Peach Cobbler Pie

I found fresh peaches at the farmers’ market last week. It’s a sign that summer is at its peak. Another sign is that the heat index has been over 100 degrees.

The Story

After returning from a steamy morning at the downtown farmers market with a bag full of fresh Iowa peaches, I had to make peach pie. Usually when it is extremely hot outside, I don’t like turning on the oven. However, this is no ordinary peach pie. It’s worth a little extra heat in the kitchen.

I had it for the first time a few weeks ago, when my mother-in-law made it for us. It was loaded with the sweetest peaches and topped with the flakiest crust. It was the best peach pie I ever had, and I wanted to recreate it.

Fortunately, my mother-in-law gave me the recipe, and my recreation turned out great. There were no leftovers anyway. Ken and I ate the entire pie all by ourselves throughout the week, while keeping cool indoors with the air conditioning.

The Moral of the Story

Don’t let a little heat keep you out of the kitchen. It’s never too hot to make peach pie.

About the Recipe

The recipe is from a family cookbook my mother-in-law gave me for my last birthday. The recipe is actually called “Peach Cobbler,” but I am not sure why. It is not a cobbler at all. Cobblers have a cake-like topping. This is made with a pie crust.

The crust recipe is from Sharon Turner. The cobbler recipe is from Annie Turner. I’m not sure how Sharon and Annie are related, but if you put these two recipes together, you get a great pie.

The Cast of Characters

Peaches stand out in this recipe.

The Play-by-Play

With a dough blender, combine the flour, shortening and salt.

Add a half cup of milk to the flour mixture.

Gently stir until a sticky dough forms.

Divide the dough in half, wrap each half in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator.

In another bowl, combine the remaining sugar and flour.

Peel and slice your peaches.

Toss the peaches in the flour and sugar mixture.

Roll out one of the pie crusts and place in the bottom of a pie pan.

Fill the pie crust with the peaches.

Place dabs of butter on top of the peaches.

Place the second crust on top, cutting in slits for vents.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until golden brown.

Let it cool before slicing. I couldn’t wait and sliced it while still warm and soupy.

If you want it to look more like cobbler, you can make sloppy slices like this one. I did that on purpose so it would look less like pie and more like cobbler.

 

Recipe: Peach Cobbler Pie

Summary: A sweet peach pie with a tender and flaky crust

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 cup shortening
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 quart fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
1 ½ heaping tablespoons flour
¾ cup sugar
¾ stick unsalted butter

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, mix 2 cups flour, shortening and salt. Gradually stir in milk to form the pie dough.
2. Divide the dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
4. Roll the dough into two crusts. Place one of the crusts in the bottom of a pie dish.
5. In a small bowl, mix together the remaining flour and sugar.
6. In a large bowl, combine the peaches with the flour and sugar mixture.
7. Place the peaches in the pie crust.
8. Cut the butter into small pieces and place on top of the peaches.
9. Place the second crust over the top. Crimp the edges and cut vents.
10. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until golden brown.

Preparation time: 30 minute(s)

Baking time: 45 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 8

Rating :  ★★★★★ 1 review(s)

The Footnotes

• Picking the peaches: You could use fresh or frozen. I highly recommend fresh peaches. If you use frozen, bake the pie at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 and keep baking until juices begin to bubble out of the vents. This will help ensure the filling thickens.
• Peeling the peaches: If you use fresh peaches, you’ll have to spend a little extra time peeling them. To make peeling them easier, drop them in a pot of boiling water for one minute. Remove them from the water and let cool for another minute. Then the skins will simply rub off.
• Choosing the crust ingredients: The original recipe uses shortening in the crust. My mother-in-law uses lard. I think both create a tender and flaky crust. Pick whichever one you prefer.
• Adding milk to the crust: This was the first pie crust recipe I saw that uses milk instead of water, and it uses quite a bit of it. The dough is a bit sticky when it first comes together, but it turns out quite nicely in the end. I’m not sure if it is the milk that helps make it so tender and flaky.

Additional Resources

Fresh peaches also pair nicely with other fresh fruits. Here are a few other peach pie and cobbler recipes pairing peaches with other fruits that I thought looked amazing:

• Dutch Oven Huckleberry Peach Cobbler from And Now for Something Completely Delicious
• Peach and Blueberry Galette by the Galley Gourmet
• Fresh Peach and Blackberry Mini Cobblers by Blackberry Farm

What’s your favorite thing to bake with peaches?