Peach hand pies
Last weekend I bought peaches at the farmers market with the express purpose of turning them into some sort of pie. I ended up making a batch of hand pies and then making a second batch with an entirely different recipe as I didn't like the way that Batch #1 turned out.
For Batch #1, I used Bakerella's recipe called "Handy Peach Pies". I ended up making a second batch of the dough and I STILL had lots leftover filling. I made minor substitutions such as using tapioca flour instead of cornstarch and about a 1 inch piece of vanilla bean scrapings instead of cinnamon. Result: don't bother. The dough was too thick and on the tough side. The filling was okay, but since the dough was uncooperative, it was hard to get enough into each pie.
Batch #2 was MUCH better. I used a crust recipe from Smitten Kitchen's peach pie recipe. This crust recipe is very close to a standard, classic, French pie crust. I even used my hands and my dough blender to mix as I think that using the food processor in the other recipe may have made the fat pieces too small. I will say that this dough was a bit fussier as it got REALLY soft if left out for more than 10 mins, so I had to keep popping it back in the fridge.
For the filling on Batch #2, I kind of mashed together several recipes and followed my baking instincts. GB Crush made fun of me for not writing the recipe down right away, so I wrote down as much as I remembered the next morning. Here's what I remember:
3-4 peaches, peeled and diced VERY small
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons tapioca (probably can substitute 1 tablespoon cornstarch instead)
juice from one lemon
1 tablespoon apricot brandy (or bourbon)
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
Mix sugars and flours in a large bowl, set aside. Peel and dice your peaches into a separate bowl or large measuring cup. After you have the first peach dices, go ahead and add the lemon juice as this will help keep the peaches from browning too much. Toss sliced peaches in lemon juice occasionally. When all of your peaches are diced, add the brandy and vanilla. Keep the peaches and the dry ingredients apart until JUST before you are ready to start filling your pies. The second that the peaches meet up with the sugar, they will start to sweat. I ended up using a serving fork to scoop peach filling into my pie pockets without getting too much liquid.
Other notes: I used an egg ring to cut out circles of dough. It's about 5 inches in diameter. Pies got one vent each, brushed with an egg wash of egg and water, and sprinkled with turbinado sugar before baking at 375 for about 20 mins.
For Batch #1, I used Bakerella's recipe called "Handy Peach Pies". I ended up making a second batch of the dough and I STILL had lots leftover filling. I made minor substitutions such as using tapioca flour instead of cornstarch and about a 1 inch piece of vanilla bean scrapings instead of cinnamon. Result: don't bother. The dough was too thick and on the tough side. The filling was okay, but since the dough was uncooperative, it was hard to get enough into each pie.
Batch #2 was MUCH better. I used a crust recipe from Smitten Kitchen's peach pie recipe. This crust recipe is very close to a standard, classic, French pie crust. I even used my hands and my dough blender to mix as I think that using the food processor in the other recipe may have made the fat pieces too small. I will say that this dough was a bit fussier as it got REALLY soft if left out for more than 10 mins, so I had to keep popping it back in the fridge.
For the filling on Batch #2, I kind of mashed together several recipes and followed my baking instincts. GB Crush made fun of me for not writing the recipe down right away, so I wrote down as much as I remembered the next morning. Here's what I remember:
3-4 peaches, peeled and diced VERY small
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons tapioca (probably can substitute 1 tablespoon cornstarch instead)
juice from one lemon
1 tablespoon apricot brandy (or bourbon)
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
Mix sugars and flours in a large bowl, set aside. Peel and dice your peaches into a separate bowl or large measuring cup. After you have the first peach dices, go ahead and add the lemon juice as this will help keep the peaches from browning too much. Toss sliced peaches in lemon juice occasionally. When all of your peaches are diced, add the brandy and vanilla. Keep the peaches and the dry ingredients apart until JUST before you are ready to start filling your pies. The second that the peaches meet up with the sugar, they will start to sweat. I ended up using a serving fork to scoop peach filling into my pie pockets without getting too much liquid.
Other notes: I used an egg ring to cut out circles of dough. It's about 5 inches in diameter. Pies got one vent each, brushed with an egg wash of egg and water, and sprinkled with turbinado sugar before baking at 375 for about 20 mins.