The Very Best Peach Pie EVER.
If you’re here just for the Peach Pie recipe, here it is (if you want to know HOW I know it’s the best peach pie ever, keep reading):
This isn’t a cooking blog, obviously.
Around here you’re more likely to cry than be inspired to go bake. I sincerely hope it’s good crying though. Like the cleansing, God’s close to me, I’m not alone, type crying.
But regardless. Today we interrupting our regular scheduled program to share with you a recipe for peach pie.
Does anyone remember years and years ago when I requested all your very-best-ever chocolate cake recipes? That whole contest was because my husband kept talking about his Aunt Miriam’s chocolate cake and how much he missed it… so I finally decided that I’d better learn to make chocolate cake.
I know. How does one live decades without learning to make chocolate cake?
Well, this gal did it by not liking chocolate cake at all.
So I asked for you best recipes and I made my husband every. single. one.
Yep.
I made him rate each cake for flavor, moistness, chocolatey-ness, and general appeal. The top three cakes were put into a final bake-off and he picked his favorite. I shared the best recipes with y’all and sent a prize to the wonderful lady who gave me the recipe for Grandma Acker’s Mayonnaise Cake.
(Can I tell you a secret though? After making eighteen different chocolate cake recipes in a short period of time, I ended up getting pretty savvy when it comes to making delicious chocolate cakes. So the recipe we use ALL THE TIME around here? It’s based off the winning recipe but tweeked a bit. You seriously just go get a mixing bowl and dump in: 2 c. flour, 1 c. sugar, 5 T. cocoa, 1 t. vanilla, 1 c. mayonnaise, 1 c. cold water, 2 t. baking soda, 1 T cider vinegar, 1/4 c. applesauce, and a pinch of salt. Whip those lovely ingredients until they are smooth, dump them in a greased 9×9 cake pan and bake it at 350 degrees for about forty minutes. Once you pull that cake out, put 3 T. butter, 3 T. sugar, and 3 T. half and half or cream [or milk if you’re desperate], into a saucepan. Bring it to a rolling boil, wait about 45 seconds, then turn off the heat. Poke your cake with a fork and pour that caramel sauce all over it while it’s still hot and voilà! best. chocolate. cake. ever.)
Sorry, I got totally distracted, didn’t I?
Back to Peach Pie.
It all started with an Instagram post.
From there we made and sampled over a dozen peach pies. It was stupendous.
We even took a sampling of most of the pies to a varied audience (also known as: our Bible study group) and for the bake-off we had FIVE different incredible pies to choose from.
The same recipe (with two different toppings) won 1st and 2nd place hands down.
Guys, this is a pretty incredible peach pie recipe. Seriously.
And, glory be, it’s also really easy.
Brianna’s Best EVER Peach Pie
Step One: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Make your favorite pie crust. (Here is where I admit that while I make a FABULOUS flaky crust that is made with a half a cup of butter, I rarely have the time or energy to do this and those handy store-bought crusts in the refrigerator section that you just have to unroll? Yeah, they work just fine.)
Step Two: peel and cut up 5 large peaches into a saucepan. (If it’s not peach season, a full quart of canned peaches, drained, works!)
Step Three: add 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to the peaches. Bring them to simmer and allow them to thicken. (This is my favorite part about this pie– it’s all thickened before it even goes in the oven!) Once thickened, turn off the heat and stir in 2 tablespoons butter.
Step Four: Pour filling into crust. Now, there are a few options here. If you have extra crust you can make a double crust pie and brush it with egg white, sprinkle it with a tiny bit of sugar. (Make sure you vent the pie if you do a double crust!) Or you can make a lattice, or use cookie cutters to make a pretty topping like my friend, Elizabeth did here:
Or, if you don’t have any extra crust, your best option is MY FAVORITE. Crumb topping. Because crumb topping has butter and everything is better with butter. It’s so easy, you can do it while teaching your child long division. (Ask me how I know…) The crumb topping is 1/4 cup flour and 1/8 cup sugar mixed together. You sprinkle that over the filling, then slice 2 tablespoons butter and arrange it across the top. I don’t even do crust edges on my pies anymore (we just call them “rustic”, it’s pretty suave) instead, I fold the extra crust over the filling.
Step Five: I love the fact that this pie can be baked right at 350, so you can bake it with whatever else you’re working on. In today’s case? Spinach Quiche. None of this temp changing to keep your crust from burning. Our filling is already thickened, remember? We’re literally just baking the crust to perfection. I’m notorious for not actually setting timers, but I think it should bake about 30-40 minutes to get the crust golden. Brianna’s recipe says 40 minutes, but I feel like it’s often less for me.
There you have it! The VERY best peach pie. I have loads of theories on why it’s the favorite, but the main one? This pie is really all about the flavor of peaches. With just flour, sugar, salt, and butter added– there’s nothing to distract from the beauty of the perfect summer peach. I mean… look at this:
If you make this recipe you should stop by Brianna’s blog and tell her what you thought.
Thanks so much for enjoying #thebattleofthepeachpies with me! We’ll return to our regularly scheduled programming (i.e. cry-worthy posts) in the next week.
So long!
Your blog posts always put a smile on my face and in my heart!
Thank you for sharing! Sadly I may have to wait until next summer to try this when the peaches are fresh. But I can’t wait!