Texas Hill Country Peach Pie
This recipe was adapted from one that I received from my sweet hippie soul sister from the Texas Hill Country, Gigi.
On a recent visit, she was telling me about this recipe where the pie doesn’t overflow with liquid when you slice it AND that she doesn’t peel the peaches.
Texas Hill Country Peach Pie
July is PEACH month in Texas and I can’t think of many desserts that scream summer, more than peach pie! This recipe was adapted from one that I received from my sweet hippie soul sister from the Texas Hill Country, Gigi.
Ingredients
- 4 lbs fresh peaches, unpeeled & sliced (about 8 large peaches)
- ½ cup organic white sugar
- ¾ cup organic white sugar
- pinch kosher salt
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour Heaping
- 1 tbsp cornstarch Heaping
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- Pastry for 10" double crust pie
- 1 ½ tbsp butter cut into small pieces
- 1 egg white (for brushing top of crust)
- Sparkling Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Slice peaches into bowl, leaving skins on.
- Sprinkle with ½ cup sugar and pinch of kosher salt and stir well.
- Let sit 20 minutes.
- Strain juice from peaches into small saucepan.
- Return peaches to bowl.
- Bring juices to a boil then reduce to a good simmer for about 8 minutes so that you have a nice syrup consistency.
- NOTE: This step is crucial in helping your final product (pie) not to be too liquid, BUT,
don’t overdo this step or you will have peach candy instead of peach syrup. - Whisk ¾ cup sugar, flour & cornstarch in a bowl.
- Stir lemon juice, cayenne & cinnamon into peaches, then add the flour mixture,
tossing well. - Finally, stir reduced peach juices/syrup into peaches.
- Place bottom pie crust into pie plate.
- Add peaches, then dot with butter.
- Place remaining pie crust on top and seal & crimp edges.
- Brush top crust with lightly beaten egg white, then sprinkle with sparkling sugar.
- Vent pie crust in a few places with small pairing knife.
- Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Watch carefully not to burn.
- I usually tent my crust with foil about the last 20 minutes or so.
- Cool completely before slicing.
- Garnish with whipped cream or a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- Summer is served!!
Notes
- I love to bake but pie crust is not my specialty. In fact, far from it. I have recently discovered Kroger pie crusts. I had always used the Pillsbury ones but find the Kroger ones to be flakier and closer to a homemade taste. They come in a 2 pack and are the unrollable disk type. Bonus: they are less expensive!
- This pie works best in a 10” pie plate.
- I mention this in the recipe but want to reiterate not to over-reduce the pie juices. They will quickly go from syrup to candy. Ask me how I know this!! The latter is very difficult to remove from the saucepan and serves little purpose once hardened.
- You want your peaches to be firm with a little ‘give’ when squeezed. They usually need to sit on my counter a couple of days after purchasing to get them perfect. If they are really soft, best to use for a cobbler.
- The pinch of cayenne is just that, a pinch. I tried using 1/8 tsp and it was too much. I do like the little ‘edge’ it gives the peaches though. A little ode to Texas.