If you read my last post, you know that fall has seized us and I was not at all prepared. While I may be forced by the outside elements to don a sweater and pants, I needed at least one more peach-centered dish before I officially said adieu to summer and hello to fall.And here it is. A joyous combination of peaches, peach butter, and an interesting topping that ties it all together. I got this recipe from Pie. While I love cooking, I hate recipe books. They are bulky and usually I don’t care for at least 50% of the recipes in them. In this arena, the library is my best friend, because I can try out new recipes without committing to owning the book. However, this book is going to be added to my collection immediately. 300 pie recipes? All sweet, wonderful, delicious pie recipes? YES! Sign me up! I love the way it’s arranged, love the author’s comments, love the ingredient combination in almost all of the recipes, and can’t wait to gain 50 pounds by eating nothing but pie for the next 6 months.

If you’re going to make this pie, note that it requires 1 hour of cooking and 4 hours of cooling. It also tastes better after it has sat in the fridge for several hours or overnight. I recommend making this pie the night before serving it for best results.

This recipe also calls for peach butter. I made my own following this recipe. It makes a lot – I have enough jars to make about 15 more peach pies. You can also buy peach butter at the store to simplify things a bit. If your peach butter does not have spices in it, add the optional spices listed below. My peach butter is already very spicy and has tons of sugar, so I chose to omit these.

peachy peach butter pie

1 9″ pie crust

pie filling

4 cups peeled, pitted, and sliced ripe peaches (see note in recipe on how to easily peel the peaches)
1 cup peach butter (see note above)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (optional, depending on sweetness of your peaches and peach butter and your preference for sugar in pies – I have pretty sweet peach butter, so I’m omitting most of the sugar)
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional, depending on spiciness of your peach butter)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (optional, depending on spiciness of your peach butter)

sour cream topping

1 1/4 cups sour cream, preferably full fat
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Prepare the pie crust and refrigerate until firm enough to roll out, at least an hour.

On a sheet of lightly floured wax paper, roll the pastry into a 13-inch circle with a floured rolling pin. Invert the pastry over a 9″ deep dish pie pan, center, and pull off the paper. Gently tuck the pastry into the pan without stretching it and sculpt the edges. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.

To easily peel the peaches, boil 4″ of water in a large pot and prep a bowl with ice and very cold water. Make a small split in the peach skin and place in the water for 30 seconds. Remove and place immediately in ice water. The skins should fall off easily. If not, place back in boiling water for another 30 seconds.

In a large bowl, combine peaches and all the filling ingredients. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Pour the filling into the chilled pie shell, smoothing the top of the fruit with a spoon.Place on the center oven rack and bake for 30 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 375 and rotate the pie 180 degrees so that the part that was facing the back now faces the front. Continue to bake until filling bubbles thickly, about 30 to 35 minutes.

Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool for 2 hours. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

At least 30 minutes before serving, make the topping. Combine the sour cream and brown sugar in a small saucepan over low heat. Heat, stirring continuously, until the sour cream is runny, 2-3 minutes. Do not let the mixture boil.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Slowly pour the mixture over the center of the pie, gently shaking and tilting the pie so that the topping runs up to the edge.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving. Once pie and sour cream mixture are chilled, serve!