Crumb Topped Peach Pie

Within the past year my town finally got a Trader's Joe.  This is a great thing!  No more drives 40 miles up the freeway to pick up their fantastic Mediterranean hummus and pita chips, delicious crumpets, decent inexpensive wines, and beautiful produce.  On my most recent visit, this cute little box of 12 peaches were too tempting to resist. 

These peaches were picture perfect and as tasty and juicy as can be.  A few were used to slice and put over non-fat Greek yogurt for breakfast.  A few more were sliced to be served over vanilla ice cream.  And the ones left were put to good use in this very easy to make crumb topped peach pie.  I had some pie crust dough in the freezer, leftover from making tarts.  The beauty of this pie is not having to fuss with a top crust.  This crumb topping is a perfect compliment to the peaches.  I served mine without anything on the side, such as ice cream or whipped cream.  This is my kind of pie; easy to make and delicious to eat!

Crumb Topped Peach Pie

1 unbaked pie crust

Peach Filling:
6 to 8 c. cut up peaches
1/2 c. sugar
4 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon

Crumble Topping:
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Toss in bowl peach filling ingredients. Put in prepared pie crust, dot with butter. For crumble topping, combine 1/2 c. flour, brown sugar and cut into mix with butter. Stir in 1/2 cup nuts. Put on top of peaches.

Bake in a preheated 450°F oven for 10 minutes. Reduce to 375°F for 20 minutes.

At this point check to see if more time may be needed.

Excellent served while still warm, topped with vanilla ice cream, or cold with whipped cream.

A Peach of A Dessert

Local peaches are now available at the farmers markets around the area so I grabbed a few today and came home wondering what to do with them. Personally, I think there is nothing better than just slicing them and sprinkling a bit of powdered sugar over them and eating as is. Recently though, I found a recipe I've wanted to try for a skillet cake topped with peaches and a streusel topping that looked great. I'm sure nectarines or any type of plum would work for this recipe as well. This dessert only took about 15 minutes to throw together and it turned out very nicely. It is like a coffee cake only not quite as dense. I think this worked very well in my 8 inch cast iron skillet which is my all time favorite pan in my kitchen.

Peach Skillet Cake

Cake

4 Tbsp softened butter

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

3 ripe peaches, peeled and sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease well a heavy 8 or 9 inch skillet. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Sift together the dry ingredients. Beat half into the creamed butter mixture; beat in half of the milk, add the rest of the flour then add the rest of the milk and beat until well combined. Pour the batter into the prepared skillet and spread the batter to the edges of the pan. The batter is very thick so this step took some coaxing. Arrange the peach slices on the top of the batter. Bake for 25 minutes.Topping

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

4 Tbsp softened butter

Cut the butter, sugar and cinnamon with a fork until crumbly. After the cake has baked for 25 minutes, open oven and quickly crumble topping over the peaches. Bake for another 8 minutes or until cake is firm and pulls away from edges of the skillet. Serve warm, accompanied by whipped or ice cream.