Summer Peach Pie
Drizzle the peaches with lemon juice and toss with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Roll the dough disks, ease one into the pie pan, brush with egg wash, and pierce with a fork. Drain the peaches into the crust, cover with the second circle of dough, crimp the edges, cut slits in the top and brush with egg wash. Bake on a baking sheet at 375° about 45 to 50 minutes until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling.
When peaches are at their summer best — heavy, fragrant, dripping with juice — there is only one proper thing to do, and that is bake them into a deep-dish pie. This one piles the crust high with spiced peaches in a filling tuned to set rather than run, all under a flaky, cold-butter pastry that shatters at the fork. It is summer captured at its peak, the kind of pie that makes a whole season worth waiting for.
The Cold-Fat Flaky Pastry
Make the pastry with cold butter worked into the flour in flakes, keeping everything chilled so it bakes up tender and shattering. Cold fat is the whole secret to a flaky crust — handle the dough as little as possible and keep it cool, and it will reward you with layers that crackle.
The Spiced Peaches, Set Just Right
Toss the peaches with spice and just enough thickener so the filling sets into something sliceable rather than soupy. A deep-dish pie holds a great deal of juicy fruit, so this careful thickening is what lets you cut a clean slice that holds its shape — the mark of a pie made with real care.
Deep-Dish Summer Peach Pie
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat your oven to 375°.
- Place the peaches into a bowl and drizzle with lemon juice.
- Whisk together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a small bowl.
- Toss sugar mixture into the peaches and stir to coat. The peaches will get juicy while you roll out the pie dough.
- Roll each dough disk on a well-floured board into a circle at least 1 inch larger in diameter than the pie pan, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough so it doesn’t stick to the board. (You should see bits of butter in the dough.)
- Fold one circle of dough in half, ease it into the pie pan without stretching at all, and unfold to fit the pan.
- Brush the bottom of the crust with some of the egg wash and pierce with the tines of a fork.
- Use a colander to drain the peaches.
- Pour the drained peaches into the crust.
- Gently place the second circle of dough onto the top of the pie.
- Fold the edges under and crimp together using your fingers or the tines of a fork.
- Pierce the top crust with the tip of a paring knife, making small slits, and brush with some of the egg wash.
- Place the pie pan onto a baking sheet and bake until the top crust is golden and the filling is bubbling, about 45 to 50 minutes.
The Heart of the Table
A homemade peach pie is summer generosity itself — the kind of thing you bake to share the fleeting glory of the season with the people you love. To set a deep-dish pie on the table, its top golden and its fruit still bubbling, is one of the warmest offerings a summer kitchen can make.
The Art of the Host
Keep the pastry cold right up until it goes in the oven for maximum flakiness, and let the baked pie cool fully before slicing so the filling sets. A pie sliced too warm will run, so give it patience — it is worth the wait for a clean, tall slice.
Neighborly Grace
- The Preparation: The pastry can be made and chilled a day ahead, and the pie itself is best baked the day you serve it, cooled fully before slicing. If you must bake ahead, a gentle rewarm brings back the crisp crust beautifully.
- The Pour: A scoop of vanilla ice cream and a cup of coffee are the classic companions; for the grown-ups, a glass of Moscato flatters the peaches, while a peach iced tea offers a lovely non-alcoholic echo of the fruit.
- The Vibe: Serve it in tall wedges, warm with ice cream, on a summer porch or at the end of a backyard supper. This is the height of summer baking — a generous, juicy, peak-season pie meant to be shared while the peaches are perfect and the evenings are long.