This peach crumble pie features a buttery flaky pie crust filled with delicious fresh, tender peaches. Topped with a buttery brown sugar cinnamon crumble, you'll love every bit of the crunchy crumble and peach filling. Some of the peaches are left unpeeled which adds flavor and a beautiful color to the final pie. Read below to learn how to make this delicious dessert.
Why This Recipe Tastes So Good
The combination of these sweet peaches and the brown sugar crunchy crumble on top is match made in heaven. Brown sugar, cinnamon and the peaches are a deliciously natural combination. The crunchy texture of the crumble is perfect with the soft peaches. And the buttery pie crust is the perfect carrier with the for the peaches and the sweet crumble.
Peach Crumb Pie Ingredients
This recipe consists of three sub recipes:
- All Butter Pie Dough. This is the pie dough that I use for most of my pie recipes.
- Brown Sugar Crumble Topping. The brown sugar crumble is perfect with the peaches. This crumble has lots of cinnamon which is perfect with the peaches
- Fresh Peach Filling. This pie is best with fresh peaches, because of the texture and color that comes from the fresh peaches.
The Best Peaches to Use for Peach Pie
Fresh peaches are best for peach pie. Buy the peaches while they are still firm and then let them sit for 1-2 days in a large brown paper bag. You'll need 7-9 peaches for this pie depending on their size. Peaches that are a little firm are also easier to peel.
If available get freestone peaches. Freestone peaches or cling free peaches refer to fruit that is not attached to the pit and will easily separate from the pit when you cut into them.
I always buy extra peaches, so if you have a lot of peaches on hand check out my recipe for Roasted Peach Hand Pies.
How to Make the Pie Dough
The pie dough consists of the following ingredients:
- All-Purpose Flour
- Unsalted Butter
- Granulated Sugar
- Kosher Salt
- Ice-Cold Water
This is my go to pie dough recipe. It creates a buttery flaky crust. If you're looking for other filling ideas check out my recipes for Apple Galette with Hazelnut Frangipane and Cranberry Cheesecake Pie.
Follow the steps below for a perfect pie crust.
- Use Cold Butter. Your butter and water should be cold when they're mixed into the dry ingredients. My mother sometimes chilled the flour. I haven't tried that technique yet, but it worked for her. I keep a jar that holds 2 cups of water in the refrigerator at all times so I know that I will have ice cold water whenever I need it.
- Don't overwork the dough. Working the dough too much will activate the gluten in the flour and create a dough that is harder to roll our and a finished pie crust that is chewy. Once the water is added only work it enough with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula to work it into the other ingredients and then shape it into a circle or square for your recipe.
- Keep the dough cool. After chilling the dough, let it sit on the counter for 5 minutes to make it easier to roll out. Quickly roll out the dough and fit it into whatever baking pan or pie plate that you are using. Then chill the dough again after shaping it.
Once the pie dough is done. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate until ready to use. It can be refrigerated for 2 days or frozen for 1 month.
Take the pie dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 5 minutes, 10 minutes if removing directly from the freezer.
Heavily flour your work surface and roll out the pie dough into a 12-inch circle. Rotate the dough a quarter turn frequently to ensure the dough is rolled out evenly, but also to check for sticking. If the dough is started to stick, add a little flour to the work surface in the area where the dough is sticking.
Fold the dough into quarters. Place into the pie pan, unfold the dough and gently press it against the bottom and sides. Fold the dough under around the edges and crimp with a design if you want.
Chill the pie dough in the pie plate for 30-60 minutes.
How to Make the Brown Sugar Crumble Topping
The brown sugar crumble is easy to make and tasty. Just be sure not to taste test too much of your crumble. Make the crumble after you make the pie dough so it's ready to add to the pie once you've added the filling. The crumble has the following ingredients:
- All Purpose Flour
- Light Brown Sugar
- Granulated Sugar
- Unsalted Butter
- Kosher Salt
- Ground Cinnamon
Mix the dry ingredients together. This recipe calls for ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg. Feel free to adjust these amounts to your taste. I love cinnamon, so I add it to a lot of my recipes.
Add the melted butter and use a silicone spatula to mix it into the dry ingredients. Use your fingers to break the crumble into a combination of large and small pieces.
Spread the crumble on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake it for 10 minutes. The crumble will still be a little soft. Let it cool completely before adding it to the pie.
How to Make The Peach Filling
The filling has the following ingredients:
- Fresh Peaches
- Granulated Sugar. Adds sweetness to the pie. Adjust the sugar according to the sweetness of the peaches.
- All-Purpose Flour. The flour is used to thicken the filling.
- Lemon Juice. The lemon juice brightens up the flavor of the peaches.
- Ground Cinnamon. Cinnamon and peaches are meant to go together. Use Ceylon or regular cinnamon for a nice fruity and floral flavor.
- Ground Nutmeg. Nutmeg adds a hint of sweetness to the pie
Ground cinnamon and nutmeg are essential to the delicious taste of this peach pie. To me cinnamon and peaches go hand in hand. Growing up my mom always used plenty of cinnamon and nutmeg in her peach cobbler and I can't imagine having a peach pie without them.
For this pie, I peeled about 2/3 of the peaches and left the rest unpeeled. The peach skins adds a lot of color and flavor to the baked pie.
Cut the peaches into 1-inch chunks and place them in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the lemon juice over the peaches and gently toss the peaches to coat the peaches.
Place the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined. Pour this mixture over the peaches and gently fold the mixture into the peaches. Let it sit for 5 minutes and taste. At this point add more sugar if you want a sweeter filling.
Assembling and Baking The Pie
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Remove the pie dough from the refrigerator. Spoon the peach filling into the dough and spread it evenly across the dough. Top it with all the crumble. It may seem like a lot, but believe me when I say this is the right amount.
Place the pie on a half-baking sheet and bake at 400°F for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350°F and bake 35-40 minutes or until the filling is starting to bubble.
Check the crust after the first 35 minutes of total baking time. If it is getting too dark cover the edges of the dough with an adjustable pie shield.
When the pie is done remove it from the oven and let it cool for about 2 hours before cutting into the pie.
Can I Freeze the Peach Pie?
Yes you can freeze the unbaked peach pie. If planning to freeze the pie, start by adding 1 extra tablespoon of flour to the flour-sugar mixture. Prepare the pie as directed up to adding the fruit to the pie dough shell.
Wrap the pie in a freezer bag or double wrap in foil and freeze up to three months. When ready to baking the pie, bake the pie directly from the freezer (do not thaw). Preheat the oven to 425°F, bake the pie for 20 minutes, reduce the oven temp to 375°F and bake for another 35-45 minutes until the peach juices are bubbly.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
- Use butter straight from the refrigerator when making the pie dough. Using cold butter ensures that there are layers int the dough. When the heat hits the butter in the even the moisture released from the melting butter will cause the layers to expand and rise.
- Use peaches that are somewhat firm. When you gently press into the top of the peach it should give just a little. Peaches that are too soft will be hard to peel and break down too much during baking.
- Experiment with the ground spices for this recipe.
- Leave the skin on at least of the three of the peaches. The peach skin adds a beautiful color and flavor to the final pie.
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Peach Crumble Pie
Equipment
- Tapered Rolling Pin
- Measuring Spoons
Ingredients
All Butter Pie Dough
- 1-1/4 cups + 3 tablespoons (177 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ((4 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Diamond kosher salt
- 10 tablespoons ((142 grams) unsalted butter cold and cut into cubes
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) ice-cold water or more if required.
Brown Sugar Crumble
- 1-1/8 cups (141 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup ((100 grams) packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup ((113 grams) unsalted butter
Peach Filling
- 5 cups (840 grams) fresj peaches chopped into 1-inch chunks
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons (50 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the Pie Dough
- Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl and stir to combine. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and add it to the flour mixture. Use your fingers or a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles small peas.
- Add the ice water and use a rubber spatula to toss together. It will still be slightly crumbly or shaggy but will hold together when squeezed into a ball. If more water is needed add a tablespoon at a time.
- Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and press the dough together, folding it over on itself until it starts to hold together. Try not to work the dough too much or it may become overdeveloped and tough.
- Shape the dough into disk 1-inch thick. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and chill for at least 45 minutes. The dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days and frozen for up to 2 months.
Roll Out the Pie Dough
- For a 9-inch pie plate roll the dough until is it 13-inches round. Fold the dough in half and then half again so that you have a quarter. Place the dough in the pie plate do the corner of the dough is centered. Gently unfold the dough so the pie plate is completely covered, and the dough is overhanging the plate.
- Trim the dough so that there is about a 1-inch overhang all the way around. Fold the dough under so that it rests on the edge of the pie plate. Crimp the dough using a fork or create your own design.
- Refrigerate the prepared dough for 1 hour.
Brown Sugar Crumble
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a quarter sheet pan with parchment paper. Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven.
- Place the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and kosher salt in a medium-sized bowl and whisk the ingredients until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds. Be sure to hit the bottom of the bowl to capture the ingredients that have fallen to the bottom.
- Place the butter in a saucepan and melt on medium low heat until it stops popping and the milk solids (which is the white foam floating on top) mostly disappears and you see light brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the butter into the dry ingredients. Scrape the browned bits from the pan into the mixture.
- Use a spatula to stir the butter into the dry ingredients. Once it’s all mixed in use your fingers to break the crumble into small and large pieces.
- Spread the mixture on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove it from the oven and let it cool to room temperature. The crumble will start to dry out, but still be a soft. It will harden as it cools.
- The crumble can be made up to 1 month in advance. If making it advance, store it in an airtight container until ready to use.
Make the Peach Filling
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place a half baking sheet in the oven while the oven is preheating. The baking sheet is used to catch any of the peach juices that bubble over, but baking the pie on a hot baking sheet also helps ensure that the bottom of the pie browns.
- Peel 1/3 of the peaches and leave the rest of unpeeled. Cut the peaches into 1-inch chunks. Place the peaches in a large bowl. Sprinkle the lemon juice over the peaches and gently toss with a a large spoon to coat the peaches.
- In another bowl whisk together flour, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and 3/4 cup of the sugar. Pour the dry ingredients over the peaches and gently fold the dry ingredients into the peaches. Taste the peaches and add the remaining sugar 2 tablespoons at a time if you want the peaches sweeter. Mix in the vanilla extract.
- Spoon the peach filling into the prepared pie dough. Sprinkle the brown sugar crumble over the peaches, but leave the edges next to the pie dough (about 1/8-inch) uncovered so you can see when the peaches start bubbling.
Bake the Pie
- Place the pie on the hot half baking sheet and bake at 400°F for 20 minutes. Without opening the oven door, reduce the temperature to 350°F and bake the pie for another 40-45 minutes until the pie has risen in the center and the peach juices start to bubble in several spots around the edges. You’ll also see small bubbles breaking through the brown sugar crumble in some places. If the crust starts to get too brown cover it with a pie shield.
- Remove the pie from the oven, place it on a cooling rack and let it cool to room temperate. Of course there is nothing to stop you from digging into a hot pie, but the pie needs time cool and set up so the filling doesn’t run everywhere when you cut into it.
Storing the Pie
- Store the pie at room temperature for 1 day and then refrigerate it for up to 1 week.
Freezing the Pie
- You can freeze the unbaked peach pie. If planning to freeze the pie, start by adding 1 extra tablespoon of flour to the flour-sugar mixture. Prepare the pie as directed up to adding the fruit to the pie dough shell.
- Wrap the pie in a freezer bag or double wrap in foil and freeze up to three months. When ready to baking the pie, bake the pie directly from the freezer (do not thaw). Preheat the oven to 425°F, bake the pie for 20 minutes, reduce the oven temp to 350°F and bake for another 35-45 minutes until the peach juices are bubbly.
Ray says
I love your brain!! Your choice of flavor combinations are so awesome!! Thanks for sharing your passion!!
Sincerely,
Ray
Cheryl Norris says
Ray
Thank you so much for the compliment. I'm glad you're enjoying the flavors. I really do try to maximize the flavor in each recipe.
Ashley says
In your pie dough instructions, you say to combine the ice coke water and lemon juice?? But there’s no lemon juice listed in the pie ingredient list. Is this a typo?
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Ashley
Yes, that is a typo and thank you for letting me know. I've updated the recipe ingredients to include the right amount of lemon juice. The acid in the lemon juice (or vinegar) is used to retard gluten development in the dough.
Yvette Hardin says
I was so excited to try your recipe. After waiting 2 hours for the pie to cool, I had the first bite. Sorry to say, I was so disappointed.
1. The crust bottom was not cooked enough(shouldn’t have put a pan between the pie and the rack)
2. The filling was the consistency of a chunky apple sauce(the flour did little to thicken it)
It tasted ok, but not presentable as a pie whatsoever.
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Yvette
I'm sorry to hear that this did not turn out for you. If you have some time could you please help me troubleshoot. What type of pie pan did you use? Was it metal or glass? Was the sheet pan insulated? Did you bake the pie in the lower third of the oven? As for the filling it does cook down, but I'm not sure why it didn't thicken. I hope to hear from you.
Tammy says
Hi, Cheryl,
I tried using a store-bought crust and I'm wondering if it was too small? It said 9 inch. The filling was just the right amount, which led me to believe the pie crust was the right size. But I had what seemed like way too much crumble. I continued to pile it on, since the recipe seemed to indicate it would use it all, but I finally stopped. I did notice, when I lowered the oven to 350, that the top of the crumble was already starting to look burnt. (I didn't open the oven; I used the oven light to look.) Any thoughts on this? (Right now, the pie is still in the oven.)
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Tammy
Thank you so much for trying this pie recipe and your comment. I'm sorry for the delay in getting back to you! I hope the pie turned out well in the end.
It sounds like you did everything right. A 9-inch store-bought crust should be the correct size, especially if the filling fit nicely—but sometimes those premade crusts can be a bit more shallow than a standard homemade one, which might explain why the crumble felt like too much. The recipe is written to give the pie a generous crumble topping, but it’s totally fine to use less if it starts to feel like too much for your pan.
Since you mentioned piling on the crumble, it's possible that if it was sitting up higher the top part was more exposed to the heat and therefore started to brown more quickly. When that happens you can loosely cover the top with foil so the fruit filling can continue baking. I hope the pie was delicious. Let me know if I answered your questions and if you have any others.
Tammy says
Thank you for this response. That makes sense about the depth. In the end, the pie was absolutely delicious. I didn't pile on quite all of the crumb topping, but the leftovers didn't last long. 🙂 The topping on the pie didn't really brown any more than it had after I wrote you. It looked a little burnt, but didn't taste it at all; the crumb topping was crispy and had amazing flavor. Overall, it's one of the best peach pies I've tasted. Thank you again for your response and tips on keeping it from over-browning.
Joan says
This was the best peach crumble pie I have ever eaten! I did use my own all butter crust recipe as I can make that in my sleep, but this recipe’s filling and crumble were perfection! I love the direction to bake the crumble before adding it to and baking it with the pie. As a result, the crumble was delightfully toasted and maintained its crisp texture even the next day. The addition of nutmeg to the filling and crumble brought the taste of both to the next level. Thanks so much for a wonderful recipe. I’ll be making it again and again every summer from here on out!
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Joan
Thank you for trying peach pie recipe recipe. I'm so glad you enjoyed and plan to make it again. That's the best news ever.😁 🙌🏾
Monice says
This peach pie is the best I have ever baked. This recipe is replacing my other recipes. I made this gluten free using caputo gluten free flour for the crust + added ingredients. It worked beautifully in that delicious crumble. I had an over abundance of ripe peaches and I am so glad I baked this pie. Kudos on reducing temperature to 350. It worked perfectly and I baked for 40 minutes. Took this to a dinner and it was a huge dessert success. This recipe is a keeper.
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Monice
Thank you for trying this pie recipe and writing such a lovely and detailed review. I appreciate the information you provided on working with the gluten free flour and I'm glad it turned out and that you consider this recipe a keeper. 😁