Just Peachy

Last weekend, we had some old friends come into town.  For a lazy Sunday activity we decided to head over to the farmers market and pick up some goods.  Peaches are currently in their prime, so it was an easy decision to get some for a peach pie.  It was my first time ever making a peach pie, and I'm not saying I'm addicted…but I'm not saying I'm not.  (I'm blaming you, Kimi.)

It was so fun and simple that I decided to make another pie today.  Surprisingly, I had the forethought to document it for the blog.  I promise you guys, you're going to want to make one immediately.  

I used these two recipes, and tweaked them ever so slightly:

For the crust, I used {this} recipe.

For the filling, I followed {this} one.  

Blanching the peaches made it about a million times easier to peel them.  The peaches from the farmers market weren't terrible to peel without blanching, but the ones I got from the grocery store for the second pie were much harder and really needed the assistance.  (Dear Diary, my life is so hard…) 

To do this, drop them in some boiling water for about 30 seconds, take them out and put them directly into an ice bath.  When you peel them, start from the bottom and peel towards the stem.  It worked better for me that way.  

Once they are all peeled, slice them up and place them in a bowl.  

Here's something to be noted:  The recipe for the pie filling doesn't list flour as an ingredient.  However, a quarter cup is mentioned in the directions.  Because I live by my own rules (and tend to forego reading any directions), I accidentally left out the flour when I was making the second pie (we remembered for the first).  We'll have to see how it turns out after it cools but I'm guessing it won't set properly.  Hey, you can't win them all.  

I let the peach slice and sugar mixture sit and mingle while I made the dough for the crust.  I think making the filling first and allowing it to hang out for a while brings out the flavors a little more.  

When you have to cut dairy out of your life, you also have to say goodbye to about 99% of all delicious desserts.  Finding a vegan pie crust that actually tastes and acts like a pie crust was a total game changer.  I have a feeling this could easily be made into a gluten free crust by playing around with different GF flours.  

One thing I did with the first pie was put the coconut oil in the fridge for about 20 minutes before making the dough.  I skipped that step for the second pie, just to see if it made a difference, and I think chilling the oil helped the dough be a little more manageable.  

Both times I made the dough using the food processor.  Easy mixing, easy cleanup. 

One step I added for the second pie was spraying the pie dish with baking spray before adding the dough.  The crust on the first pie stuck just enough to make me want to try to find a solution.  We'll see if it makes any difference in the way this pie serves up.  

After pre baking the crust, you simply pile in the filling, and pick a top crust.  I topped this pie with a lattice design because it's the only one I know how to do I'm super fancy like that.  A Pro Tip from our friend was to place the pie on a baking sheet, which is a GREAT idea because the delicious juices will bubble over and you don't want to be left with a baked on mess in your oven.  

I love how rough but delicious the finished pie looks.  The hardest part about this whole process is waiting a few hours for the pie to cool and set.  I'm anxious to see if the missing flour is going to change anything, but regardless I think we'll be licking the pie pan clean.  

Let me know if you try out these recipes, and please send any other pie ideas my way!  I think a weekly pie may be a new "thing" in the Williams house.