How to Make a Easy Peach Pie

Peach pie can be a refreshing change from more traditional pies.

For many people, peach pie is reminiscent of childhood. There are a lot of choices when making a peach pie -- fresh or canned peaches, spicy or not so spicy and topping type are all options. The choices depend on convenience, expense and the time you have for preparation. A fresh peach pie made at the height of the summer peach season can be both easy and delicious.

Things You'll Need

• Peaches, fresh or canned
• Pie shell
• Sugar
• Spices (optional)
• Egg (optional)

Instructions

1. Decide what kind of peach pie to make. The first decision is fresh or canned peaches. Canned are cheaper, more convenient and available year-round. Fresh take more work, but taste better and are more nutritious. Spices are also a choice -- some like it spicy, some like for the taste of peaches to stand out. The choice of topping is the final choice. There can be no top crust -- the easiest to make -- or the top can be a plain layer of crust, which you can purchase along with the bottom shell. The most impressive of all is the lattice top, a tradition with peach pies.

2. Buy a frozen pie shell. This is the key ingredient to making an easy peach pie. Line the shell with plastic film and then with enough fresh peach slices or canned peach pieces so you use the correct amount to form an attractive mound. Then mix the peaches with the sugar and the spices you want -- cinnamon and allspice are traditional -- and an egg if you want. Put the mixture in the shell and bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for 40 minutes.

3. Leave off the top if you want an easy pie. To make a lattice top pie, lay out the top pastry and cut into 1/2 to 1 inch strips. Because the pie top is round, some strips will be longer than others. Separate the strips into two groups of both long and short strips. One group is for vertical strips and the other is for horizontal strips. Lay the longest strip from each group across the pie, making a cross in the center of the pie. Alternate taking the longest strip from each group and putting it in place. If you do it correctly, the pastry and exposed pie will make a checkerboard pattern.

Tips & Warnings

• Sprinkle a light dusting of sugar over the lattice top before baking.

• When making a lattice top, a strip will sometimes be too long. Pinch off the extra and put it in a place where the strip is a little short.

References

• AllRecipes: Peach Pie the Old Fashioned Two Crust Way
• Cooks.com: Fresh Peach Pie
• Food & Wine; Georgia Peach Pie; Angie Mosier; July 2006

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Epicurious; Spiced Peach Pie with Lattice Crust; July 2000