with them. And then I thought I would put some strudel streusel on top. It’s kinda like a weird marriage of peach pie and coffee cake. The crumbs on coffee cake are the best part. The bigger the crumb the better, too.
This pie starts off really high, but falls as it bakes so don’t worry about it being too tall. Or having too much streusel prepared. You do use it all up as you place small mounds on the peaches and then gently even it all out and get the crumbs in the nooks between the peach slices.
I used almond meal in the Streusel to add some more flavor to the crumbs but if you can’t find it then just use flour. I just love the flavors of peaches and almonds together, you know from all the strudels I’ve had. ha!
Enjoy this pie within a day or 2 as the juicy fruit will soften the butter crumbly topping and then it just gets soggy and no one likes soggy streusel.
I suggest serving this pie by warming it slightly and topping it off with some vanilla bean ice cream. And of course you should sit outside with your feet in the grass as you enjoy the evening cool down. Damn, I love summer.
Streusel Topped Peach Pie
Makes a 9″ Pie
Ingredients
- 1 pie crust to line a 9″ pie plate, or a store-bought 9″ pie shell
- 2 1/4 lbs fresh peaches
- 3/4 Cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 heaping Tablespoons cornstarch
- 8 Tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (1/2″ Cubes)
- 1/2 Cup almond meal
- 2/3 Cup flour
- 1/2 Cup sugar
Process
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare the pie crust in the pie plate. Place the pie plate on an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet.
- Cut peaches into thin slices. Combine the peaches, sugar, vanilla extract, and cornstarch in a large bowl, mix well.
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine the butter, almond meal, flour, and sugar. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, incorporate the dry ingredients into the butter to created large crumbles.
- Place the peaches in the pie crust. Pile the struesel crumbles onto the peach slices.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes, until the crumbles are golden brown and the when a knife is inserted into the pie there is little resistence from the fruit.
French Vanilla Peach Pie
I’m gonna sneak in one last summer recipe before I switch over to fall related things with apples, pumpkin and cranberries. I was just in Charlotte and it was warmer there than Boston and I saw peach pies for sale there. So let’s just say this pie is dedicated to Charlotte.
I never made a peach pie prior to this one. I always stuck with cobblers when I had stone fruit at hand. I don’t know why I always limited myself. It’s not to say that only making delicious cobblers is limiting but I don’t know why I never really considered to make a pie before. It’s super simple and lighter than a heavy biscuit cobbler, making it perfect for an end of summer dessert.
As with all fruit pies, I think that this pie is better the next day. As temping as it is to pull it out of the oven and dive in I think that giving the pie an over night to let the flavors intensify makes it so much better. Most of all, this allows for the sweet syrup that was created from the fruit juices and sugar to thicken, which makes cutting and serving easier. Well, at least, a tab bit less messy.
French Vanilla Peach Pie
*makes 1 8″ pie*
Ingredients
- 8 large fresh peaches
- 1 /2- 3/4 cup of vanilla infused sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 8″ pie crust, top and bottom
Process
- Preheat oven for 425.
- Roll out 2 discs of dough. Set bottom dough in pie plate, refrigerate. The top crust will be set aside.
- Cut peaches into cite size pieces.
- In a large bowl, combine the peaches and vanilla sugar. Coat all peaches completely.
- Cut top crust into 3/4″ wide strips.
- Place peaches in the bottom crust and then cover with the strips of pie crust in a lattice design.
- Place the small pieces of butter in the places where the crust is open to the fruit.
- Bake the pie on a sheet tray at 425 for 10 minutes. Turn the oven down to 350 and continue to bake 35 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned.