Gluten Free Peach Pie

Peach Pie Recipe

If you're lucky enough to have a peach tree in your backyard - I envy you! We planted a few trees last year but they are still in their infancy so we are waiting until they are productive enough to give us more than a few beautiful, firm-fleshed peaches to tuck into pie. Fortunately, a neighbor had more than they could use so I was the lucky recipient of fragrant, rosy peaches that I immediately chopped up and folded into a gluten free peach pie.

This is a simple recipe for peach pie, calling for a peach filling that's lightly sweetened and tossed with a little lemon juice, tapioca flour for thickening, and just a hint of cozy cinnamon. The gluten free, all-butter crust is unbelievably flaky and holds up well to being rolled, cut, and latticed to make a pretty topping for the pie. (You can use the crust for other pie recipes, too.) Serve warm slices of gluten free peach pie plain or with a little vanilla ice cream - a true celebration of summer's bounty.

Can I Use Frozen Peaches?

In my opinion, fresh peaches are best for making peach pie. Pie is a dish that makes the most of seasonal fruit, and this recipe showcases peaches that are pulled straight from the tree. However, if you must (sob!), you can use frozen peaches. If possible, purchase frozen peaches that are already peeled and cut into chunks. I don't recommend using canned peaches because they are already soft enough and will get way too mushy when baked into a pie.

Recipe Tips

As noted, you can swap honey for the sugar in the filling, or try ginger in place of or in addition to the ground cinnamon to add more flavor to the filling. A few more tips outlined below will help you achieve peach pie perfection:

• Use fresh peaches! If I'm lucky enough to receive peaches from my neighbor, I make sure to use them right away in pie or cake. Fresh in-season peaches give the best flavor to pie, so use those if you can. Make sure the peaches are ripe but not mushy, with no brown spots.
• Don't peel the peaches. I get it - sometimes it's too much work to peel your peaches, whether by peeler or the water bath method, especially if the peaches are very ripe. I will often just leave the skins on and my pie is just as delicious.
• Use another pie crust. If you wish, use my oat flour pie crust recipe here instead of the pie crust included in the recipe card. Or, use your favorite gluten free or regular pie crust recipe and pair it with the filling.
• Do a double-crust pie. I LOVE the look of a lattice crust on top of fruit pie, and it solves my predicament of answering the question "Do I actually love pie crust?" It's a lighter pie crust and I adore seeing the filling peek through the interwoven strands. However, if you like a full top crust go right ahead! Instead of cutting the top crust into pieces, simply roll it out, fit it on the top of the pie, crimp the sides, cut a few vent holes, and bake as the recipe instructs.
• Make the dough ahead. You can prepare the pie dough and store it in the fridge for 3 days.
• Use a pie shield. This pie has a long baking time, and although I don't typically have issues with the crust browning too quickly, if you find that the longer bake time is cooking the crust too much you can make a little cover for the crust. First, cut a 14-inch square of aluminum foil and fold it in half. Cut out a 5-inch semi-circle on the folded edge then unfold. Carefully fit the aluminum foil over the pie crust edges, leaving the center of the pie exposed.
• Make it vegan. Swap your favorite vegan butter for the butter and skip brushing the milk on the top crust.

Homemade Gluten Free Pie Crust: Doable and Delicious!

Don't be intimidated by making a gluten free pie crust - with the right combination of flours (or single flour, like in my oat flour crust linked above), you'll get a pie crust that's nearly indistinguishable from its wheat flour counterpart.

For the best, flakiest results, use cold butter and ice water. This means that you should remove the butter from the fridge just before you work it into the flour mixture. Also, make up your ice water before you start making the dough so that the water is nice and cold when you add it in.

The dough should be thoroughly chilled in the fridge before you roll it out, at least 30 minutes and preferably up to 2 hours. Don't roll out the dough too thinly so that it has a sturdy structure when you fit it into the pie dish. And, keep the second dough ball cold in the fridge until you are ready to roll it out.

Also, butter your pie dish! This will help the slices easily remove when you cut and serve the pie (when I forget to do this little step I sorely regret it because it truly does make a difference). For the top crust, for the best and easiest cuts, keep the dough cold until you roll it out and cut the pieces for the lattice. If you find that the lattice is too soft, you can form it back into a ball and roll it out again, or place it back in the fridge for a few minutes to chill.

Storage Options

Pie freezes well and you can freeze a whole baked pie or individual slices if you have leftovers. Sometimes I'll make a double batch of pie, enjoy a warm, sweet slice now, and save the second pie for when I'm expecting company. Here's how to properly store your pie in a few different ways:

• Counter - Loosely cover the pie with foil and store it on the counter for one day.
• Fridge - Cover the pie with foil and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days.
• Freezer - Wrap the cooled, baked pie in a layer of plastic and a layer of foil and freeze it for up to three months. Thaw the pie overnight in the fridge before serving or reheating.
• To Reheat - Place the pie in a 350°F oven until warm.

More Fruit Recipes

• Gluten Free Strawberry Buttermilk Cake
• Gluten Free Coconut Pineapple Cake
• Gluten Free Strawberry Banana Muffins