Easy Individual Peach Pies

There may be some debate over when exactly peach season starts and ends in the South, but one thing is for sure: If the succulent fruits are growing on our trees, we're picking them and eating them every way we know how.

One of our new favorite ways to enjoy the juicy goodness of peaches is in these simple and adorable mini peach pies. Here, learn how to make, serve, and store these handheld desserts.

Why Make Mini Peach Pies?

As much as we'd like to take the time to knead, lay, and crimp the homemade dough and assemble the filling for our favorite peach pie, sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day. Plus, al fresco dining doesn't always lend itself to slicing and serving up dripping pieces.

Enter these individual peach pies, which are more like tiny peach galettes. First, we rely on refrigerated piecrusts to keep things moving fast, and we use a muffin tin to ensure each individual pie holds its shape.

Then instead of topping the filling with a second piece of crust, we simply fold in the edges, galette-style. This keeps the filling from spilling out, plus displays the gorgeous peaches so you can devour the treat with your eyes before popping it in your mouth.

Individual Peach Pies Ingredients

All the ingredients for peach pie are use din these mini versions. Here's what you'll need:

• Peaches: Look for fresh, ripe, and juicy. You don't even need to peel them since you'll be cutting them so thinly.
• Brown sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt: This combination of ingredients makes up the rest of your decadent pie filling. Brown sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom for sweetness and spice, cornstarch for silky texture, lemon juice for a pop of brightness, and salt to bring it all together.
• Refrigerated pie crust: We use a package of two rolled pie crusts as opposed to the ones already in a tin.
• Egg, water, and sugar: Brushing the tops of the pies with an egg and water mixture and sprinkling them with sugar before baking creates a caramelized sugar crust on top.

How To Make Individual Peach Pies

• Step 1. Make the peach filling: Mix together all the filling ingredients in a bowl. This includes the peaches, light brown sugar, cornstarch, spices, and lemon juice. You don't have to peel the peaches because they'll be sliced so thin you won't have to worry with getting a big piece of skin. But if you prefer to, peel the peaches before you combine the ingredients. That's up to you.
• Step 2. Cut the crusts: Take out your muffin tin, and generously spray all the wells with baking spray—this is key to preventing your pies from sticking to the pan. Next, roll out both pie crusts on a lightly floured surface. Use a 6-inch round cookie cutter to cut out eight rounds. You'll have to reroll the dough scraps once or twice as needed until you have all eight.
• Step 3. Add crusts to pan: Then, press each of the 8 pie crust rounds into the wells of the greased muffin tins.
• Step 4. Fill individual pies: Once the pie crusts rounds are in place, spoon the Individual Peach Pie filling into the wells. Each pie will hold about a half cup of filling. You can move the peach slices around to make sure you're getting as much as possible in each pie pocket.
• Step 5. Fold crust edges: Once all the filling is in the crusts, fold the edges of the dough up over the filling. The center will still be exposed, and that's OK.
• Step 6. Dust crust with sugar: In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water. Grab a pastry brush, and lightly coat the pie crusts with the egg-and-water mixture. This egg wash will help seal the crusts and keep the sugar on the crust while it cooks. Sprinkle the egg washed crusts with sugar. We call for granulated white sugar, but you could also use turbinado sugar.
• Step 7. Bake the pies: These Individual Peach Pies will be fully baked in about 30 to 35 minutes. The crust will be golden-brown, and the sugar will be gently caramelized. For even browning, you'll want to rotate the muffin tin about half way through the baking time so the pies are all baked equally.
• Step 8. Cool: Once the pies are out of the oven, leave them in the muffin tin for 15 minutes to cool slightly. Then, grab a butter knife or, better yet, a small offset spatula, and run the blade around the edges of each pie to release any stuck-on spots. With the offset spatula, lift the pies out of the muffin tin, and gently place them on a wire rack to cool.

How To Serve Individual Peach Pies

Individual Peach Pies can be served warm or at room temperature. We love adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream on top.

How To Freeze Individual Peach Pies

If your crowd doesn't polish these off in one sitting, you can freeze your cooked pies for up to three months. To do so, place your completely cooled pies on a baking sheet or a plate and freeze them until solid.

Then, transfer them to a zip-top bag for more efficient storage. When you're ready to enjoy them, thaw completely at room temperature.

Editorial contributions by Alyssa Sybertz.