My love for Texas runs deep and one of the things I love the most about Texas is the produce. Texas has the best of every fruit or vegetable you can imagine, but the real stars of all things produce are the peaches. The peaches here are incredibly delicious and can only be described as juicy and juicy. Peaches here are so juicy you have to eat them over your sink… literally. I’m ashamed to admit that I lived in Austin for a full 3 years before ever trying one. I still remember my first bite in my friend’s car and the unexpected delicious juice explosion that happened. I came home after and ate 4 more over my sink. If you live in Texas and haven’t had a Texas peach, do yourself a favor and stop at the next peach stand you see on the side of the road. Trust me. You’ll thank me later.
For this week’s bake and to celebrate the start of peach season in Texas I decided to bake a few mini peach pies. This past weekend we made a trip to our local farmers market and grabbed the best peaches they had to offer. Below is the recipe for my mini peach pies with a hint of nutmeg and brown sugar along with my tips, tricks, and don’ts that I did. Enjoy!
Ingredients and Directions for Pie Filling
4 cups of sliced peaches (about 5 medium peaches)
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup of brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of ground nutmeg
Combine all ingredients into a medium sized bowl and toss to cover peaches.
Ingredients for Double Crust
2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2/3 cup of butter
1 tablespoon of white vinegar
5-6 tablespoons of 2% milk
1 egg white whisked plus 1 tablespoon of water
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Directions for Pie Crust
In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt.
Cut in shortening until mixture is crumbly.
Sprinkle with vinegar.
Gradually add milk, tossing with a fork until a ball is formed.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until easy to handle.
Putting it all together
Divide dough into 2 portions, 1 slightly larger than the other.
Roll out larger ball on a lightly floured surface to fit 4 small pie pans.
Add Peach Pie filling to uncooked pie shells. (about 1 cup per mini pie pan)
Roll out remaining pastry to fit tops, trim and flute edges.
Cut slits in tops for venting.
Mix the egg white and water in a small bowl and brush over the pies.
Sprinkle with granulated sugar.
Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue cooking for an additional 30-40 minutes or until tops are golden brown.
Tips and Tricks and Don’ts that I did
To peel or not to peel… lots of peach pie recipes say to peel the peach skin. I left mine on because I love every single part of the peach. Feel free to peel if you’d prefer.
I used a mix bag of super ripe to barely ripe peaches for this recipe. It took a lot of self control not to devour the super ripe peaches over my sink, but it was worth it for the pies. Pick whatever peaches you think are best. If you choose all barely ripe peaches you may need to bake your pies a tad longer.
The pie crust recipe can be used for a full pie instead of 4 minis. If you make the full pie you’ll need about 2 additional cups of peaches.
If you don’t like the taste of nutmeg, feel free to substitute with cinnamon.
Go ahead and wrap your edges with foil before you start baking the pies. Usually I wrap pie edges mid-bake, but for these lil guys you’ll get an even bake without any burnt edges if you foil wrap pre-bake.
Don’t over bake your pies. Once the pies are golden and the peach juice starts to bubble it’s time to take them out.
Don’t be sad if the pies aren’t perfect. I was a little dissapointed when my pretty pies ended up with peach juice all over them, but the peach juice is delicious and adds a little peach flavor to the crusts.
These pies don’t have a ton of added sugar which makes them fairly healthy so don’t feel guilty if you eat an entire mini pie… or two.
You can sub regular flour for a gluten free blend if you want a gf crust.
These pies are delicious by themselves or you can whip up some homemade whipped cream or vanilla ice cream to go with them.
Don’t forget to Enjoy!
Mae Bakes 