Making a juicy peach pie with frozen peaches or fresh is easy! This simple double crust pie recipe makes a yummy fruit dessert for summer or your Thanksgiving holiday.
There is nothing that screams summer treat like a fresh double crust fruit pie full of thick, sweet fruit filling. While strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are spring and early summer fruits, apples and peaches arrive in late summer and early fall.
Make a homemade peach pie for an incredible summer treat, or even for a Thanksgiving dessert!
This peach pie recipe is simple to make, whether you're lucky enough to have access to ripe summer peaches or you want the convenience of using frozen peaches.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Better flavor than a store-bought dessert. Nothing tastes better than the flavor of homemade peach pie filling baked into a flaky, buttery sour cream pie crust.
- Freezer friendly. Save time by making a couple of pies ahead of time for the holidays! They'll stay perfectly in the freezer for 4 months!
- Less sugar than canned fruit filling. Canned pie filling is loaded with sugar and high fructose corn syrup. This double crust peach pie recipe uses just a touch of brown sugar, and you can use a sugar substitute!
Even if you are intimidated by making pie crust, trust me, you can handle this recipe. It will definitely impress anyone that's lucky enough to taste it.
If double crust pies aren't your favorite, I have some single crust pie recipes too. Try my recipes for Sweet Potato Custard Pie and No Bake Peanut Butter Pie!
Ingredients
See ingredient substitutions in the next section. ⬇️
For the crust, you'll need:
- sour cream: Desserts are a special treat, so I almost always use full-fat sour cream. It has more calories, but it adds moisture and has better flavor than light sour cream.
- egg yolks: Add eggs to the dough adds moisture and structure, for a flaky but sturdy crust.
- all-purpose flour: I prefer unbleached flour because it's less processed, but bleached is fine to use.
- white granulated sugar: This just adds a little sweetness to the crust.
- salt
- butter: If you plan to use salted butter, you can omit the additional salt from this recipe.
For the filling of the peach pie, you'll need
- peaches: Use either frozen or fresh, whichever you prefer. Avoid using canned peaches if at all possible. They have excess moisture and/or sugar, because they're packed in either sugar syrup or fruit juice.
- brown sugar: I use brown sugar in the filling because the molasses adds a nice caramel flavor.
- cornstarch: The cornstarch thickens the filling.
- spices and flavoring: A touch of ground cinnamon and vanilla extract add flavor.
- salt: Use either sea salt or kosher. It balances out the sweetness of the dessert. Avoid using iodized table salt because it tends to add a metallic flavor to fruit desserts.
Helpful Pie-Making Tools
- Rolling Pin: This is my favorite rolling pin because it has discs that allow you to adjust the thickness of the dough!
- Pie Crust Shields: The shield helps protect the pie crust from burning.
- pastry cutter: You'll need to use a cutter (or your fingers) to make the pie dough if you don't have a food processor.
Substitutions and Recipe Variations
- all-purpose flour: If you'd like to make a gluten-free pie crust, substitute the AP flour with any 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour. Two popular brands are Bob's Red Mill and King Arthur Flour.
- sugar: To reduce the calories, you can substitute the brown sugar and/or white sugar with any cup-for-cup variety of granulated sugar substitute. Monk fruit sugar is a good option. You can use white sugar in the filling instead of brown, but avoid substituting brown sugar for white sugar in the pie dough.
- unsalted butter: If you need or want to use salted butter, just omit the salt this recipe calls for.
I think you could probably use a non-dairy substitute, but I haven't tested any with this peach pie recipe. - eggs: Egg yolks are important for adding moisture and providing structure. Eggs are expensive right now, so you could make this dairy-free and egg-free pie crust recipe.
- cornstarch: If you need or want to use a different thickener, arrowroot flour and all-purpose flour are both good options.
- vanilla extract: If you need an alcohol-free flavoring, you can use vanilla essence.
- Peaches: You can substitute berries in place of this! Check out my recipes for Cranberry Pie Filling, Blueberry Pie Filling, Blackberry Pie, or Apple Pie Filling.
Best Fresh Peaches for Pie
The best peaches for pie are just starting to ripen. They should be soft to the touch when you squeeze them, but not mushy.
Freestone peaches are typically best for pies because the pit is easier to remove. Otherwise, check with your local orchards to see what is available in your area.
How to Make Peach Pie
Summary only. The complete recipe instructions are in the card at the bottom of this post ⬇️
- Make and chill the pie dough, but don't over mix it!
- Cook the peach pie filling.
- Roll out the top and bottom crusts.
- Place bottom crust in a 9-inch pie pan.
- Fill the crust with the fruit filling.
- Cover with the top crust, then crimp the edges and vent it on top.
- Bake at 350° for 35-45 minutes. Make sure the edges aren’t over-browning. Allow the pie to cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.
Liz's Tips for the Best Pie
- Be sure the pie crust ingredients are very cold, especially the butter.
- If you don't have a food processor, you can use a pastry cutter to make the pie dough.
- Want to add streusel to the top of your double crust peach pie? My cranberry pie recipe lists the ingredients and instructions for making streusel topping.
- Best peaches: Freestone peaches are typically the best for baking because the pit is easiest to remove.
- To make peach pie with frozen peaches, be sure to thaw them before you make the filling.
Serving
We love to serve a piece of peach pie topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or Peach Ice Cream! It's also delicious warmed up - you can do that in the microwave.
Storing and Freezing
Storing: Because the crust contains sour cream, butter, and eggs we do recommend refrigerating. If you don't plan on serving your peach pie right away, wrap it carefully and store it in the refrigerator after it's cooled.
The best practice is to not let baked goods with dairy or eggs in them sit out for longer than 2 hours. Check out this post on how to store pies after baking.
Can I freeze peach pie?: Yes! Freeze the whole pie, or individual slices. Let your pie set up in the freezer for 2 hours before wrapping it in a freezer-safe container.
Your pie will last up to 4 months in the freezer. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
Peach Pie Recipe FAQ
Yes, peel them first. The fuzzy peach skin won't taste good in the filling.
There are a few things you can do to keep the bottom of your crust from getting soggy. Cooking the liquid out of your fruit, or using sugar to draw the moisture out before putting it in the pie crust will prevent excess moisture. You can also bake your pie on a preheated pizza stone. The extra heat from the stone will crisp up the bottom of your pie.
To prevent the filling of your peach pie from being runny, be sure to use a thickener like cornstarch, arrowroot, or flour to thicken the juices. Also, be sure to cook the filling long enough.
Other Easy Double Crust Pies
Perfect Peach Pie with Frozen Peaches or Fresh
Ingredients
For the crust:
- ½ cup sour cream cold
- 2 large egg yolks cold
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons granulated white sugar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt omit if using salted butter
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1½ sticks), cut into small cubes
For the filling:
- 5 cups fresh or frozen peaches peeled and sliced (thawed if using frozen)
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk the sour cream and egg yolk to combine. Set aside.
- In the work bowl of a food processor, pulse the flour, white sugar, and salt a few times to combine.
- Add the butter to the bowl and pulse about 10 times, until butter is in pea size pieces. *Do not over mix.
- Add half the sour cream and egg mixture and pulse about 5 times to combine, then add the remaining sour cream mixture and pulse/process to create a smooth, pliable dough.
- Gather the dough together and transfer to a work surface. Separate the dough into two evenly sized balls. Wrap each separately in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- While the pie crust chills, make the peach pie filling.
- In a large nonstick sauce pan over medium-high heat, stir together peaches, brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and salt.When mixture comes to a gentle boil, reduce heat to low. Simmer over low heat for 15-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens.
- When the crust is completely cold and you’re ready to bake the pie, preheat oven to 350℉.
- On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll one ball of pastry dough to a diameter of 10 inches. Gently lift the crust and place it in a 9-inch pie pan. Use kitchen shears or a sharp paring knife to trim excess dough from the edge.
- Fill the crust with the peach filling. Repeat previous step to roll out the top crust.
- Gently transfer the second pie crust over the filling, pressing gently so it lays flat against the filling. Flute the edges using your thumb and forefinger. Using a small paring knife, cut four slits in the center of the crust to allow for venting.
- Bake in preheated oven for 35-45 minutes, checking at 35 minutes to ensure that the edges aren’t overbrowning. *If the edges of the crust are getting too brown, cover them with a pie crust shield or strips of aluminum foil.
- The pie is finished baking when the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling and set. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool for at least 2 hours before slicing.
Helpful Notes and Tips From Liz
- Be sure the pie crust ingredients are very cold, especially the butter.
- If you don't have a food processor, you can use a pastry cutter to make the pie dough.
- Want a double crust pie with streusel topping? My cranberry pie recipe lists the ingredients and instructions for making streusel topping.
- Best peaches: Freestone peaches are typically the best for baking because the pit is easiest to remove. To make peach pie with frozen peaches, be sure to thaw them before you make the filling.
Sarah
This looks like a great peach pie recipe, I love that it uses fresh peaches instead of canned pie filling!
Liz Marino
Glad that you like it!
Christi
Family really like this pie at Thanksgiving, so much they have asked me to make it again for Christmas.