Seeing as this was going to be my last batch of peaches for a while I decided to go big and make a peach pie. It was super rainy outside and you could feel the coolness of fall slowly creeping in. A hot pie was exactly what our home needed to warm things up! I decided to try a different crust recipe this time, and I really liked this one! It has a thicker crust, which I love, and it didn't get too crispy. Feel free to comment below or send me an email with any thoughts, questions, or recommendations regarding this recipe!
Ingredients
Pie Crust
6 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 cup lard or shortening
1 cup unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
1 cup ice cold water
Using a fine mesh sifter, sift the flour into a bowl and add the salt. Place the butter AND shortening into the bowl and combine by squeezing the flour into the butter and shortening with your hands. As it begins to mix, pick of clumps of flour rub your hands together like you would when you are trying to warm up your hands. Continue to do this until the flour looks like course cornmeal. If there are larger pieces of butter still in the mix, that is ok! Add the cold water and knead the dough with your hands until it all comes together. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead two or three more times on the counter top.
Divide the dough in half and shape them into two rounds. Wrap them in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes or more. After the 30 minutes has passed, dust your counter top with flour and place one of the dough pieces into the flour bin itself and give it a good shake.
Then, place the dough on the counter and starting in the middle of the dough, roll away from you. Then starting again in the middle, roll towards you. Rotate the dough so that it is horizontal and roll with your pin, again, starting with the middle. Continue this process until the crust is 10 to 12 inches in diameter and 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Roll the dough lightly around the pin and place it into a 9 inch pie pan. Roll out the remaining piece of dough with the same method.
Filling
6 to 8 peaches depending on their size, firm but ripe
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 small cup of milk or cream for brushing crust
Sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and blanch the peaches for 20 to 30 seconds, some peaches may need a bit longer. Then, carefully remove the peaches from the pot and remove the skins. Slice them into halves, pit them, and then slice each peach half 3-4 more times depending on the size of the peach. In a large bowl combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, lemon juice, nutmeg and peaches. Using your hands, gently fold the peaches into the sugar and spices. Once evenly spread, remove the peaches with a slotted spoon and place inside of the crust lined pie pan. Pour the remaining juice on top of the fruit and fill until it comes about 3/4 of the way up. If you do not have this much juice, that is ok!
Brush the edges of the bottom crust with milk to help the top crust attach. Trim off the excess crust and place your top layer of pie crust or cut into strips for a lattice top. Feel free to design this however you would like! Brush the top of the pie with milk and dust with sugar. Bake at 400 degrees fahrenheit for 20 minutes and then turn the heat down to 350 degrees fahrenheit and bake for another 40 to 50 minutes or until the juices are bubbling and the crust is brown. Remove and let cool, or serve hot with ice cream! Enjoy!
Recipe from Food 52